Contract Administration in Fulham

Fulham’s palace buildings, historic boundaries and residential streets illustrate different questions for a building contract. These examples help frame a brief; they are not HCS appointments or descriptions of every Fulham property. Establish the actual building, proposed work and current permissions before appointing the administrator or inviting a contractor to price.

HCS cannot act as independent contract administrator where HCS is the contractor. Confirm the appointment and executed form; NEC roles differ.

Scope and fees

Separate the palace courts by material and building phase

Historic England describes Fulham Palace’s West Court in red brick with decorative darker brickwork, while the East Court uses yellow brick and reflects later phases. This contrast illustrates why an instruction covering several connected ranges needs a location-based schedule. Identify the actual wall, opening or roof concerned and obtain advice on its construction and proposed treatment. Do not carry a repair allowance from one court into another without checking the detail. Record the approved materials, sample and intervention against each element. The contract administrator can then relate inspection findings and valuations to the defined work, and distinguish a newly discovered requirement from an item already included in the price.

Record changes of brick bond in a historic boundary

The Palace garden-wall entry distinguishes older red-brick English-bond work from later brown-brick Flemish-bond sections and records alterations within the wall. A boundary-repair contract should start with a measured condition record identifying the actual lengths, returns and retained features. Ask the designer to resolve the proposed intervention and any investigation needed; a wall’s continuous line does not prove uniform construction. Include temporary protection and access in the priced package, with the necessary permissions established separately. As work progresses, retain photographs of concealed findings and authorised revisions. That allows the administrator to assess quantities and completion by identified section rather than accepting one undifferentiated allowance for the whole boundary.

Check the bridge approach without inferring loading capacity

Historic England’s entry for the Palace moat bridge records limestone parapets and adjacent Gothic gate piers, together with the historic infilling of the moat. Those descriptions identify fabric to consider; they do not establish a suitable delivery route or structural capacity today. Where a proposed operation uses a historic entrance, obtain current measurements, permissions and competent advice on the method. Show the equipment envelope, protection and any alternative handling arrangement before the contractor prices access. The administrator should retain the agreed plan and the reason for later changes. At completion, inspect the affected surfaces against the initial condition record and the specified reinstatement obligations.

Allow for the Bishops Park streets’ small front gardens

The council’s Bishops Park profile describes residential streets around Woodlawn Road with small front gardens, low walls, hedges and railings. For a house in that setting, measure the available space between the building and street before accepting a scaffold or materials-storage proposal. Verify ownership, permissions and protection requirements for the exact footprint. The contractor needs a clear statement of which entrance and boundary features must remain usable or intact. If a different setup becomes necessary, document the revised arrangement and its cause. The administrator can then assess the effect on the instructed work and check reinstatement against agreed evidence, without treating neighbouring gardens as available working land.

JCT tender preparation: Fulham

A Central Fulham tender should identify the actual villa, terrace or block rather than adopt the scale of another building mentioned in the appeal decision. Show the work limits at the roof, balconies and frontage where those elements are instructed. Discuss JCT selection with the project's completed design and any specialist responsibility made explicit. Compare bidders' access and occupation assumptions as carefully as their repair rates. If an alternative changes the specified treatment, obtain the design and permission advice needed before accepting it. Retain the resulting clarification and commercial effect with the final contract schedule, keeping the historical decision separate from permission for this project.

The Inspectorate’s September 2021 Arthur Henderson House decision describes Victorian brick villas and residential terraces in the Central Fulham setting. It contrasts those with the three-storey Fulham Road terrace and landscaped villa frontages in Fulham Park Gardens. Arthur Henderson House itself is described as a five-storey brick block with balconies and a flat roof. These are examples from that decision, not a description of every SW6 dwelling.

Mark the original rear wall, side-return enlargement and any upper addition on the available plans. Record which project changed each opening and whether completion information names that phase. A kitchen photograph can show the finished layout while leaving the supporting arrangement undocumented.

If different contractors worked on the roof and rear extension, keep their files separate. Ask whether the rainwater route was changed at the junction and identify any access restrictions at the boundary.

Ask which repair specification concerns that space and whether subsequent fit-out covered the same walls. Keep documents about a neighbouring basement or another flat outside the evidence file for this dwelling unless their relevance is explained.

Check current requirements for the particular property and proposed work.

• Historic England: Fulham Palace, entry 1286903
• Historic England: Fulham Palace garden walls, entry 1286913
• Historic England: Palace moat bridge and gate piers, entry 1358584
• Hammersmith & Fulham: Bishops Park profile part 2, sections 5.5–5.10
• Planning Inspectorate — Arthur Henderson House, APP/H5390/W/21/3274647 (7 September 2021)

• Major works
• Tendering
• Clerk of Works
• Employer's Agent
• Insurance reinstatement

• Fulham area guide
• South West London area hub

Professional profiles · RICS regulation