Forge & Field

Set in Manchester.

We have built in Greater Manchester since 2014. This is how we run a job, from the first drawing to the first winter in the finished building.

Early, honest, written down.

Early. The cheapest time to change a building is before it is drawn in detail. Where a client lets us, we join at Stage 2 or 3, test the design against a cost plan and say plainly where the money and the weeks are going.

Honest. Programmes name their long-lead items: cladding, glazing, lifts, switchgear. Cost plans show allowances as allowances. If something is a risk, it is on the risk register with an owner.

Written down. Scope, assumptions and exclusions go into the tender return in plain English, so there is less to argue about on site.

Two workers in hard hats and hi-vis fixing reinforcement against a concrete wall
Reinforcement is checked against the drawings before every pour.

RIBA Plan of Work 2020

What a contractor reads first.

UK projects are described against the RIBA Plan of Work 2020. This is what we do at each stage.

  1. 0Strategic DefinitionThe client decides whether a building is the answer. We are rarely involved yet.
  2. 1Preparation and BriefingProject brief, budget and site information. Early advice on procurement route.
  3. 2Concept DesignMassing and first cost plan. Early contractor involvement starts to pay here.
  4. 3Spatial CoordinationCoordinated design. We test the cost plan and flag long-lead items.
  5. 4Technical DesignConstruction information. Where a design and build contractor takes the design on.
  6. 5Manufacturing and ConstructionOn site. Principal contractor duties under CDM 2015 apply.
  7. 6HandoverPractical completion, handover information and the start of the defects period.
  8. 7UseAftercare and soft landings visits while the building beds in.

Procurement

Three routes to a contract.

We price on design and build, two-stage (early contractor involvement) and traditional tender. Contract forms: JCT Design and Build, JCT Standard Building Contract and JCT Pre-Construction Services Agreement; NEC4 by agreement.

  • TraditionalThe design is finished by the client’s design team and tendered to contractors. Price certainty is highest when the drawings are complete; the contractor is involved late and has the least influence on buildability.
  • Design and buildOne contractor takes responsibility for completing the design and building it, often with the client’s architect novated to them. Good where the client wants a single point of responsibility and a fixed price on a developed brief.
  • Two-stageThe contractor is appointed early under a pre-construction services agreement, helps develop the design and cost plan, and agrees the build price at the second stage. It suits complex sites and programmes that cannot wait for a finished design.

On site and after

Duties we plan around.

  • CDM 2015: principal contractorOn a project with more than one contractor, the client appoints a principal contractor to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase, prepare the construction phase plan, provide welfare and induct everyone on site. A project is notified to the HSE on an F10 if it will last more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers on site at once, or exceed 500 person-days.
  • Building Safety Act 2022 and the Building RegulationsSince October 2023 the Building Regulations place duties on clients, designers, principal designers and contractors to plan, manage and monitor work so it complies, and to be competent for the work they take on. Buildings of at least 18 metres or seven storeys with two or more homes are higher-risk buildings and have additional gateways.
  • What is already thereBefore refurbishing a building built before 2000, a refurbishment and demolition asbestos survey is normally commissioned. Whether the building stays occupied shapes the whole programme.
  • Soft landings and handoverSoft landings keeps the design and construction team involved after practical completion, with training for the people who will run the building and follow-up visits through the first seasons. Handover information (operation and maintenance manuals, the health and safety file, as-built drawings) is agreed at the start, not assembled in the last week.

After handover: twelve months from practical completion, with a seasonal visit at around six months.

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