Blanchard Consultancy – the independent construction consultant

Building Surveyor

As your building surveyor we can offer you a full range of building surveys undertaken by a building surveyor who is a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered surveyors.

• Building Condition Surveys
• Schedules of Dilapidations
• Schedules of Condition
• Contamination and Deleterious Material Surveys
• Measured Surveys and Drawings
• Reinstatement Cost Assessments
• Insurance Loss Claims
• Planned Maintenance Programmes
• Party Wall Awards
• Rights of Light
• Design
• Planning Supervisor
• Leasing and Capital Allowances

Building Condition Surveys

Building condition surveys (alternatively known as the structural surveys) comprise reports relating to the detailed inspection of buildings prior to acquisition, either freehold or leasehold. The purpose is to discover the nature of existing or potential defects and to provide advice on how to overcome any problems.

Blanchard Consultancy can arrange for all the electrical and mechanical services to be inspected at the same time by preferred sub-consultants and included within the one report. The resultant information can then be included in the evaluation of the property and the acquisition negotiations.

Blanchard Consultancy can also provide Investment Building Condition surveys which allow for the same detail of inspection but only highlight the main areas of defects or concern so that the client can address the key areas during the negotiation with the parties and their financial advisors.

Schedules of Dilapidations

These are required where properties have fallen into disrepair during or at the end of the lease, and are used to identify to the tenant the extent and cost of repairs required to the building in accordance with the lease and legal precedence.

Following on from the Schedule the surveyor will proceed to negotiate on behalf of the Landlord to ensure that the repairs are carried out satisfactorily or a financial settlement can be obtained.

A tenant can also require a surveyor to act on his behalf in resisting or reducing the landlord's requirements at the end of their lease especially when the Schedule served by the Landlord proves to be very onerous.

Schedules of Condition

Schedules of Condition are required when it is necessary to record details of the present condition of the property. This can occur when work is being carried out to an adjoining property which may cause damage, or alternatively, at the commencement of a lease so that any further deterioration during the term can be identified. The benefit of such a schedule is to fix the condition of a property at a point in time, as a basis for subsequent negotiation, to save money for our clients.

The schedules produced following inspection are often supported by photographs.

Contamination and Deleterious Material Surveys

With the continuing increase in the reuse of land and buildings and increasing definition and understanding of the risks of redevelopment and refurbishment of land and existing buildings, it is increasingly important for owners and occupiers to understand their liabilities, as defined by the Environment Act 1995.

Not only can we carry out the necessary study of the land and/or buildings, we can also interpret and advise upon appropriate action following the results of the analysis.

Measured Surveys and Drawings

Where detailed plans, sections and elevations of a property are required we can take all the necessary measurements and prepare the drawings manually or using our CAD system.

Reinstatement Cost Assessments

These are reinstatement valuations of buildings as opposed to open market valuations. They are calculated to produce a cost for replacing buildings damaged by fire or accident and are based on the measurement of the buildings gross external area. Where suitable drawings are not available, as indicated above, we can produce them ourselves. The benefit of such valuations is to ensure that property is properly insured and that the correct premiums are being paid. Blanchard Consultancy specialises in the valuation of large portfolios of a breadth of properties using the latest computer software and allowing for revaluations as costs alter.

Insurance Loss Claims

We are able to act on our client's behalf in negotiating the claim with the loss adjuster acting for the insurance company in the unlikely event of fire or damage. Our involvement will speed the process in agreeing an adequate figure to carry out the repairs to a comparable standard.

As indicated above in the section on project management, we can arrange to carry out the repairs following a fire or accident, including dealing with the associated problem of needing alternative accommodation and replacement of fixtures, fittings, IT systems and all of the associated logistics. Indeed, due to our detailed knowledge of the work to be carried out, our involvement would be highly cost effective.

Planned Maintenance Programmes

A report is produced on the property scheduling all the actual and potential repairs required together with the cost estimates for such repairs, set out in a programme over a term of years. In contrast to Building Condition Surveys, these reports are normally in tabular form and include repetitive work such as redecoration.

The benefit of such programmes is to ensure that tenants are not in breach of the covenants in their leases, that repairs are carried out before costs escalate due to neglect and, most importantly, so that clients can plan and allow for the cost of the work within their business plans.

Again, as indicated above, we are able to implement the work on behalf of our clients.

Party Wall Awards

There has been a recent change to Party Wall Awards which extends the legislation throughout the country and not just London with the introduction of the Party Wall Etc Act 1996. This piece of legislation came into force in July 1997.
Instructions are received from either the building owner or the adjoining owner to act upon their behalf in accordance with the regulations laid down by the Act to produce an Award agreed by the surveyors acting for each party.

Clearly, the object is to minimise the cost and disruption arising from the works.

Rights of Light

We can advise on matters relating to Rights of Light affecting properties and dealing with notices under the Rights of Light Act, not only to optimise a new building or extension to an existing building, but also, if acting for adjoining owners, to minimise the loss of light as a result of the development.

Design

We are able to arrange all aspects of design for our clients taking full responsibility for all design carried out by Blanchard Consultancy, whether it is carried out by our own resources or by sub-consultants to ourselves. The main benefit is single point contact for our clients and cost effective design.

We are able to carry out space planning, interior design and minor building design with our own resources. For all other design we employ the most appropriate consultant with whom we will have been working regularly over a period of time, and who we can therefore trust to achieve the standards that we set ourselves.

We often work with designers who either have separate appointments to our clients, or who are appointed by us at the request of our client. In the latter case, we might be providing part or all of the remaining design input and acting as design team leader. We are keen to be as flexible in such situations to help create an effective design team without overlaps or gaps.

Planning Supervisor

The Planning Supervisor is a client appointment required under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations which came into operation in March 1995. The Planning Supervisor's role is to make sure that all of the legal obligations are met during construction work, with the objectives of making the whole process of the construction, operation and maintenance of buildings as safe as is practical and giving clear guidance in the building documentation as to how to manage the building safely. Clearly, there are some aspects of the process which will never be safe for all people and some operations will require special methods and precautions. The importance is to recognise such situations, and to design and describe acceptable solutions.

We can carry out this role as a stand alone appointment for our clients. Because it is cost effective, we automatically include the role whenever we are acting as project mangers, unless specifically requested not to by our clients, which has not happened to date.

Leasing and Capital Allowances

We are able to arrange for the leasing of fit outs, fixtures and fittings which is advantageous to some clients who prefer to avoid the large demand on cash flow caused by their project, or for other accounting reasons. Clients who are not taxpayers in the UK may also benefit if the tax paying bank behind the lease is able to recover the capital allowances, thereby reducing the cost of the lease.

UK taxpaying companies can claim capital allowances in relation to new industrial premises and plant and machinery. Plant and machinery in the context of commercial space generally covers all aspects of the fit out that is not considered 'the setting'. The allowances have to be negotiated on a one off basis with the revenue and benefit from the work being specified with such claims in mind.

In addition, in certain cases, it is possible to benefit from the sale of the capital allowances since the acquiring bank may be able to achieve a higher level of allowances. Besides, the resulting capital sum may be of considerable benefit as an offset to the capital cost of the work.

We recommend that our clients make the decisions on the viability of their projects without the reliance on capital allowances.

Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

List of services

Building Surveying & Professional Services

• acquisition & building surveys
• defect analysis
• technical reports
• costs advice & budgeting
• reinstatement costs
• building maintenance
• planned & preventative maintenance
• due diligence
• schedules of condition
• schedules of dilapidation
• dilapidation advice
• lease advice
• alteration licences
• third party representation
• statutory consents
• expert witness & Litigation representation
• health & safety advice
• asbestos advice
• disabled access advice
• corporate recovery & insolvency
• disaster recovery
• planning & development advice
• specialist consultancy advice
• specification & tender requirements
• party wall advice
• measured surveys
• insurance claim reinstatement management

Architectural Services & Contract Administration

• refurbishment
• alterations and improvements
• repairs and maintenance
• new build
• internal fit-out
• conversions and extensions
• space planning & audits
• tendering and specification
• contract advice
• turnkey services
• planning supervision

Project Management & Development Monitoring

• project management
• project & development monitoring
• strategic project consultancy
• development advice
• contract administration
• fund monitoring
• tenant monitoring
• employers agent
• cost & procurement advice
• project planning & programming