Introduction
From reading the chapter on the benefits of refurbishment, you will be convinced that refurbishment is the ideal solution because of all positives bordering it like, the cultural advantages, shorter time range, environmental considerations, less money etc. But as we all know, for every argument, there can be an up area and a problem. This chapter highlights the potential cons, risks and issues that can occur on refurbishment tasks so you can easily see the other aspect of the coin. 'To Refurbish or not to Refurbish ?'.
A fixed price agreement to be created by way of a certain date will involve alot of risks. These dangers include if the work can be carried out at the agreed price, future price rises, weather conditions during construction, competency of the contractor's management, supervisors and workers. (Taggart, 2010)
All of these dangers and potential problems are considered on new build and refurbishment jobs. But I'll only be looking into the whole area of the potential problems and negatives that are associated with refurbishment assignments, such as:
Problems at sensitive stage.
Added HEALTH INSURANCE AND Safety Concerns.
Difficulty of locating data which requires investigations
Added workload necessary to upgrade to meet existing regulations
Problems involved with old/existing components and practices
Extremely difficult to specify accurate opportunity of works and accurate programme.
2. 1 Problems at tender stage
One of the disadvantages that include refurbishment projects is the difficulty that can arise at tender stage. New build engineering holds an edge in this area as there are more procurement options available on a new build job than over a refurbishment project. Which means that the principal drawback that refurbishment assignments have at tender stage, is that the client's choice of tender options is limited for several reasons which will be mentioned below.
An exemplory case of a procurement option that realistically wouldn't normally be viable on the refurbishment job, would be 'Traditional Lump Sum Tendering'. A number of the reasons as to why this would be an improper method of procurement is as follows:
It requires the task to be effectively foreseen and complete (That is difficult on a refurbishment job as scope of work could show difficult to predict).
It fosters confrontation between employer and company (This is an important point as flexibility and good working relations are vital over a refurbishment agreement). (Murphy, 2007)
Another procurement option, which is not viable on a refurbishment task, is 'Open up Tendering'. Despite the fact that this option ensures maximum competition, there is the downside that tenders may be received from organizations who have neither the necessary financial resources nor the sufficient technological knowledge and experience involved. Also other drawbacks associated with this kind of tendering are that:
There is a lack of control by your client above the competency of the builder he is utilizing.
There is a waste of resources when many organizations sensitive for the same job. (Seeley, 1976)
Even though there are many options kept for tendering on refurbishment assignments, there are 2 main types which principally are better (typically on housing projects), that are (1) Selective tendering and (2) Negotiation with a picked contractor
(1) Selective Tendering: This program is mainly referenced on jobs that are of great magnitude and complexness. But if selective tendering is chosen on a simple housing refurbishment design then the range of firms invited to tender should be three or four 4.
(2) Negotiation: This should be the principal option on the housing project since there is less time throwing away involved. It also offers advantages as it allows for an early begin to be produced as less time is squandered at tender level and also where in fact the company chosen has exceptional experience of the scope of work included in the kind of work in question. (Seeley, 1976))
This section should properly describe how the limitation of procurement options at sensitive level, is a downside from the option of refurbishment.
2. 2 Added Health insurance and Safety Considerations
Another one of the primary negatives with Refurbishment is the added Health and Safety aspects, that have to be taken into consideration. The reason as to the reasons the area of health insurance and safe practices is so important is basically because, on the refurbishment task there are all of the considerations, which occur on a fresh build site, for example:
Scaffolding
Working at heights
Danger of electrocution
Working with dangerous musical instruments/ machines
Danger of falling objects. Etc
But also there are many more considerations, which have to be studied into account on a refurbishment project, that may not take place on a new build project, such as:
Removal of asbestos
Shoring (although this may be needed on exceptional occasions on new build agreements to support surrounding properties).
Danger of collapsing of old unstable houses
Supporting decaying structural customers in order to provide a safe host to work
Danger of existing services
All of these considerations are added to the general factors, which means that the health and safety risk is almost doubled on refurbishment assignments.
I will solve these health and safety things to consider in a lot more detail in a separate chapter later on in this dissertation.
2. 3 Difficulty of locating data, which requires investigations
Another Drawback of refurbishing complexes is, the fact that when it involves refurbishing older properties and buildings it's very difficult to find data on the existing building which means that many different inspections and research must be carried out on the building before any type of works can commence which in turn causes a loss with time and also these investigations and surveys can cost a lot of money to handle, as the reviews of these studies can determine the scope and dynamics of the works to be carried out.
There are multiple reasons as to why a survey is required, whenever a house or building is being renovated such as:
To make a measured drawing of the building to allow a system for alterations, advancements or extensions to prepare yourself.
To guide on the repair and preservation of a building (including detailed buildings).
Work to be completed to satisfy the requirements of the local or other authority, i. e. dangerous structure notices or public health notices.
To prepare plans in connection with party wall contracts. Normally, this is required where modifications to a party wall are contemplated. (Noy, 1997)
As you can see from above these research require great information and could require a long time to handle and also for the results to be drawn up which demonstrates to be a huge disadvantage. The procedure, which is involved with a typical review of a house, is defined below.
Here can be an example of a typical investigation method, which would be completed on a typical 2-storey dwelling house.
A primary inspection of the whole property to familiarise the surveyor with the type and structure.
A specific inspection of the main roof structure space and any subsidiary roof structure voids that happen to be accessible.
A room-by-room inspection at each floor level starting from the topmost floor.
Inspection of accessible basements, cellars and sub floor areas.
An examination of the elevations, including composition and finishes.
Inspection of the website boundaries, outbuildings and environment.
An study of the elevations, including structure and finishes.
Examination and trials of drainage and services. (Glover, 2001)
You can easily see from above that these types of procedures must be carried out by a very competent and trained person with an bought understanding of old properties and refurbishment techniques. Invariably it might cost you a sizable sum of money as well as time, with respect to the intricacy and size of the dwelling house involved.
2. 4 Added workload necessary to up grade to meet existing rules.
This is another possibly large disadvantage, as there can be a large likelihood that the situation of 'the amount of work that is required to upgrade to meet polices' might lead to you a lot of hardship and challenges on refurbishment jobs as there are so many restrictions and requirements to adhere to, that it could end up costing the client a whole lot of extra time and money depending on the time and condition of the building.
Here, is a set of the main parts of the building laws, which the building that has been refurbished must conform with:
Part A- Structure
Part B- Open fire Safety
Part C- Resistance to Moisture
Part E- Sound
Part F- Ventilation
Part L- Conservation of Gas and Energy
Part M- Gain access to for the Disabled
Because there are so many parts to adhere to, it could prove to be more good for demolish and restore a house alternatively than refurbish the existing building as the costs involved in updating the building may bring about the refurbishment job spending way over budget, and the client wishing that he previously demolished and rebuilt the home alternatively than refurbishing it. This is why this particular section can be a downside of the refurbishment option.
Because of the value of this section I am describing the whole area of updating properties to meet laws in a later chapter in this dissertation.
2. 5 Problems involved with old/ existing practices.
A large edge that new build construction has over refurbishment is, because you are totally building a new composition from scratch, there are no problems associated with interaction between old building, non permanent works, services and new are well as needing to match existing components with new components. (Murphy, 2007)
This may not be a problem when refurbishing newer properties, but for example if you were refurbishing a vintage house with architectural details such as: old craft processes and traditional style traditional details that are intended to be preserved and restored as well as repeated by the client in the refurbishment project that is usually to be carried out, then this will cause many keep ups and time lost on the overall program as well as much more money being put in because of the following reasons:
Old techniques such as specialist plastering and old-fashioned joinery are very time consuming and costly to replicate due to specialist nature of these processes.
There aren't many companies around which carry out these types of old crafts which means that you will be a long time waiting.
Because of the hold ups in these areas the rest of the project will suffer because of this, then the task could drastically show up behind in time and may also go way over budget.
This whole area could end up being a big downside if you are refurbishing a project under similar limitations and restraints but these kind of refurbishment are extremely rare if you don't are refurbishing a stated building, but I will not be entering detail in the complete area of posted buildings in this dissertation.
2. 6 Extremely difficult to determine accurate range of works and appropriate programme.
In my estimation, this problem is most likely one of the primary cons associated with refurbishment as it affects the project in a whole lot of different areas. Firstly, when the scope of works and the program cannot be specifically defined or finalised, then this means that there could be difficulties with regards to tendering and also planning as the service provider does not know for certain, which kind of project that he is getting himself into. Secondly, if a specific depth occurs that is different from the look specifications, then an investigation by the look authorities may occur, which would directly affect the job.
The affirmation ' Extremely difficult to specify accurate range of works and appropriate programme' can be turned out by looking at the situations, which influence this issue that are:
Late finding of new circumstances: this is a feature that can occur on any size or type of refurbishment project. For example if you are refurbishing a residence and you find late into the project that you discover that some facet of the project will not comply with benchmarks or regulations, which in turn means that modifications to the opportunity of works and maybe changes to programs should be carried out. Something similar to this may totally change the programme of the work as well as the final accounts.
Discovery of unforeseen conditions easy for almost entire project: This problem is another factor that proves the difficulty associated with trying to draft an exact scope of works and programme. Even though an over-all site investigation may have been carried out in the beginning of the project, it is still totally possible that unforeseen conditions can happen throughout the task. Some of these conditions may include: late breakthrough of decaying structural customers, late discovery of absence of wall structure insulation, , dpc etc. Later part of the discoveries comparable to these are a regular feature of refurbishment work, that increase the situation of producing a precise range of works and programme for the task.
After scanning this section the reason why are apparent as to why an accurate scope of works and correct programmes are incredibly hard to forecast due to the reasons stated above. You can even observe how these areas subsequently, affect other aspects of the task such as tendering, procurement and the adequate selection of a contractor for a refurbishment project.
