Contract Administration in Southfields

Documented building context

Wandsworth's Wimbledon Park Road appraisal describes red-brick houses with prominent front gables and square bays at ground and first floors. Section 4.1 identifies clay tile hanging on the bays beneath plain clay-tiled roofs, deeply recessed porches supported on polished pink granite columns, and substantial clinker-brick front walls. These are features of the defined estate, rather than a specification for all Southfields housing.

Existing-building records for the tender

Photograph the entrance from positions that show the steps, porch roof and adjoining bay together. Explain whether an entrance canopy or enclosed porch was added later and supply the available work record. Ask the legal adviser to resolve any unclear boundary responsibility; resemblance to the neighbouring frontage does not establish who owns a wall, who can authorise work or which concealed parts are sound.

Southfields tender and contract decisions

For a Wimbledon Park Road-type Southfields house, separate the prominent front gable, square bay and main roof in the tender schedule. Identify the particular tile-hung surfaces and plain-tile covering included, with the treatment specified for each. A roof allowance should not silently exclude the bay beneath it. Ask bidders to show access, temporary weather protection and making good at the junction between those elements.

A deeply recessed porch with columns requires its own protection and work description if the contract affects it. Establish the actual material and condition before deciding a repair; the appraisal's reference to polished granite is not a finding about every nearby entrance. If a sample or trial treatment is required, name the location and decision stage in the tender documents. Price that operation separately from the wider work so an approved trial can be traced to the eventual instruction.

The front boundary also needs a defined scope. Show the wall, gates and authorised working footprint on the plan, identifying which elements are retained outside the building repairs. A contractor's proposed material store or access route should be checked against that footprint. Include removal of temporary equipment and reinstatement of affected surfaces rather than leaving them under an imprecise promise to make good.

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

Contract scope

• Wandsworth Council: Wimbledon Park Road Conservation Area Appraisal — PDF / printed 8, section 4.1 Building and townscape: gabled fronts, square bays, clay tile hanging, recessed porches and clinker-brick boundaries.

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

• Wandsworth area guide
• Wandsworth
• Putney
• Wimbledon
• Earlsfield
• Wandsworth Common

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