FAQ

Preconstruction, which usually runs six to ten weeks. We survey the site, build the model, price the work properly rather than indicatively, and agree a schedule with the dates that actually constrain it marked out. Most of the cost of a job is decided in this period, not on site.

On a fully designed scheme, usually less than two percent. On a scheme where the design is still moving, the honest answer is that nobody knows, and we will say so rather than quote a number we intend to revisit. We publish a cost report every month either way.

Most of our work is exactly that — schools in term time, a hospital support center, retail units with the shop still trading. It changes the sequencing, the delivery windows and the noise strategy, and it belongs in the schedule from day one rather than being managed around later.

Every operative is inducted to the specific site rather than to a generic video, method statements are written by the people doing the work, and near misses are reported without blame. Our reportable incident rate has been below the industry average for nine consecutive years, which is the only measure that means anything.

We measure it, on every scheme, and we bring the number to the design team early enough that it can change a decision. Cement replacement, reused steel and keeping existing substructure are where the savings actually are. We will not claim a building is low-carbon because it has a good operational rating.

A twelve-month defects period with a named contact, an O&M handover session with whoever will run the building, and a return visit at month eleven to catch anything before the period closes. Maintenance contracts are available separately and are not a condition of anything.