Renovation & Refurbishment in Hampstead (NW3, NW6, NW8)

1. Define the reason and scope

Decide

Separate essential repairs and household needs from optional improvements and work excluded from this phase.

Prepare

Room list, priorities, budget ceiling, occupation needs, target dates and unanswered questions.

Who confirms

The owner and everyone authorised to approve design or spending; agree one route for instructions.

Depends on

An honest statement of what is known about the property and what still needs investigation.

Keep this output

A dated one-page project brief with one decision-maker and a revision number.

Ready to move on when

The household agrees the priorities and the design team can distinguish must-haves from options.

2. Establish the existing condition

Collect existing surveys and approvals before commissioning more work. A contractor’s quotation does not replace an independent condition survey. Ask the surveyor or designer to turn each material unknown into a defined investigation, with its effect on design and price recorded.

Where material may be disturbed, have a competent specialist identify the appropriate asbestos investigation before work starts. An ordinary inspection is not evidence that concealed areas are clear.

Decide

Which unknowns must be resolved before layout, structural or procurement commitments?

Prepare

Measured information, survey findings, photographs, services records, earlier drawings and known alterations.

Who confirms

The appointed surveyor/design team and relevant structural, moisture, services or hazardous-material specialists.

Depends on

Access permission and a professionally planned investigation scope.

Keep this output

A condition and unknowns register linking each item to an action, owner and budget assumption.

Ready to move on when

Critical unknowns are resolved or have an explicit investigation plan before affected work is priced or opened up.

• Renovation feasibility before purchase
• Turn existing survey findings into a work scope

Source: HSE: asbestos surveys.

3. Map permissions and responsibilities

Planning permission and building-regulations approval are separate. Listed-building consent may be required for alterations affecting special character, including internal work. Party-wall procedures are a further, separate consideration; an approval under one route does not clear the others.

Ask your advisers to identify the applicable route, required information and conditions before the affected work is committed. Record Building Regulations responsibilities and CDM health-and-safety arrangements separately.

Decide

Which permissions, notices, appointments and pre-start conditions apply to this proposal?

Prepare

The actual property records, proposed scope, drawings, neighbouring interfaces and the professional assessment.

Who confirms

Designer, planning/heritage adviser, building-control professional and party-wall adviser where needed; the owner confirms appointments.

Depends on

Enough surveyed and design information to assess the work accurately.

Keep this output

An approval register naming the authority or decision-maker, submission, conditions and status.

Ready to move on when

The team confirms the route and prevents affected work starting before the necessary permissions and conditions are satisfied.

Source: GOV.UK: building regulations approval; Historic England: listed-building consent; GOV.UK: party walls and building work; BSR: design and building duties; HSE: domestic clients and CDM.

4. Compare layouts and delivery arrangements

Separate professional appointments can give the owner direct control of the design brief, but the interfaces still need a coordinator. A combined design-and-build appointment needs an equally clear statement of included design and retained client decisions. If the owner contracts with separate trades, establish who carries coordination and commercial responsibilities. Choose the arrangement for the project; none removes uncertainty by itself.

Decide

Test retaining the layout against reconfiguration, and decide who designs, specifies, coordinates and administers the work.

Prepare

Brief, measured plans, constraints, alternatives and initial cost assumptions.

Who confirms

Owner and design team, with a cost consultant or contractor’s input where separately agreed.

Depends on

Condition and approval questions sufficiently resolved to compare feasible options.

Keep this output

An agreed concept and responsibility schedule identifying design work included in each appointment.

Ready to move on when

The preferred option works for daily use, disruption, maintenance and the budget, with unresolved issues recorded.

5. Build a whole-project budget

Use the cost-per-square-metre guide only as an initial reference. Check its scope, date and exclusions against your house. Rates cannot turn an unmeasured design into a fixed quotation. HMRC says most domestic building work is standard-rated for VAT, with conditional exceptions; have the supplier or tax adviser confirm the treatment of the actual supply.

Decide

Which items are quoted, allowed for, excluded or still unpriced, and what can be deferred if the forecast exceeds the ceiling?

Prepare

Scope quantities, dated supplier/contractor evidence, professional fees, approval costs and household relocation needs.

Who confirms

Owner, cost adviser where appointed and the parties pricing each work package.

Depends on

A consistent scope and an explicit allowance for unresolved condition or design questions.

Keep this output

An editable cost plan separating construction, fees, consents, investigations, protection, storage, accommodation, finishes and contingency.

Ready to move on when

Every important allowance has a basis, date and owner; the total and cash-flow commitments are understood.

• Create a budget with assumptions and outstanding quotes
• Build and compare a full-house cost plan

Source: HMRC: VAT for building work.

6. Coordinate drawings and specifications

A sample approves appearance only to the extent recorded. Note the product, finish, location, substrate and adjoining materials. Where an item changes, check the connected drawings and work packages rather than changing just the shopping list.

Decide

Resolve room layouts, services and finish interfaces before ordering or asking for a final price.

Prepare

Drawing revisions, lighting/socket positions, drainage proposals, bathroom layouts, material samples and measured joinery information.

Who confirms

Relevant designers, specialist trades and the person authorised to approve the finished result.

Depends on

A feasible agreed layout and enough investigation to coordinate concealed services.

Keep this output

Room sheets, an agreed specification, a drawing register and a finish schedule showing provisional decisions.

Ready to move on when

Everyone prices the same revision; critical interfaces and maintenance access are resolved before first fix or manufacture.

• Bathroom renovation and wet-area coordination
• Bespoke joinery: measured design and specification
• Keep a material and procurement register

7. Compare tenders and appoint the team

FMB advises comparing written quotations and agreeing a written contract. Check the named contracting party, references and current insurance evidence. The lowest total alone does not show that tenders cover the same work. Confirm any warranty from its actual terms.

Decide

Which proposal covers the agreed scope, and which differences need clarification before appointment?

Prepare

The same tender documents for each bidder, qualifications, exclusions and evidence of relevant work.

Who confirms

Owner and appointed tender/contract adviser, with each bidder answering its own scope questions.

Depends on

A coordinated specification, realistic approval assumptions and clarity over client-supplied items.

Keep this output

A tender comparison and suitable written contract, including payment triggers, variations, inspections and defects arrangements.

Ready to move on when

The parties understand the contract documents and unresolved differences are closed or explicitly allowed for.

• Compare tender inclusions and unanswered questions
• Resolve differences between renovation quotations

Source: FMB: choosing a builder and agreeing a contract.

8. Prepare the site and dependency programme

Use decision deadlines tied to procurement and site readiness. For example, an approved bathroom layout is needed before its services are fixed, and the delivery route must be checked before a large item is ordered. This illustrates dependencies; it does not assign a universal number of weeks.

Temporary works, service isolation and hazardous-material work belong in the competent team’s plan. Office opening hours are not permission for construction noise.

Decide

Whether the house can be occupied during the actual works, and what must be ready before mobilisation.

Prepare

Access, welfare, protection, delivery/storage arrangements, neighbour contacts, approval conditions and long-lead information.

Who confirms

Contractor and design team confirm site arrangements; the owner agrees occupation and household logistics.

Depends on

Required start conditions, appointments, insurance arrangements and an agreed scope.

Keep this output

A site-readiness checklist and programme linked to decisions, deliveries and inspections.

Ready to move on when

The contractor confirms safe working arrangements and the next work package has its information, access and approvals.

• Plan whether to stay or move out

9. Build, review changes and inspect before closing up

Controlled strip-out and investigation inform repairs or structural work. First-fix services and relevant inspections precede concealment; substrates, drying and the specified waterproofing system precede finishes; second fix and commissioning follow the appropriate readiness checks. The design and construction method determine the actual sequence.

At progress meetings record the decision, person responsible and due date, not just a list of discussions. A photograph is useful evidence of location and progress; it is not a substitute for a required inspection or test.

Decide

What can proceed, what needs a design response and which work must remain accessible for inspection?

Prepare

Current drawings, agreed details, progress records, inspection requests and proposed changes.

Who confirms

Contractor and the relevant designer, inspector or competent specialist; client approvals follow the contract.

Depends on

Completed predecessor work and approval of changes that affect scope, safety, cost or time.

Keep this output

Dated inspection records and photographs, updated drawings and an approved change record.

Ready to move on when

The relevant checks are recorded before concealed work is covered, and the next activity has a sound, ready substrate.

10. Complete, hand over and maintain

Practical completion, regulatory completion and final commercial settlement are different events. Follow the actual contract for payment and defects procedures. Ask who issues each document rather than assuming every certificate comes from the building contractor. Keep the final specification and change history with the property records.

Decide

Which works meet the agreed completion criteria, which issues remain and who will close them?

Prepare

Agreed scope, snag list, commissioning results and the documents applicable to the installed work.

Who confirms

Owner, contractor, contract administrator if appointed, and the issuing professionals or specialists.

Depends on

Required inspections, system commissioning and agreed completion procedures.

Keep this output

A handover index for certificates, warranties, manuals, as-built details, care instructions and outstanding actions.

Ready to move on when

Systems have been demonstrated, access and maintenance are understood, and open items have an owner and agreed next date.