Contract Administration in Richmond

The following examples concern Richmond’s riverside and the lanes connecting it to the town. They support a defined building instruction rather than a borough-wide construction assumption. Establish the actual premises, relevant records and permissible working area, then agree the administrator’s role and the information needed for tender.

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

Scope and fees

Measure the changing level and building line on Water Lane

Richmond’s riverside appraisal describes Water Lane descending towards the Thames, with a curved alignment and changes in building line. For external works along that route, record levels and clear dimensions before choosing an access or handling method. Establish which surfaces and entrances lie within the proposed operation, together with the necessary rights and permissions. The contractor should price the agreed footprint and protection rather than a generic flat frontage. Keep the accepted arrangement in the contract information. If a closer survey changes the method, preserve the finding and revised proposal so the administrator can assess the actual additional work and any effect on the planned sequence.

Distinguish the warehouse end of Water Lane from its smaller houses

The council identifies former warehouses near the river end of Water Lane and a different, smaller-scale residential character towards Hill Street. A refurbishment instruction should therefore locate the actual building and establish its construction before borrowing an allowance from another part of the lane. Obtain current survey and design information for the openings, retained walls and proposed intervention. Confirm occupation and how the contractor will reach the work without assuming a former warehouse remains in its historic use. The administrator needs a clear schedule and authorised revisions by element. At completion, inspection can then address the contracted package rather than an imprecise description of repairs to a Water Lane property.

Protect the recorded setts and cart tracks as separate surfaces

The Richmond Riverside appraisal records granite setts and cart tracks on Water Lane. Where a project affects those surfaces, survey the actual area and identify its condition, control and proposed temporary use before establishing a site compound or delivery position. Obtain advice appropriate to the intended loading or intervention and define the protection and reinstatement required. The tender should distinguish those items from repair work to the building itself. Keep photographs, agreed limits and any subsequent adjustment together in the project file. The administrator can then assess making good with a clear reference to the instructed area, without relying on an old description of the street’s condition.

Define access through the courtyards off Whittaker Avenue

Richmond’s appraisal identifies Heron Square and Whittaker Place as internal courtyards associated with the riverside development. For a project using a courtyard route, establish the current management arrangements, permitted operation and users affected rather than infer construction rights from its visibility or apparent openness. Measure the route through entrances and changes of level, and identify surfaces or features needing protection. Include the accepted restrictions in the contractor’s tender information. Any later request for different storage, lifting or working hours should be recorded with its reason and authorisation. That record allows the administrator to assess the proposed change against the specific arrangement priced at the outset.

JCT tender preparation: Richmond

A Hill Rise tender should show the main residential range and any projecting shop building separately. Identify the relevant roof, frontage and access interfaces before discussing the JCT form and allocation of design. Give bidders a consistent schedule of the repair details, occupation assumptions and temporary protection required. A return based only on the visible shopfront should be reconciled if the employer expects work to the older house behind it. Record accepted exclusions and alternatives against numbered components, with the price effect and drawing revision. The resulting contract pack should make subsequent instructions traceable without treating the historic terrace account as a specification for every Richmond property.

Richmond’s Hill appraisal describes numbers 3–17, odd, Hill Rise as an eighteenth-century terrace with shops below residential accommodation and parapeted mansard roofs. Its character-area account also identifies single-storey shops at 24–30 in front of an older pair of houses. These are examples within the Hill Rise setting, recorded in the appraisal adopted in March 2023.

Where a Richmond dwelling extends behind shops, request a plan showing the front commercial space, the residential stair and the rooms beyond. A separate roof over a shop should be identified apart from the main house roof.

Attach any water-entry account or movement investigation to the relevant room and wall. Request the available description of drains or waterproofing installed there. Keep work to a garden terrace distinct from repairs to the house, and record which outside surfaces are accessible for the agreed inspection.

Date each roof repair and connect it to its slope or junction. Keep interior refurbishment papers with their own rooms rather than treating them as evidence for the covering above.

Check current requirements for the particular property and proposed work.

• Richmond: Richmond Riverside appraisal, townscape and connecting lanes
• Richmond upon Thames: Richmond Hill Conservation Area Appraisal, adopted 30 March 2023

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

• Richmond area guide
• South West London area hub

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