We were awarded this internal painting and decorating contract in April 2017, on this new-build council housing project for Darlington Borough Council. The work itself was managed from our Richmond, North Yorkshire branch office and supported from our North Lincolnshire Head Office.
Our operatives applied 1 mist and 2 coats of Crown vinyl matt to the ceilings and walls throughout. Various woodworks received 1 undercoat and 2 coats of Crown oil based satinwood. Primed woodworks received 1 undercoat and 1 gloss, and other woodworks received 1 undercoat and 2 coats of gloss.
In delivering this service we drew on our experience of projects of a similar type involving interaction and co-ordination with other contractors on a busy site, including other framework projects for Darlington Council. Previous relevant projects included maintenance and repair contracts and new-build projects for Housing Associations, Councils and University halls of residence, as well as redecorations to functioning office and factory premises. These included Procter & Gamble offices and Ministry of Defence bases in North Yorkshire and the north east.
We provided input to a programme of works in consultation with the Council and other contractors on site. This allowed us to identify and resolve any quality risks (for example, if another trade was programmed to work in a newly decorated area – causing rework). A full method statement and associated risk assessments were provided to the Council for acceptance prior to work starting.
All works were delivered by our CSCS accredited workforce, supervised by SSSTS accredited supervisors. Members of our management team and quality assurance personnel hold Paint Inspector certification and carried out regular site inspections.- including formal reporting to ensure compliance with recognised trade standards. The supervisor monitored works on a day to day basis to check compliance with the specification.
We used the Company skills matrix to select appropriately trained personnel for the specific requirements of this contract. This matrix is maintained by our Training Department and is updated weekly to show all course expiry and refresher dates to ensure our workforce and staff maintain their qualifications.
All materials specified were ordered through our Buying Department and checked for conformity with the purchase order by the site supervisor on delivery. We tracked materials through the supervisor’s daily log, which included the batch numbers of materials used and recorded quantities. At Head Office we retained a record of all materials ordered and received.
The Company considers communication before, during and after projects to be of vital importance. This includes communicating with all facility users/building occupants. During our planning of the works, all employees were inducted on the importance of liaising with building occupants and maintaining communication throughout the project.
Before and during the work we participated in meetings with all relevant parties to co-ordinate collectively on carrying out the works with the minimum disruption to other trades and building occupiers. Contact details were given out for our supervisor and the Operations Director, as well as more general branch and Head Office details.
We implemented our Customer Care Charter on the contract to ensure teams remained focus on customer service. The Charter sets out the following requirements:
We have a Sustainability Policy and also hold ISO 14001 accreditation. Compliance with our environmental management system at site level was monitored by the site supervisor and during regular visits by the Operations Director and members of the HSEQ Department.
The main environmental issue for the painting and decorating service was recycling and waste management. Our principal waste consisted of empty paint tins, which were returned to the branch office using our Waste Carriers Licence and placed in a dedicated 40 cubic yard skip for onward recycling by our registered waste disposal contractor when full.
Another factor for consideration was vehicle journeys to and from the various sites. We planned routes in advance, using satellite navigation and drawing on our local knowledge to minimise fuel consumption and maximise vehicle occupancy. Our Company vehicle fleet is updated on a regular basis to ensure we use vehicles with modern, low emission technology.
The work was completed in August 2018 to the value of £145,000.
