Hi ONQ, thanks again for your constructive feed back and I take on board your comments with great appreciation. Apologies if I am repeating myself but can I briefly clarify for you, & for others reading this thread who are in a similar predicament to me, how I am proposing to procure the build:
- I will employ a groundworker direct to carry out all excavation works associated with the site and to dig the foundations.
- I will also employ a builder to (1) set out the footprint, (2) pour the foundations, (3) the dead-building, (4) build the rising internal & external walls up to eaves level and (5) pour/install the floors. His contract will stop at that point. The key advantage I see in putting these 5 main tasks under the one umbrella is that it will avoid a potential blame-game which could happen if I was to employ a different sub-contractor to do each task. (Friends & colleagues have warned me against employing more than one subbie on this part of the superstructure.) The air-tightness is something that will fall to me...and as they say, the buck will stop with me!
- I will employ the builder on the condition that he is willing to liaise with the groundworker and vice versa. I will also make it clear to him that his contract entails setting out the house and the pouring of the foundations.
- I suppose the bottom line is; I will be responsible for overall co-ordination, I will employ all sub-contractors and all instructions will come from me.
Thankfully, the practice who designed my dwelling also have structural engineers in house and I will ask them to confirm they can also certify the structural elements. Thank you for highlighting this ONQ.
Any further comments also very much welcome.
Corner.
Hi Corner
I have corrected the unforced error I made in directing my previous post to TripMeUp - I tripped myself up!
In relation to what you write above that makes more sense, but that's a protocol that won't hold in reality unless you make it hold - people will defer to the more experienced man on site naturally. Its not a peeing contest, its the way it is. If you're taking overall co-ordination on board you have to
become the contractor, a bit like an actor taking on a role.
This will include knowing your working drawing details inside out, understanding what each line means on a drawing and interpreting them for blockies who may or may not be literate or able to read drawings. This is particularly true for vapour checks, breather membranes and radon gas barriers.
"Oh I thought that was just a thicker line" as you realise the vapour check is missing on a timber frame isn't funny. If you haven't had this experience before, enjoy. Better still, avoid.
The contractors duties are onerous, even compared with the architect - he stands over the entire job and issues the cert saying the work is built in compliance with the building regulations. The only exclusions from his cert are specialist subbies and suppliers such as the electrician, plumber, MVHR installer, FD&A installer, etc.
I think that to cover yourself, your cert should include certs from your sub-contractors saying their element of work has been carried out in compliance with the building regulations. If you don't issue this cert, there will be a big hole in the documentation at sell on, and solicitors are getting more into the detail, not less, in my experience over the past 20 years or so.
Don't assume that anyone on site knows what they're doing, including yourself. That's not intended as an insult. The job rolling along nicely, everybody happy - that's just when you should be checking things in my experience. Check things all the time. Your suggested strategy noted below may not be enough:
"I will employ the builder on the condition that he is willing to liaise with the groundworker and vice versa."
Your role is to ensure that proper risk assessment are done and "liaison" isn't a very strong term. You need to get beyond liaison into
control, checking, co-ordination and compliance - and make all on site equally responsible for it. Couch any and all contracts in terms that reflect everyone's obligations
under the law in relation to the Planning, Building and Health and Safety Regulations and any other your solicitor may advise you on. As a first time contractor, as well as seeking advice from seasoned contractors, you should take advice all your legal documents and obligations. This may be a once-off undertaking, but its covered by several branches of law and you owe it to yourself to be covered on all of them. A useful exercise will be to ensure your contracts are up to date and reflect current practice H&S for exampe, but there may be other things a contractor should do. If you retain and architect - and I strongly suggest you do - make sure he goes through your obligations under whatever contract you choose to employ and explains how the whole document hangs together, the checks and balances and our obligations to subbies, etc.
I'm not a contractor, so I couldn't say with certainty.
Before commencement, perhaps under the guise of running through their work, go through the whole drawing and specification set with the other workers, contractors and sub-contractors - initially all together, later in focus groups for trades/suppliers that will be on site together - and agree handover points and co-ordination points. Issue a note of this to all of them, using the Building Programme to set dates for arrivals, deliveries, work and departure. Any slippage in the contract - notify all. Empower at least one operative who will be onsite at all times to be your eyes and ears - a spy if you will - to ensure people don't put themselves and other at risk. He can also watch for sharp practice. You might hconsider appointing a site foreman to carry out this role. A senior man, but one who knows the regs and the H&S duties. This part of your H&S Duties - proper risk assessment exercises, solutions brought forward and co-ordination or implementation.
Your biggest risk may be that you're a contractor with an untried team that's unused to working as a team. Think of yourself like a football manager. You wouldn't let them out without practice. H&S exercises are just like that - practice for the real thing to avoid mistakes and help the job run well and smoothly. You're also the ref, and the other teams manager BTW, and this metaphor is running out of control!
Possibly the most onerous job the Contractor does these days is comply with the H&S requirements, which is why I raised it. Merely getting someone to sign off that they'll look after their own health and safety protocols doesn't absolve you from yours, which as a minimum will involve co-ordination, foreseeability, checking and control. All operatives have to be competent and all should have their safe site passes at this stage. You get these from a one day course depending on the level of skill and training required. I have one. I was the only professional there that day - the rest were contracts managers, tradesmen and general operatives.
You'll need safety barriers, lighting, staff facilities, signage and all the equipment appropriate for the work to be carried out - hard hats properly adjusted, hi-viz jackets, safety boots, concrete boots, gloves, ear protectors, goggles. Don't skimp on the goggles, BTW and watch out for loose clothing like "hoodies" being worn near machinery. This is important. I learned before Christmas of one operative who suffered head injuries fom an angle grinder that got caught in his hoodie. Nasty, and could have been avoided if he'd been wearing his safety goggles. Hoodies also impede peripheral vision - potentially a lethal disability on a high risk environment like a building site, expecially if ear protectors are being worn as well.
As well as specialist training in operating machinery, make sure your operatives are all fit to work. Watch out for people with disabilities/restrictions that aren't visually apparent including deafness, vision impairment, depth perception and physical relation to objects [obscure genetic disorder] alcoholism, ill-health, drug addiction, former poorly healed injuries, bad back, burns and lesions on the feet [concrete work] illiteracy and an inability to speak or read english. Make and obligation to disclose any or all of these or other issues part of any contract to help cover you [see what I mean about the legals?] in event of an accident in the workplace.
An engineer only certifies structure. That's Part A of the building regulations. Yes, this is an important part of any building, but there are 11 other regulations. Some will be covered by the work of the specialists noted above, and they have design elements in that work. For example the architects plans might show the position of a lightswitch and a swooping line from it to the light fitting, but it won't show the exact route of the wiring.
A note on Certification and H&S documentation
The architect's cert is what pulls the documentation together, although some H&S "experts" will have you think its supposed to be the Safety File. I don't agree with this view. It becomes part of the file, but the architect certifies overall design compliance. He and the engineer are the professionals whose files the H&S inspectors trawl through when someone has an accident. They're not the only ones though, because the buck stops with the contractors and in particular the Main Contractor. The architect's cert includes Schedule A assurances from the engineer, from you the contractor, and the certs you offer with yours, as noted above.
The literature and magazines in the shops for Self-builders, suggests that they their colloquial advisors seem to have missed the seriousness of their H&S obligations. it seems that the most popular magazine is published outside this jurisdication in Northern Ireland and matters may be different there. Whatever the reason, with Self-build comprising between 30-40% of the housing market annually, and the only sector that's holding up in this recession, we need to improve on this position. Site assesment reports should be available for review to prove you did your job to avoid hazard.
With a nod to TripMeUp, I don't mean to sound lecturing or condescending. I offer advice and am often asked for more. Its free advice, remote from the action, that's not exhaustive and given in the presence of many unknowns. If I include more than what someone asks about I'm not being a know it all - its partly to cover me and partly for the information of readers of this forum who may not wish to ask questions publicly to clarify matters but take it all in nonetheless. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
Its why I say my best advice to people is - always retain and take advice from a building professional who's competent to give it.
FWIW
ONQ.
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