Contract Administration in Osterley

Documented building context

Hounslow’s October 2019 Osterley Park appraisal describes Wyke Gardens in paragraph 5.4.1 as a 1980s development arranged in an L-shaped plan. Most of its houses are three-storey townhouses grouped around parking courtyards; an extension contains two-storey detached and semi-detached homes on a short cul-de-sac. The account also identifies a surviving wall from the former Wyke House grounds.

Existing-building records for the tender

Where an upper room has been changed since the original construction, request the drawings that show its relationship to the remaining roof. Keep a window replacement record distinct from information about supporting structure or a new stair. The visible number of storeys should not substitute for an account of concealed spaces, or imply that every roof component can be reached from the living accommodation.

A communal works notice should be retained with its description, dates and affected locations. Keep an invoice for work to this house separate from an estate-wide proposal or another occupier’s repair. State which documents describe completed activity and which describe an intention, leaving any missing completion evidence as a question rather than assuming the proposed work has taken place.

For changed doors, windows or exterior openings, identify the elevation and floor involved. Ask for the work description and any drawings that distinguish a replacement within an existing opening from an enlargement. If a porch, conservatory or rear room has been added, mark where it meets the original wall and which roof serves the addition.

Osterley tender and contract decisions

An Osterley tender should identify the actual house, townhouse or other structure and the local example relevant to it. Mark the occupied levels, internal stair and later alterations on current drawings. The historic setting does not establish that a particular plot structure shares an earlier building's identity, construction or permission history. Ask the survey and design team to define the current work on its own evidence.

For a townhouse alteration, separate internal layout changes from work to the common or external envelope. Show the relevant roof, wall and service connections and obtain access arrangements through the appropriate client or management contact. Define investigation and the designer's response where a concealed interface remains uncertain. Tenderers should price the same temporary protection and making-good limits. Retain a changed finding with the JCT instruction and supporting evidence rather than absorb it into a broad allowance for works around a courtyard.

External structures and courtyard surfaces need explicit scope decisions. State which are included, excluded or separately instructed, and identify the interfaces between packages. A shared visual setting does not establish one responsibility for all repairs. Programme inspections before structural or weatherproofing connections are covered. At handover, locate tests, accepted details and outstanding items against the actual component and building reference, without implying certification of excluded accommodation.

HCS cannot act as independent contract administrator where HCS is the contractor.

Contract scope

• Hounslow: Osterley Park Conservation Area Appraisal, October 2019 — PDF / printed page 26, section 5.4 Wyke Gardens character area, paragraph 5.4.1: 1980s townhouses, courtyard blocks, two-storey extension and former Wyke House wall. Cover gives October 2019; January 2020 upload label is not an edition date.

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

• Hounslow area guide
• Isleworth
• Chiswick
• Ealing
• Brentford
• Hanwell

Professional profiles · RICS regulation