Contract planning in Colliers Wood
Documented building context
Merton’s draft describes 9–13 and 16–17 Wandle Bank as early- to mid-nineteenth-century mill workers’ cottages on narrow plots. Its account records two-storey yellow-stock-brick houses with hipped slate roofs, concealed behind a parapet at 9–13. It also notes rear additions within the cottage group.
The draft records Wandle Terrace at 1–7 Wandle Bank as rebuilt in 1977 following an earlier late-nineteenth-century group. It describes yellow brick and a gabled roof with concrete tiles, and separately identifies 1990s houses at 1a–1d. These dates prevent the appearance of a small terrace being used as proof that all its fabric is Victorian.
Merton identifies three late-nineteenth-century Italianate properties on the former laundry site at Millers Mead. The draft records their conversion to flats in 1981 and new flats behind, describing the earlier buildings as two storeys beneath shallow hipped slate roofs. The group therefore contains different origins behind a shared development name.
The draft describes 4–8 Merton High Street as partly timber-framed, with rendered brick at the front and weatherboarding behind. It records an asymmetric mansard concealed by a parapet, upper-floor residential conversion in the 1990s and replacement of the roof while retaining its form. This is a specific group, not a construction label for the whole High Street.
Colliers Wood tender and contract decisions
For a Wandle Bank cottage, identify whether the work concerns the earlier group or a later reconstruction. A tender should show the actual parapet, hipped covering and rear addition rather than assume that the current building matches an historic terrace description. Locate the central repair questions through a current survey and give the designer responsibility for the specified response.
At Millers Mead, separate retained converted fabric from later flat construction and from the employer's internal works. Confirm common-part access and management permissions through the appropriate advisers. Tenderers need the same scope boundary and phasing information before pricing. A JCT instruction should identify the specific roof, wall or service connection changed, with evidence supporting the resulting valuation.
What should the Colliers Wood tender and completion file make clear?
For a Merton High Street conversion, distinguish the materials and building phases in the schedule. Agree investigation and inspection before a junction becomes concealed, and retain the accepted detail with the photographs. At completion, file outstanding items and required documents by component. The draft appraisal remains contextual evidence; it is not proof of a current consent, a hidden construction detail or the completion of this contract.
Appointment
HCS cannot act as independent contract administrator where HCS is the contractor.
Local Sources Checked
- Merton: Wandle Valley, Colliers Wood sub-area, post-consultation draft, February 2007 — Wandle Bank, Millers Mead and 4–8 Merton High Street; printed pages 11–14 (PDF 12–15)
Accountability
Provider
Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy — RICS Regulated Firm No. 923064
Other Colliers Wood surveying services
Need a RICS survey quote in Colliers Wood? We confirm a fixed fee after scoping. Call 020 7101 4590, email enquiries@hampsteadcharteredsurveyors.co.uk, or inspect our redacted RICS Level 3 sample reports. Sample reports.