Marianne Suhr: Builders on board

ABOVE (click on gallery image to view larger picture): Heather and Graham’s Watts Barn, yet to be turned into their dream home.

Old house expert Marianne Suhr catches up with progress at 18th-century Watts Barn, where the owners are discovering that a good site foreman is an invaluable asset.

Imagine the relief. Heather and Graham’s life savings were tied up in a falling down, 18th-century threshing barn, purchased without planning permission for conversion, or listed building consent. Then one day several months later, the letter arrived from the local council confirming that permission had been granted to turn this building into a four bedroom dream home. Their gamble had paid off and a bottle of champagne was ceremonially opened.

That was just the first milestone in the long road to completion. Their building surveyor, Richard Cain, had carried out a detailed survey and proposal drawings with a full specification of the work involved. This was sent to three separate building contractors, who submitted a sealed tender. At this stage, Heather and Graham had no idea of what sort of figure to expect. They had a sum set aside in the hope that one of the tenders would fall within their budget.

ABOVE: The roof is stripped to reveal the full extent of the repair works.

Striking lucky
Luckily, Buckingham-based contractor Gates Builders came back with a figure that was slightly lower than Richard had expected. Before signing any contracts, Richard carefully went through the project with Gates’ estimator to make sure that the scope of the works had been fully understood. Sure enough, a couple of items had been misunderstood in the tender documentation. For example, the complexity of propping the existing barn structure while excavating the ground beneath required a special design of scaffolding. Once Gates comprehended the implications of this, they were given the chance to amend their quotation.

There is no point holding a contractor to a fixed price if he has made a serious error in his quotation because he will spend the rest of the job trying to cut corners. In a worse case scenario he may even go bankrupt during the course of the works. This isn’t in anyone’s interests, particularly not the clients, as a change in contractor halfway through a project often spells disaster.

ABOVE: Measuring starts on site.

Good relations
The relationship between client, professional advisor and builder is crucial to the success of any build. By clarifying any grey areas before contracts are signed, everyone enters into the project knowing what to expect. Good communication and a little give and take will undoubtedly keep everything running smoothly.

A builder on good terms with a client will invariably do his best to please, while an acrimonious relationship can quickly turn a project sour. For instance, a hot bacon butty served up by the client on a cold winter’s morning may well be repaid with invaluable assistance shifting that heavy piece of furniture at the end of the build!

Watts Barn was very much a prototype, utilising innovative technologies and materials that needed to be carefully thought through. The project desperately needed a site foreman who had a good grasp of the detail and could pre-empt any problems before they cropped up. Luckily, they got one in the form of Mike Staples, aka ‘Chico’. Richard, Heather and Graham immediately worked well with him, and knew from the start that they were in safe hands.

Find out more about managing a renovation project...

FEATURE & PHOTOGRAPHS MARIANNE SUHR
Featured in the March 2011 issue of Period Living