Schedule of works: Planning for the best outcome

Building works and refurbishments rarely go exactly to plan or budget. However, as Adam Story explains, by getting the right people to perform the correct works plans, the chances can be significantly improved

While the economy is showing itself slow to pick up, property owners and developers are unlikely to want to wait to fill their buildings. As a result, many will be looking to make alterations or upgrades to their property to increase its appeal. Most will favour a ‘DIY’ approach to this work wherever possible in the current climate to keep costs down.

Certain aspects of work however should always be done by professionals to make sure that both the work runs smoothly and that it confirms to regulations. In particular, if alterations to a building are being planned, it is advisable to get a building surveyor to draw up a schedule of works.

The schedule of works is essentially a list of all the work that is due to occur to a property. It is commonly bound together with contract preliminaries (describing general project requirements and contract terms) and with a specification document describing minimum acceptable product and workmanship standards. This group of documents may then be supported by drawings and itemised lists (also  confusingly known as schedules) bundled separately or bound in as appendices.

The schedule of work is the core of this document and, particularly where its descriptions are in outline, it must cross reference the aforementioned supporting documents. In effect it is the master document for a build and thus is incredibly important to get right.
Inevitably with so much interlinking between technical documents, it may become relatively complex. This must be controlled and this can best be done by careful selection of an appropriate structure for the schedule of work by the appropriate people experienced in dealing with such matter.

The types of building work for which schedules of work are used vary widely but there are typically two extremes – new work and maintenance or refurbishment work – which are best met by wholly different formats of description. With the coming months likely to see more refurbishment being taken up than new builds, it is advisable to make sure that the correct form is taken.   

In all cases the schedule of work need not be fully descriptive if work is covered in detail on drawings, plans and other documents. The only essential is that the schedule of work provides a pricing point for all work that will take place to the property. Without this the project can run wildly over budget. Owners taking it upon themselves to draw up a schedule of works may well be tempted to give complete description of work in their plans. Ultimately this could prove a waste of their time as the information exists elsewhere already, and may harm the purpose of the schedule as a reference point to works by making it too complicated.

Although a well formed and up-to-date schedule doesn’t necessarily mean that work will proceed smoothly, it is an invaluable tool to have if things do go wrong. As preparation is the easiest way to success, a good schedule of work written by an experienced person with the right experience will help towards the right results.

Adam Story is part of the building consultancy department at Goadsby. Tel: 0120 255 0165 or visit: goadsby.com