The starting point is the building contract and the support you need to use it. A small project is not a reason to leave a role required by the chosen contract unfilled. Equally, a professional appointment should have a defined purpose rather than be added because of a project label. Before deciding, assemble the drawings, proposed terms and programme, then identify who will deal with changes, payment assessments and completion. This guide is a preparation checklist for that discussion, not a universal project-value rule.
Read the proposed contract first
JCT Minor Works normally provides for an architect or contract administrator. The JCT Home Owner family also offers different arrangements according to whether a consultant is appointed. The words extension or refurbishment do not select one of those arrangements for you. Check the particular form and edition proposed, including amendments, rather than relying on a contractor's description of it as a standard contract.
Ask who will perform every named professional function and how that person is appointed. If an architect has already prepared the design, check whether their written appointment continues into construction and includes contract administration. Design work completed before tender does not by itself tell you what services will be provided after work begins.
Decide what you need someone to assess
List the construction decisions you do not intend to manage alone. These might include considering a proposed substitution, assessing a request for additional payment, recording a change to the works or reviewing whether a completion stage has been reached. Discuss which tasks belong to the contract administrator and which need separate design, cost or specialist advice.
Use that list to test the proposed service scope. Ask what information the adviser will review, what they will issue and what remains your responsibility. The aim is to agree useful outputs for your project, rather than purchase a general assurance that somebody will keep an eye on the builder. Request a clear explanation of exclusions before comparing fees.
Identify the design responsibilities
Write down who is responsible for the existing design and any parts still to be developed. A proposal involving contractor design needs careful matching to the contract: JCT distinguishes Minor Works from its contractor's-design variant. A drawing package and a contractor's quotation should be checked together for gaps, conflicting assumptions and items described only as to be confirmed.
Before tender or appointment, ask how unresolved choices will be recorded. Note who will supply the missing information and when the decision is needed. For an existing building, discuss what information can reasonably be obtained before works and what remains uncertain until access or opening-up is available. Record those limitations without treating a standard contract as a substitute for an adequately described scope.
Agree inspection coverage, not just a visit count
Discuss which work needs to be seen, when access will be available and how the contractor will notify the team before it is covered up. Ask how photographs, test information and specialist reports will support the inspection record. A proposed attendance pattern needs to be related to the sequence of work and the agreed professional scope.
If you expect frequent quality inspection, discuss whether separate Clerk of Works input is appropriate. Do not assume that occasional CA visits amount to continuous supervision. Also identify what happens when a visit cannot take place as planned: who records the limitation, who requests further evidence and who decides the next step. Put the reporting arrangements in writing.
Plan how changes will be handled
An owner may want a different finish, layout or detail once work is under way. Agree a route for raising the request, obtaining design input, understanding the proposed cost and programme effect, and recording the authorised response. Avoid leaving several different versions of the decision scattered across site conversations and messages.
Ask the proposed administrator how the change record will distinguish requests, quotations, instructions and assessed amounts. Keep the original contract scope available for comparison. Decide who can commit you to a change and which decisions remain with you. This discussion is useful before the first change occurs, when the team can still establish a consistent method of communicating.
Keep payment and completion responsibilities clear
Request an explanation of the selected contract's payment process, including who supplies information, who assesses it and who issues the required documents. Keep an accessible record of submissions, assessments and notices. If payment is disputed, obtain advice on the actual terms and circumstances before deciding what to withhold; a short online checklist cannot resolve that position.
Discuss completion at the start as well as at the end. Identify the records, inspections and outstanding matters the professional team will need to consider. Clarify the services included during any subsequent defects period and at final account. Do not leave responsibility for those later stages unstated merely because the immediate priority is getting the works started.
Keep statutory duties separate
Contract administration does not, by its title alone, identify the people fulfilling construction health-and-safety duties. HSE explains that a domestic client's CDM duties normally pass to the contractor or principal contractor, with a written arrangement available for a principal designer to take them on. Check the actual project arrangements against HSE's domestic-client guidance.
Also list planning, building-control, landlord and neighbour matters that require separate advice or approval for your property. Record who is coordinating each matter and what information the construction team needs before proceeding. The CA scope should explain any agreed coordination work without suggesting that an instruction under the building contract replaces a required consent or another professional's appointment.
Bring a complete brief to the scope discussion
Prepare a concise works description, available drawings and specification, tender or contractor quotation, proposed contract, design responsibilities and programme. Add your inspection and reporting expectations, existing advisers and unresolved decisions. If the property will remain occupied, describe access arrangements and the practical restrictions you want considered when the professional scope is agreed.
For the appointment itself, read our contract administration service for London building works. For an earlier design or tender decision, see procurement and tendering advice. HCS undertakes independent contract administration only where the contractor is independent of HCS. The next step is to agree the role, deliverables and fee against your actual project documents, including any additional specialist input that the brief requires.