Building renovation expert Sarah offers her expert advice on successfully seeing a property developing project through from start to finish using extracts from her book Hints & Tips

Managing the restoration or conversion of any building is an extraordinarily complex business. It is vital to set up a workmanlike environment from which the whole project can be efficiently directed. You need to be disciplined and orderly, good with figures, good with people, good at juggling priorities, dates and order of work, and at keeping within budget. Employing an efficient manager may save money in the long run.

Managing your development
The success of a development is partly dependent on a smooth running site. Whether you choose to develop one property at a time, or several concurrently, do some careful planning to ensure your site stays on schedule. The first decision you should make is whether to oversee the work yourself or to employ an experienced
manager.

On a larger site you really need a manager who is on hand every day. On a job where you are subcontracting work to a number of different tradesmen such as joiners, plumbers, electricians and decorators, it can be difficult to co-ordinate their activities and ensure that the work progresses smoothly.

Depending on your experience and time commitments, paying someone to do either or both jobs for you will help avoid the project grinding to a halt. It's still important, however, that you keep in touch with what's going on daily.

Tall order
Project managing is one of the most important roles on-site. The responsibilities include:

• Running the site from the beginning to the end of the project.
• Ensuring it complies with legal requirements.
• Ensuring the site is safe.
• Hiring all the sub-contractors and tradesmen needed for the job.
• Scheduling their works in sequential order and making sure the work is carried out within the budget and time-scale agreed with the owner of the property.
• Paying the sub-contractors' wages and complying with current subcontractor tax regulations.
• Ordering all the materials required.
• Arranging for the supplies to arrive at the right time.
• Making big decisions, but also clearing up the site and ensuring tea, coffee and loos are available.
• Usually being on-site approximately six days a week for several hours. The project manager is inevitably the person putting in the extra labour if things start to run behind schedule.

Do it yourself
While there is a lot to be said for employing a manager, if you are up to the challenge of the day-to-day running of a project, and are committed to doing it yourself, here are some tips to help you get off to a good start

• Get your site organised as soon as contracts are exchanged. Source your materials and find the right tradesmen swiftly.
• Have back-up builders on standby. Ask friends or fellow-developers for any recommendations. Keep
  a database of contact details and start to build up good contacts.
• Draw up a chart of what works need to happen on-site and when. Order materials at the right time. Too much too early will result in a cluttered site, a security risk, and it also increases the risk if goods being damaged. Too much
  too late means that jobs come to a standstill. If materials are coming from overseas check that the shipping time fits with your schedule. Consider using self-storage.
• Be crystal clear with all tradesmen. Always work out exactly what you want done before you request a quote. Draw a plan and write down instructions
  - give a copy to the sub-contractor, keep one for yourself and file the originals. Problems arise due to vague instructions.
• Control sub-contractor's costs. Always negotiate fees upfront and stick to a written agreement, unless unforeseen circumstances arise and you change the work that needs to be done - in which case be fair and agree on an extra payment.
• Keep on top of all the work that happens on-site so that you can be sure you are happy with the quality. Always pay contractors on time but make sure you are happy with the results.
• Be organised with your paperwork, and keep an eye on your budget.
• Be realistic about your capabilities. If you are new to developing, don't dabble in complicated processes or difficult structures.

Order of work
Plan out everything on a big wall chart. Make lists of the work to be done and details for each job, including when you have employed contractors and when you expect deliveries to arrive. This list of work to be done will help you plan our own project. You can tailor it to suit your own needs

1. Preparation
   1. Clear furniture and carpets.
   2. Protect areas from dust and debris.
2. Demolition
   1. Make sure floors, partitions and walls are correctly supported where load-bearing sections are to be altered or removed.
   2. Demolish unwanted structures; strip redundant and disconnected plumbing, electrics, fittings and finishes, and remove rubbish.
3. Special treatments
   
   1. Each of the following jobs can be done by specialist contractors who will provide guarantees against work carried out that can be passed onto your buyer.
   2. Hack off plasterwork to a metre high in the areas requiring remedial work for rising damp.
   3. Install damp-proof course.
   4. Lift floorboards and carry out timber treatment if necessary (to stop or prevent woodworm).
   5. Expose any dry rot and cut back all timber past the affected area by recommended amounts before the area is sprayed.
   6. Sweep chimneys and flues and reline if required.
4. Basic construction / Adding services
   1. Lay the groundwork for drains, foundations and incoming services.
   2. Water, gas, electricity and telephone supplies.
5. Building
   1. Build new brickwork of any extension with lintels, door and window frames, making provision for external meters, extractors, waste pipes, etc.
   2. Repointing brickwork (including chimneys), or hacking off and re-rendering external walls.
   3. Pour ground floor slab ensuring correct damp-proof membrane and insulation are used.
   4. Fill in after groundwork around building.
   5. Erect any new internal walls (including insulation).
   6. Replace timberwork as required.
   7. Carry out any required replastering.
   8. Joinery as required.
6. Water/plumbing
   
   1. Mains supply to be fitted to the property.
   2. Run the pipework for hot and cold supply to kitchen, bathrooms, outside tap as required.
   3. Run the pipework to all radiator points in the property.
   4. Install hot and cold water storage tanks. l Install and connect boiler (if gas, must be done by a CORGI-registered plumber).
   5. Run waste from bathrooms and kitchen.
   6. Install bathroom fittings and connect.
   7. Fix kitchen once it has been fitted.
7. Gas/electricity/ telephone
   1. Run all pipework required for gas fires, boiler, oven and hob.
   2. First fix all wiring (run all cables without connecting up to supply).
   3. Second fit all of the light fittings, switches and sockets, test all circuits and connect to the mains supply).
8. floors and roofing
   1. Re-roof or build a new roof structure where required, install insulation
   2. Fit soil, vent and rainwater pipes, and gutters.
9. Finishing: first finishes
   1. Decoration of all room and areas, sort out all tiling, door and window furniture to be fitted, skirting or architrave to be fitted also, cornicing where required, floor tiling and finishes to be laid in rooms where required.
10. Fitting out
    1. Installation of kitchen and bathroom units, wardrobes, cupboards, baths, showers, toilets, radiators, cookers, dishwashers and other major household appliances.
11. Decoration
    1. Preparation: sand and fill, hang lining paper where required, prime and undercoat.
    2. Final finishes: paint colours and wall coverings.
12. External works
    1. Clear site of debris.
    2. Hard and soft landscaping.

WORDS: TAKEN FROM Hints & Tips by Sarah Beeny, (£8.99 Cassell Illustrated)

First Published in At Home with Sarah Beeny, September 2008