Project Management
Consider employing a good contract administrator and project manager to help deliver your project on time and within budget.
Avoiding Pitfalls
- Contract Administration
- Managing Contractors
- Specifications
- Project Management
- Tendering
- Overseeing Works
Project Management
We provide project management services for small-scale works for houses and blocks of flats, such as extensions, refurbishments, or redevelopment in the UK.
We represent our clients in the day-to-day running of their projects. Through our Chartered Project Managers’ rigorous monitoring, you can achieve a better quality end-product and not worry about the stress of managing contractors and subcontractors; this can also help control costs and prevent delays.
A project manager is initially appointed either upon the idea of proposed works, or once plans have been drawn. Contract administration also forms part of the service to ensure the terms of the agreement are fulfilled. The cost of hiring a project manager is usually recouped in the savings made from avoiding variations, disputes, or delays resulting from project planning and execution deficiencies. It’s always a good practice to have a project manager on board, regardless of the size and value of works.
Specifications
We can provide:
- Drawing specifications that ascertain the ‘nuts and bolts’ of a build, details of which are not usually physically drawn on the plans
- Performance specifications, generally straightforward details that are standard or prescriptive specifications for more complex construction types
Specification writing helps achieve quality standards in construction. You get precisely what you are paying for and are informed of the materials used; this can be tied into the contract, meaning it’s a condition of the agreement between the client and contractor.
Tendering
Our Construction Project Managers can provide tendering services for our clients. This is the selection of contractors and subcontractors. It’s important to note that buying cheap can be expensive. Therefore, we constantly endeavor to select the “best-priced” contractor, taking into account your budgetary requirements as well as the technical competency of the contractor. This may be through either of the three main tendering routes:
- open tendering,
- selective,
- or negotiated to tender.
Selecting the most competent and competitively priced contractor involves carrying out due diligence on their workings. Each work item is described and priced, meaning that there’s no room for argument on what works are to be carried out or deleted later.
Managing Contractors
At Prinsegate, our Construction Project Managers have a wealth of experience with various contractors, giving us an edge to project management. For many of the contractors we use, we have worked with them for some time, developing relationships of mutual trust. They have a good track record and are less likely to cause disagreements.
It’s vital to have a chartered project manager who can interact with contractors to monitor their work and look for any mistakes or cutting corners. We have encountered jobs where the relationship between contractors and clients or contractors and project managers has broken down to the degree that works grind to a halt altogether. As the project management surveyor, we act as the liaison between you (the employer) and a competent builder. This ensures a fair and friendly working relationship and therefore inhibits any breeding ground for disputes, which we can settle more quickly if ever they do arise.
Contract Administration
Contract administration involves ensuring that the terms of the agreement are adhered to by all parties. We will draft all contracts needed during the process and strive to meet your time and budgetary requirements. If the contract administration is carried out poorly, this can lead to unnecessary claims and disputes and increased time and monetary costs.
Contract administration involves multiple activities at the start of the project, from the design stage to the handover stage. In the design stage, we’ll prepare contract documents.
At the second stage, there is procurement, which will involve the creation of tender documents.
In the construction stage, the works are to be carried out to the specifications in the contracts, which we monitor. At completion, we will make sure that all parties have fulfilled obligations in preparation for sign-off.
Overseeing Works
Our construction project managers will frequently:
- Monitor the progress during the works
- Check whether the contractors have carried out the work in line with plans
- Manage any deviations from the plans or any additional requests from the clients
- Conduct contract administration to ensure that all pieces are in line with the budget and allotted timeframe
Some construction project managers spend minimal time on site. In contrast, we at Prinsegate believe it’s essential to manage the works closely. If there’s a lack of site supervision, projects can quickly go off-track; this is because contractors encounter difficulties in keeping to the agreed timescale, or they cause defects. With proper site supervision, mistakes can be identified quickly and put right for peace of mind. Building in the UK is not cheap, and every moment wasted is expensive.
Browse Our Projects
This former church was converted into residential apartments and was plagued by water ingress and mould through the windows and roof. The job was a difficult one in that the origin of the incoming water proved very challenging to locate for each case due to the complex structure of the building. However, all box gutters were provided with new lead linings. Other rainwater drainage items and roof tiles were replaced and windows repaired.
Damp in the flats were caused by a combination of rising and lateral damp through the porous sandstone exterior of the former church—this required specialist internal damp proofing. The project was extended to nearly double its anticipated duration due to the client adding more and more instructions for repair. In the end, the job was completed within budget and to the satisfaction of clients and occupiers.
A time-critical job, which had Christmas Day as the deadline: this project involved replacing all windows in the block, repairing all powder-coated steel balustrades, and external redecoration.
Although the job was plagued by heavy snow and unusually low temperatures, the works were completed just in time for the holidays and, of course, on budget.
A very complex job: Randolph Avenue is a listed building in a conservation zone of London’s Maida Vale. The works generally comprised a complete overhaul of all sash windows, repair of cornices, stucco work, and redecoration of the front and rear elevations.
The rear did not offer access, so the rear scaffold had to be built by carrying every pole over the roof. Solar paint was applied to the roof, and various joinery repairs were carried out. The job suffered from freezing and rainy weather, which extended the total duration by 2 weeks. However, the job was completed successfully.
The works comprised a complete overhaul of all sash windows and casement windows of the block. Exterior access was not restricted; however, access to the inside of the apartments for the redecoration of the windows requires close coordination with occupiers. Exterior access was obtained by cherrypicker and tower scaffolding, which was moved along the perimeter as the works progressed. The job was completed on time and within budget.
This particular building is located in the heart of busy Soho. The property featured a protruding rounded glass bay over the upper floors, suffering from water ingress through the rubber seals and from the various stone features surrounding the bays. The job was made difficult because of the numerous parking and highway restrictions in Soho. A deadline for scaffolding was set for 1-week maximum. Nevertheless, a solution was found for the various leaking glass panels and roof. The job was finished within 1 week as required.
A vast estate in North London: Penrose house is home to 41 apartments. The works comprised a complete overhaul of over 200 windows and other minor repairs. The majority of the windows were the sash window type. The repairs to the joinery and the redecoration of the windows required complex coordination with each flat owner to gain internal access. The job was completed successfully.
This particular block located in Parnell Road, London E3, was a straightforward job of redecorating all windows and replacing sealant rubbers for each.
The building had scaffold front and rear and, following the ever complex coordination with occupiers to gain internal access, the job was completed well before the deadline and within budget.
The works comprised of a complete refurbishment of a stylish bar/restaurant in Knightsbridge. The entire restaurant was fitted out with a new bar, stools, and kitchen. Complete replacement of all electrical and plumbing systems was also required. The exterior was remodelled with a new logo on the front gable, a new terrace fitted with an electrical canopy, planters, and heaters.
The job took longer than expected because of client design changes during the works. The works were nonetheless completed to the satisfaction of the parties involved.
A retirement home: Mantle Court needed its 30 retirement apartments kitchens replaced. The job needed to be completed within 6 weeks, which meant that one kitchen had to be ripped out and replaced in one day, every day. This also included some tiling and decoration.
Access to each apartment was complex, since the occupiers were not being relocated. Often, appointments were ignored or missed. Good communication with the managing agent allowed the works to catch up for 30 kitchens to be fitted within 30 working days.
The reinstatement of two apartments with steel cladding and large terraces following fire damage was particularly challenging. The two apartments were additions to the 5th and 6th floor and the fire had irreparably damaged the left flank of the roof extension. Additionally, the terrace and the flat roof insulation underneath had been damaged. In order to demolish these burnt items the building would have been left exposed to weather and a roofed scaffold was therefore constructed.
The roof extension needed many of its steel cladding segments replaced, the two apartments needed to be completely refurbished as a result of the smoke, and new roof insulation plus timber decking were installed. A large motor and extraction fan for the smoke extraction system was relocated.
Although marginally past the deadline, works were carried out to the satisfaction of the Insurance Company and the Freeholder.
A very complex and involved job: Compayne Gardens comprised a complete overhaul and replacement of rainwater drainage system, roof and chimney repairs, construction of an earth retaining wall and the refurbishment of one of the apartments. Access to roof and higher sectors could only be achieved by full scaffold, which was cost prohibitive. A high cherrypicker was opted for instead. Despite complications in relation to access caused by parked cars, highway restrictions and a narrow passage on the side of the building to the rear, the job was successfully completed.
A large and complex maintenance of the entire building and rebuilding of parts thereof. The works comprised of rebuilding chimney stacks in Victorian replica bricks, reconstruction of the rear veranda, reconstruction of the front red brick bay windows, installation of support beams in collaboration with an engineering bureau, sash window overhaul and complete internal and external redecoration. The job was completed on time and within budget.
Our Professional Standards
Our surveying practice is widely recognised for its professionalism and we are members of the following regulatory bodies:
