Refurbishment
Bringing existing buildings back into use — often listed, often occupied, and almost always with something behind the wall that was not on the survey.
What it involves
Refurbishment
Refurbishment is the discipline where estimating is hardest and where experience is worth the most. You cannot fully survey a building you have not opened up, so the honest approach is to price what is known, schedule provisional sums against what is not, and open up early enough that the surprises land while there is still programme to absorb them.
A large share of our refurbishment work is in Victorian mill and warehouse stock across West Yorkshire, which brings listed fabric, cast iron, lime mortar and — routinely — asbestos. We hold a licensed asbestos removal contractor on framework and we survey before we tender rather than after.
Most of these projects run while part of the building is still occupied. That means noise and dust management written into the programme rather than bolted on, working hours agreed with the tenants and not just the client, and a site manager whose job is half construction and half diplomacy.
At a glance
- Listed buildings
- 31 since 2009
- Occupied works
- Roughly 60%
- Asbestos
- Licensed framework
- Typical value
- £800k–£9m
Related work
Projects using this
Want a price?
Send us the drawings and the date. We will tell you within a week whether we are the right contractor and roughly what it costs.