This grade-2-listed-farmhouse-renovation shows how, even if your home is listed, CLPM can help you build smarter and renovate to create a more sustainable home.
THE PROJECT
If your home is looking in need of restoration, it’s probably also time to look at how you can make it more comfortable to live in too.
With the dual skills as both renovation project managers and sustainability experts, CLPM can help not only in ensuring the construction goes smoothly onsite but also in ensuring that you are renovating in such a way to create the most energy efficient home.
Our Oxford based clients had purchased this impressive, but tired historic house with the aim of restoring it and adapting it to the needs of a modern family. The building had not been touched for almost forty years and so our clients worked up plans with their architects to carry out a full renovation with conservation in mind.
THE CHALLENGE
The 6 bedroom house needed a full but sensitive renovation including re-wiring, re-roofing, new plumbing as well as new flooring, kitchen, and bathrooms. Period character features such as a beautiful stained glass window, wrought iron radiators and internal window shutters all needed to be restored.
As is the case for many old homes, the house was extremely energy inefficient. It needed to be carefully insulated and draught-proofed before modern heating and energy solutions were installed. These included a new energy efficient gas boiler, and adding some under-floor heating areas as well as wood burning stoves and solar water heating.
Our clients had heard about other projects that had run into trouble, and disasters that had to be remedied, so were keen to avoid these potential pitfalls right from the beginning.
THE SOLUTION
With sensitive renovations of this nature it is important to get accurate, detailed quotations. If this is not done the risk of going considerably over-budget is very high. Our Project Manager started the process by carrying out a Document Review. This valuable exercise entails reviewing our clients architectural plans and other documentation to check everything has been thought through. We check everything from site clearance, access, foundations right through to the final specification. We are then able to put together a Schedule of Works.
A Schedule of Works forms part of the contract and lists the works required for a building project. These are often produced alongside drawings by an architect and can then be used to estimate the cost of the build. This helps establish a detailed budget for the project and creates a benchmark for the builder quotations.
Our QS team were then able to prepare the tender packs for a suggested list of suitable local contractors. The team then accurately managed the tender process, analysing each return and appointed a builder. It is imperative that a build team is suited to the client and the project, something our team are good at planning.
Once onsite we continued to provide support and advice to our clients and acted as Contract Administrator for the build, as well as monitoring and reporting the cost status of the project on a monthly basis.
THE RESULT
The property has been transformed into a warm, welcoming home with a much improved energy performance. The building has retained its period features and it is now the light, cohesive space that the clients planned.
CLPM Services used by our client:-
Design Review, Cost Estimating and Budgeting, Tender Management and Analysis, Builder Appointment and Contract, Contract Administration with Project Monitoring. Monthly Cost Reporting.
For our grade-2-listed-farmhouse-renovation we had some friends from London and we’d seen some real horror stories. Jobs that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds and they had gone wrong. Builders threatening to leave, ending in litigation. I was keen to have somebody who had the professional knowledge….I’d still definitely use a project manager on any sizeable project.
Charlie was very good at giving advice about planning regulations and conservation issues…he has an appreciation of aesthetics and design and space and light. It was useful having him as a sounding board and a deciding voice. That was useful with an old house.
He is an outstanding guy who handheld us through the process and I’m sure saved us from a lot of errors and helped us with a lot of specialised advice. His involvement probably saved us a lot of money and could have saved us from disaster if we hadn’t been so lucky with our builders.
Mr G, Oxford