Architect project management – the construction stage
With our head office in Wakefield, we’re ideally placed to make site visits throughout Yorkshire and further afield, allowing us to keep on top of developments as the project comes together.
Understanding your project
Once design, planning permission and building regulations are all covered, Studio J will continue to support you by providing architect project management services throughout the construction stage.
As a brief overview, your architect’s project management support will include:
- Acting as Principal Designer under the CDM 2015 regulations, liaising with CDM technical advisor.
- Acting as Contract Administrator between client & main contractor.
- Advise on requirements under the Party Wall Act and assist with engaging a surveyor pre-construction if required.
- Providing further construction information & advice where needed.
- Overseeing general construction on site to ensure project is constructed as proposed.
- Undertaking snagging inspections to rectify defects.
Preparing for construction
Following the detailed design stage of your architectural project, we’ll work with you to find a suitable builder or construction company. We’ll also help you to source specialist consultants – such as AV technicians – if required.
As experienced architects with a range of projects in our portfolio, we’ve worked firsthand with a variety of building specialists, helping us to build a trusted network of reliable contractors.
Even if you have your own builder in mind, we recommend sourcing several quotes in order to get a good comparison of prices and services.
Our architect project management services
Providing project management as your architect comes with several responsibilities. We want to ensure your new build, extension or renovation is delivered to the highest standards, so here are some of the key ways we support you throughout the construction process…
- Liaising with builders – as your architectural designers, we’re best placed to answer any questions your builders may have regarding the work required, or any issues that might crop up along the way. We can also answer your questions directly, helping to explain what’s happening (and why) at each stage of the build.
- Consider your requests – as the build progresses, sometimes a client will have an idea of something that they wish to change, add – or even remove. These may not be requests that your builder can help with, which is why project management support from your architect is vital. We’ll look at the overall plans and see if we can accommodate for your requests without compromising the integrity or quality of the build, or causing potential problems with planning permissions and building regulations.
- Double check the costs – we’re also happy to go through your builder’s invoices with you, to ensure that charges are appropriate for the works carried out.
It’s also important to be aware that on some projects, especially in the case of extensions and renovations, issues can arise as the construction progresses.
These unexpected problems are often the result of previous poor workmanship in the existing building, but don’t worry – as your architect and project manager, we’ll work with your builder to find an appropriate solution.
Architect site visits
One of our primary project management services as your architect is to oversee the construction and ensure that everything is coming together in-line with our detailed architectural plans. Our site visits are built into our architect’s fees, so you can be assured that no further charges will be incurred at this stage.
The number of times we visit the site throughout construction varies from project to project, as this is assessed depending on both size and complexity. However, on average, your architect will visit the site around once every two weeks. Exact timescales will be dictated by the progress of the build, or if something in particular needs to be looked at.
Snagging inspections and defect resolution
By project managing the architectural accuracy of your build as we go along, we essentially undertake snagging inspections throughout the duration of the project, picking up issues and highlighting them to the construction team during each site visit.
To ensure the very best finish, we then complete a final snagging inspection once the build is complete, working with you and/or the builder to make a snagging list or items that need to be attended to. Of course the aim is to choose a good quality builder in the first instance, who will get things right the first time so that the snagging list isn’t very long.
We’ll work directly with your builder if you wish, liaising with them in order to resolve any defects as quickly as possible so that you can relax and start enjoying your home or commercial premises.
Building inspectors
In addition to your architect’s project management support, your site will also be visited by the building inspector at specific stages throughout construction. This is to ensure that everything is being built in accordance with current standards.
Once your project is complete, they’ll issue with a completion certificate – you’ll need this if you come to sell your home in the future.
If you have any further questions regarding our architects, project management, construction or snagging, please contact our team for a no-obligation chat.
