Things That Might Affect Your Overall Project Programme

Part One: Preparing your project finishes. 4 min read.

You’ve likely been thinking about the final look of the property that you’ve purchased from the moment you saw it for the first time.

It’s nearly been 4 weeks since you appointed your architect and agreed on fees, as well as the extent of their services.

The internal layouts are agreed upon. You’ve already started exchanging emails with them containing sketches and mood boards.

Alongside this, you’ve been collecting photos during holidays, hotel stays, restaurant visits, and even the photos you took for inspiration whilst visiting your friend’s house when you saw that lovely industrial and crittall style mirror.

Your project design stage, including obtaining all local authority permissions and approvals, will take anything from 12 weeks to a long few months.

Sometimes very little can be done about the duration of your project design stage. That said, there is a great and creative way of spending all of this time, which is to prepare your own project finishes information pack.

Such a pack is not only something that an experienced architect should ask you to provide in order to complete the construction design for you, but it is also a document that will enormously speed up the construction process itself.

Design and finish information issued to the consultant or contractor will help understand the required quality levels, determine true time constraints to deliver the project, and indicate items that will have a possible impact on the duration of your refurbishment project.

What Items Should Be Considered Whilst Preparing A Project Finishes Pack?

Architectural design is essential in that it promotes functionality.

It will be anything that forms a part of the building, from its structure to finish. Below are just a few examples, but the list is potentially endless as your imagination is the limit.

Finishes might include:

  • Lighting controls
  • Heating controls
  • Home automation systems
  • Paint colours and finishes
  • Wall finishes (Wallpapers, plasters, polished plasters, tiles, etc.)
  • Floor finishes with their types and patterns (tiles, wooden, resin, concrete, etc.)
  • External or internal glazing and framing examples
  • Internal and external door designs
  • Door and window ironmongery
  • Light fittings and fixtures
  • Wall fixtures
  • Internal joinery, including mouldings, skirting, architraves, dado & picture rails, and wall panelling
  • Patio designs and finishes
  • Garden designs with planting

How Should You Prepare A Project Finishes Pack?

There’s no getting away from the fact that a construction project is an expensive undertaking.

Prepare an in-depth collection of all your ideas in an organised and simple format of:

  • Excel spreadsheets
  • Power Point visuals
  • Word document
 

It is very important to clearly present your ideas and chosen products. You should also consider and include other options of product equivalents in case your favourite one has been discontinued or is no longer in stock.

Try to organise and present all the information in an easy-to-follow format. Don’t forget that a copy of this may be laying and moved around your construction site in the future and will be read by at least five different professionals and tradespersons, so it needs to easy to read.

How Should You Organise This Information?

  • Prepare a room-by-room schedule
  • Prepare a floor-by-floor schedule
  • Prepare wall finishes schedule
  • Prepare a floor finishes schedule
  • Prepare a ceiling finishes schedule

You may well find that combination of all of the above will work best. That said, it is essential to remember you will not be the only reader of this, so it needs to be super easy to follow through.

Product or finish information itself would ideally contain the following information:
 
  • Working http link to the product
  • Good image of the product
  • Your chosen option (size, colour, etc.)
  • Availability with lead-times
  • Suppliers address
  • Technical data sheets
  • Installation guidelines
 
All of this information will help your contractor or consultant with:
 
  • Preparation of detailed project programme considering availability of your chosen products
  • Assisting you with an advice on the earliest or latest dates for deliveries (You need to take into account available storage space and sometimes ‘just-in-time’ delivery is the best scenario)
  • Organising site surveys at the right time with your chosen suppliers
  • Arranging the storage space and protection
  • General measured setting out
  • Setting out and confirmation of internal Finish Floor Levels (FFL) ensuring a continuous flow of the same surface level throughout the whole area
  • Determination of sub-floor build ups for neighbouring rooms with different floor finishes, i.e. where wooden floor meets tiles
  • Assessing insurance levels required for your project
 
Regardless, whether you only work with an architect, a builder, an interior designer or a lighting designer or with all of them together, all this information will help them understand your visions and needs.
 
It will also provide a clear direction towards understanding the most important thing about your refurbishment project – your vision.
 
At Rose Line Premier, we believe that a client coming to us meticulously prepared is a treasure.
 
In Part Two of this topic, we will look into the suppliers’ impact on the programme and how to mitigate potential delays caused by them.
 
If you want to find out more information about our work at Rose Line Premier Construction, contact us today for any questions or queries you may have.

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