Hill Partnerships

Having provided detailed budget and programming information to our Client, Places for People, for a scheme comprising 12 bungalows and four semi-detached houses across four sites utilising a modular solution, it became apparent that what was initially an unaffordable proposition to the Client, had become feasible as our costings were significantly cheaper than the figures previously obtained by our Client during an earlier tendering expertise across 2 sites on a traditional basis. The East Midlands is a region that falls outside our area of operation, however the use of the Elliott e-house® together with the reduced on site time scales, made this scheme one that we could manage and execute well, given the geographic constraints.

This was the first social housing project to utilise the e-house® which comprises off-site manufactured modules that arrive on site externally brick clad. The innovations on this project are geared upon productivity from substructure completion to handover and reducing greatly the overall man-hours on site.

The driver on this project was to radically reduce overall on site periods whilst at the same time improve upon quality standards. By comparing this project with one constructed traditionally of similar size and nature, Hill Partnerships Ltd collated data from their records in order to establish a reasonable comparison on issues such as the number of man-hours per £100K construction cost. Similarly by comparing defects data, benchmark this project in terms of quality standards.

The implementation of the project was not only focussed upon the use of a modular construction strategy, but also sought to reduce the need for non-production related costs, such as quantity surveying. Contract conditions have been amended in order to simplify payment mechanisms. Payments are only triggered by two stages being completed. The first is delivery of the modules; the second is practical completion of the dwellings. Stages are verified by the use of digital images e-mailed to the Employer’s Agent.

The project was executed by a minimum number of subcontractors. The aim typically was to reduce the number of on site interfaces and simplify communication and co-ordination. To this end two subcontractors were involved. Elliott Group Ltd for the provision of completed superstructures and internal works and T.J.Riley Ltd for substructures, drainage and infrastructure, external works, landscaping and fencing. We operated a shared risk and reward contract arrangement with T.J.Riley Ltd as a means of procurement. Hill Partnerships Ltd managed a contingency fund to cater for risk areas associated with their works such as buried obstructions, soil contamination and undocumented service paths. We shared with the subcontractor a proportion of the unspent contingency as a reward for effective risk management.

Construction Commencement
9 July 2001

Construction Completion
23 January 2002

Contract Sum
£905,000

Form of Contract
JCT 98 WCD

Cost per M²
£947