A major works programme needs a consultation timetable and a construction timetable. They connect, but they answer different questions. This guide follows the ordinary qualifying-works procedure in Schedule 4, Part 2 of the English consultation regulations. It helps a landlord, managing agent or residents' board organise the information and decisions around the notices. Confirm the applicable legal route before using it: agreements, public procurement and work under an existing agreement can require a different process.
Start with the work, lease and contribution
Identify the proposed repair and the premises it concerns before selecting a consultation template. Assemble the condition evidence, repairing obligations, lease apportionments and preliminary scope. The works amount test is whether any tenant's relevant contribution is more than £250, including relevant VAT where payable. Dividing the total equally is only an estimate where the leases actually allocate unequal shares.
Record who will instruct the professional team and who is responsible for the landlord's decisions. An inspection may identify further investigations or a need to make something safe before the full project is defined. Give those findings to the client promptly. Urgency needs its own advice and response; it is not a reason to manufacture a shortened consultation calendar or assume dispensation.
Stage one: explain the intention and invite observations
Under the selected ordinary procedure, the landlord gives the notice of intention, explains the proposed work and reasons, and invites observations and contractor nominations. The relevant observation period is at least 30 days from the date of the notice. The person responsible for service must confirm the dates, recipients and service arrangements; a surveyor's programme is not proof that a notice was validly served.
Prepare a readable description that leaseholders can relate to the building: the affected roof, elevation, access or shared installation, the evidence behind the proposal and questions still open. Keep observations in one dated register. A comment about recurring leaks or access to a flat may change the technical enquiry, even where it does not determine the landlord's eventual decision. Record the response and any resulting revision.
Between notices: obtain comparable estimates
Allow a separate period for developing the specification, inviting tenders, considering nominations and clarifying returns. Two observation periods are not the entire procurement programme. Contractors need the same documents and an opportunity to understand access constraints. If a return excludes scaffolding, decorations or temporary protection that another includes, a price comparison alone will conceal the difference.
The tender record should identify document versions, clarifications, exclusions and provisional items. Keep the original return alongside any agreed clarification so the route to the comparison remains visible. Ask the landlord or legal adviser to confirm nomination handling and the unconnected-contractor requirement for the procedure. HCS can assemble technical information and compare the scope, but that does not transfer the statutory notice role.
Stage two: estimates and a further opportunity to respond
The statement of estimates and accompanying notice give leaseholders information about the estimates and another relevant observation period of at least 30 days. The required statement covers at least two estimates and relevant responses to earlier observations. The detailed requirements, including inspection access, should be checked against the applicable regulations rather than inferred from a summary in a tender report.
Make the technical pack navigable. Number the specification, tender comparison and explanatory notes, and distinguish a priced option from a recommendation already accepted. A leaseholder should be able to ask whether a questioned item is included, excluded or awaiting investigation. Keep an updated record of observations received during this stage and the client's consideration of them before moving to a contract decision.
The contract decision and conditional award notice
The ordinary procedure includes a conditional notice explaining the award, within 21 days of entering the contract. The requirement does not apply where the contractor is a nominated person or submitted the lowest estimate. It is not a universal third observation period. The client's adviser should confirm whether this notice is needed and how its reasons and responses are documented.
A technical recommendation should explain scope and delivery considerations that affected the comparison. Record unresolved qualifications and the authority needed to accept them. Before site mobilisation, bring the appointment, contract information, access arrangements, insurance questions and resident communications together. A calendar reaching its final date does not itself authorise a contractor to start, prove lease recoverability or discharge other statutory duties.
Build a realistic programme around the statutory periods
Work backwards from a target start using explicit allowances for preparation, each service arrangement, tendering, assessment, approvals and mobilisation. Use the Section 20 timeline planner to expose those assumptions. Its dates are planning markers, not legal deadlines. If the first required step is already in the past, reconsider the target instead of compressing an observation period.
Keep a separate list of dependencies: intrusive inspection, planning advice, scaffold access, specialist design, funding decisions and contractor availability. Review that list when the scope changes. A notice prepared around one repair description may need legal reconsideration if the intended work later changes materially. Save the decision trail rather than silently replacing the old programme with a new spreadsheet.
Keep the professional and legal roles clear
HCS supplies specification, tender information and technical consultation support. The landlord or managing agent prepares and serves statutory notices, with their solicitor where required. HCS does not issue those notices or give legal advice. Where HCS specifies, tenders or administers the programme, it will not also tender as contractor. The written appointment should identify the technical outputs and decisions retained by the client.
For a scoped instruction, use the Section 20 and major works consultancy service. Send the building address, relevant lease documents, current stage, notices already issued and available condition information. Identify any deadline and its source. A leaseholder seeking an independent review needs a conflict check before HCS can consider acting, particularly where it already advises the managing agent for that block.