The building
A pair of mid nineteenth century stucco houses in a grand terrace in the City of Westminster, Grade II listed and within a conservation area. Five storeys over a basement, rendered solid brick with stone parapets, Ionic porches, balustraded balconies and timber sliding sashes, let to an institutional tenant on the lower floors.
The brief
The structure and exterior were the landlord’s to maintain. The managing agent needed the condition of the front and rear elevations understood, the repairs costed and planned, and the work completed before the tenant’s lease came to an end.
What we did
Avalon was appointed as Contract Administrator, Principal Designer under CDM 2015, and carried the job from inspection to final certificate.
- Inspect and planA condition survey of the elevations and roofs, with budget costs and a maintenance programme so the landlord could decide what to do now and what could wait.
- SpecificationHammer testing of stucco and stone, concrete repairs and treatment of corroded reinforcement, crack repairs and helical bar stitching, repointing chimney stacks, renewing slates, sash overhaul and a full redecoration of masonry and joinery, all written for a listed façade.
- Competitive tenderFive contractors invited and four returned prices, from around £172,000 to £246,000. The lowest compliant bid was recommended.
- ContractLet under the JCT Minor Works Building Contract 2016 at around £117,000 once provisional quantities were re-measured, with a 2.5% retention.
- On siteAround six weeks on an adapted scaffold in the summer, with three interim valuations and practical completion certified at the end of August.
The standards and legislation
Works to a listed building are controlled by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, so repairs were specified like for like. The works were designed in line with the RICS guidance Design and specification and administered under a JCT contract following the RICS Black Book on interim valuations, retention and final accounts.
The landlord’s repairs were done, documented and paid for before the lease ended, so the end of term could be dealt with on a clean record.
The outcome
Stucco, stone and cornices repaired, cracks stitched, chimneys and roofs made good, sashes overhauled and the whole front and rear redecorated. The £10,000 contingency was omitted and the extra stone and crack repair the scaffold revealed was measured and valued, bringing the final account to around £122,000. The making good certificate and final certificate followed the rectification period, and the retention was released in full. Alongside the works, Avalon also prepared the landlord’s terminal schedule of dilapidations for the tenant’s own repairing obligations inside the building.
Read more about our Major Works, Managed and contract administration services.
