John certainly helped us achieve it. Since the building has been completed, it has become one of the favourite locations for students
Patrick Hanlon
We often deal with conservation projects, where we use all of our combined skills. The level 3 survey informs us of the disrepair, the measured survey provides us with the layout, elevation, and sections of the building, which form the initial analysis of the building. This information is then used to create schedules of work, which is essentially a method statement for the required work and this, along with the drawings, provides the starting point for most projects.
Often, the catalyst for one of these projects is that the client wants to extend, or modify a building, whether they own it or intend to buy it.
The starting point for Bond McCart is to sit down with the client, and understand what they want, which is then confirmed in writing as part of the fee proposal, which then forms the contract between ourselves and the client. The client then has the opportunity to evaluate our understanding of their brief.
Following on from our planned maintenance report the Parish instructed us to proceed with design work, which drew on our experience, but we also had to research repair methods for cleaning stained glass windows, amongst other items.
The issues that the planned maintenance report identified required us to draw upon our in depth knowledge of traditional buildings, and this allowed us to identify that the Church had been repointed within its lifetime with a cementitious mortar, and as a result the Kentish Rag stone was spalling, the roof did not have any ventilation, and this would promote timber decay. The remedial work was specified in a schedule of work, and supported by drawings.
Significantly the stair turret that provides access to the Belfry was rotating away from the Belfry, and the West Porch was suffering from subsidence, and we sought the advice of a Structural Engineer to design the remedial work.
The design work was all collated in terms of drawings, detailed schedules of work, which describe what the contractor is to do, workmanship clauses, which tell the contractor what materials to use, and contract clauses, stating how the contractor is to proceed. The final document is called the specification.
The specification was tendered to four contractors to test the market, importantly they all had the same information from which to provide their price for the work, and once these costs were returned we analysed the costs, and provided our recommendations so that the Parish could issue instructions to the contractor.
During the course of the work, it was noted that the contractor had not correctly completed the remedial work to the stair turret. Using a clause within the Contract they were instructed to complete the work as required by the Structural Engineer at their own expense.
With the scaffold in place we assessed the stone tracery to the windows, and found that a cement slurry had been applied, which was causing the stonework to which it was applied to disintegrate. We had set a cost for these repairs, but it was not possible to see the extent of the damage from our inspections or even from our drone images, as such this was a major additional cost.
The cost of the windows was a major additional cost, but working closely with the contractor we looked at the overall project, and identified areas that weren’t as important as the windows, and these were removed from the contractors work. The result was an additional £50k, an additional 17% of the contract sum.
The additional works and poor weather meant that the contract was extended by an additional two months, but the final result was a watertight Church, with stonework that will last for another century.
