Over the years we have worked on a large number of home remodels in the SE London area. This project shows how it is possible to create a practical family home without sacrificing style and design.
THE PROJECT
Our clients, who originally come from Australia, contacted us as a result of a recommendation of a friend who had been a previous client of ours. As a busy professional couple, with two young children and a third child on the way they wanted to have an experienced project management company to oversee their build. As is often the case, their bank was also keen to have financial mitigation measures in place – so we were taken on to provide Bank Monitoring and Contract Administration services for the project.
THE CHALLENGE
Our clients had an architect, a landscape designer, and an interior designer on board, and had worked up their designs. They had also found a build team but did not have a contract in place. With a large project of this nature our clients had already moved out, with all the costs this entailed. Getting the project set up properly and the building works proceeding quickly was therefore our first priority.
THE SOLUTION
Our first action was to draw a building contract up, and appoint the contractor formally. This involved clarifying some of the quotes which had been submitted, reviewing the drawings and looking for inconsistencies and omissions along the way.
In our role as Contract Administrator we liaised with our clients and the build team regularly and visited the site to check the quality of the works – and that progress was as expected versus the programme. We chaired site meetings every 2 weeks and dealt with any issues or changes and cost variations as they occured. Our Quantity Surveying team also supported the project and produced monthly cost reports to help our clients keep a close eye on the costs versus budget.
In complex projects of this nature, with a large number of specialist designers and suppliers there was a need to keep a close eye on the detail and the changing costs. The property was being built to a very high specification and so we had very regular contact with all involved; coordinating communications as well as carrying out a valuation every 2 weeks.
THE RESULT
With projects as large and complex as this one there are always a few hiccups along the way, but investing in the services of a construction project manager and a quality team of designers and builders meant there was nothing which was not able to overcome by the close collaboration of all involved. As you can see the result is a truly stunning family home with some amazing outside spaces.
CLPM Services used by our client:-
Builder Appointment and Contracts, Contract Administration with Monthly Cost Reporting.
If you’re carrying out a large, complex construction project then it’s really important that you protect yourself financially. Having a building contract drawn up, and a Contract Administrator, like CLPM overseeing the works will help you prevent un-necessary delays, avoid errors and allow you to control your build costs.