Contract Administration in Morden

Upper Morden’s village buildings illustrate several different repair and alteration questions. These examples are drawn from Merton’s character assessment and are separate from a survey of an instructed property. Confirm the current fabric, occupation and approvals before setting the contractor’s scope or relying on an older account of a building’s condition.

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

Scope and fees

Identify the Manor House’s original range and extensions

Merton’s Upper Morden assessment describes the Manor House as an earlier symmetrical house enlarged by substantial additions with differing materials and roof forms. For a contract covering several phases, prepare a current plan that identifies each range and the junctions affected by the work. Survey what is present and ask the designer to distinguish the proposed treatment at older and later construction. The historic account cannot establish a concealed connection or prove that an alteration remains unchanged. Retain investigations and approved details with the priced items. The administrator can use those references to assess progress and variations by building phase, including any revised work at an interface discovered during opening up.

Separate the Old School’s different Central Road elements

The council’s account of the Old School House and parish hall describes a Central Road frontage with contrasting gabled elements, brickwork, scored render and tile hanging. A façade-repair package should locate the actual material and intervention on an elevation drawing rather than treat the frontage as one repeated finish. Obtain advice on the appropriate repair and establish any sample or approval required before work proceeds. Keep retained openings and decorative details explicit in the schedule. During the contract, record which areas were inspected and what changes were authorised. This gives the administrator a practical completion reference and prevents a general external-repair description from hiding unresolved work at the different building elements.

Schedule Church Farm Cottage’s boarded walls and roof separately

Merton identifies Church Farm Cottage as a weatherboarded building with a hipped slate roof and brick chimneys. That combination is a useful reminder to distinguish the envelope components in a small-building repair brief. Survey the instructed areas, identify any concealed investigation and obtain competent advice on materials and junctions. Define the temporary access and protection needed for the proposed operation, with permissions confirmed independently. The contractor should price identifiable items rather than a broad allowance to refurbish the exterior. Retain the accepted details and any findings from opened areas so the administrator can assess the actual repair extent, inspect before concealment and record the remaining work at each component.

Plan the interface between church fabric and later additions

The Upper Morden assessment describes St Lawrence Church’s brick and stone fabric, steep tiled roof and later additions of different form. For an instructed repair or alteration, identify the exact part of the building and establish its current construction and use. Obtain specialist advice where the proposal affects retained historic features, and define how the contractor will protect adjacent elements. The tender must distinguish the permanent intervention from temporary access, enclosure and making good. If investigation changes the design at an old-to-new junction, record the finding and authorised response. The administrator can then assess the revised package against an identifiable requirement without treating the historic description as proof of present condition.

JCT tender preparation: Morden

An Upper Morden tender should distinguish the specific Green Lane-type bay or Rhodes Moorhouse Court-style terrace arrangement from the broader locality. Show the actual roof forms, rear route and work boundaries on current drawings. Identify the JCT form proposed and who develops each specialist detail still outstanding. Ask bidders to price access through an arch or shared route only against the arrangement actually available. Compare temporary protection and making-good allowances alongside permanent repair quantities. Reconcile any substitution or omission before award and retain the accepted clarification in the contract schedule, without turning the historic assessment's estimated dates into a construction finding for this building.

Merton’s Upper Morden assessment describes the late-1930s pair at 12a and 14 Green Lane, including a flat-roofed single-storey bay. It separately describes Rhodes Moorhouse Court’s two-storey terraces and semi-detached pairs with hipped pantile roofs, estimating a 1950s date. The account notes an arch through the terrace providing rear-garden access. Its cover records copyright November 2007, rather than an adoption decision.

For a Morden semi with a lower projecting bay, outline that covering apart from the main house roof. Identify the room below and the outlet or junction mentioned in any leak account. Ask for the date and scope of earlier work to the projection.

Where a Morden terrace has a passage through the building, mark its entrance, exit and the rooms above or beside it. Identify who can open any gates during an agreed visit. Put the route on the current plot plan rather than relying on a historic description of rear access.

If the loft layout has changed, request the stair and roof-alteration plans separately from decoration records. Identify which void can be entered from the home and whether another contact is needed.

Check current requirements for the particular property and proposed work.

• Merton: Upper Morden character assessment, section 7.3
• Merton: Upper Morden Conservation Area Character Assessment, November 2007 copyright cover

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