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COMMERCIAL REFURBISHMENT
CONTRACTOR IN LONDON

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This page covers what’s different about refurbishing in London, how we work with design teams, and what you can expect from us on cost and programme.

What’s different about London

The building work itself is much the same as anywhere else. Everything around it isn’t:

  • Deliveries. Narrow streets, loading bays shared with other tenants, and building managers who allocate slots. We book every delivery, consolidate where we can, and use vehicles that meet ULEZ standards.
  • Licences. Skips, scaffolding, hoarding and parking suspensions all need borough licences, each with its own lead time. We apply for them and build the lead times into the programme.
  • Noise and working hours. Boroughs and building managers set the hours for noisy work. Where that’s not enough, we plan noisy work for evenings or weekends with the building’s agreement, or apply for consent.
  • Neighbours. In most London buildings there are tenants above, below or next door. We agree access routes, lift use, protection and working hours with the building manager before start.
  • Listed buildings and conservation areas. Much of London’s commercial stock is listed or in a conservation area. We’ve worked on Grade II and Grade II* buildings and know how to work alongside conservation officers. See heritage and listed building refurbishment.

Working with your design team

We’re used to being appointed after the design is done, and we respect that it’s the architect’s and QS’s job, not ours. That means:

  • Pricing the tender documents as issued and raising queries before we price
  • Tracking every RFI and design query in Procore, so the design team can see what’s outstanding and when it’s needed
  • Telling the architect and QS together about any design change that affects cost or programme, before it’s drawn up
  • Running valuations and variations exactly as the contract says

Where you’d rather appoint us earlier, we also work under two-stage tenders and design and build.

Cost and programme

Every month you get a cost report in the same format from start to finish: contract sum, approved and pending variations, provisional sums, risks and anticipated final account. Applications are mapped to your contract sum analysis and substantiated with photos and instruction references. The detail is on our cost reporting and valuations page.

On programme, you get one named project manager and one site manager from start to handover, a weekly look-ahead, and early warning of anything that threatens the completion date.

Buildings that stay occupied

Many London refurbishments happen floor by floor while the rest of the building stays open. We phase the works, keep our routes separate from tenants’, and plan noisy and dusty work around the building’s working day. Harlow Civic Centre is an example: three floors refurbished in 12 weeks while the council kept working. Case study

Recent London projects

  • Brunello Cucinelli, Mayfair: luxury retail fit-out. Case study
  • Old Broad Street, City of London: Case study
  • AlphaSense: office fit-out. Case study
  • City Bouldering, Aldgate: specialist leisure fit-out. Case study
  • The King’s Trust, Blackfriars: Case study

For office-only work, see office refurbishment in London.

Questions to ask any contractor

  1. Which London refurbishments of a similar value have you completed in the last two years?
  2. Who will be our project manager and site manager, and will they stay for the whole job?
  3. How do you handle borough licences and delivery restrictions?
  4. Can we see a sample monthly cost report?
  5. Can we speak to the architect and QS on a recent project?
What size of commercial refurbishment does Eden Build take on in London?

Typically £100,000 to £4 million, covering offices, retail, leisure, education and mixed-use buildings.
Do you work with an existing architect and quantity surveyor?

Yes. Most of our London work is consultant-led under a JCT contract. We also work under two-stage tenders and design and build.
Can you refurbish while the rest of the building stays occupied?

Yes. We phase the works floor by floor, keep our routes separate from tenants’, and plan noisy work around the building’s working day.
Who arranges skip, scaffold and hoarding licences?

We do. We apply to the borough for skips, scaffolding, hoarding and parking suspensions, and build their lead times into the programme.
Can you work evenings and weekends?

Yes, where the building and the borough allow it. Noisy work is often limited to set hours, so we plan it around those limits from the start.
How do you manage deliveries in central London?

Every delivery is booked into an agreed slot, consolidated where possible and made in vehicles that meet ULEZ standards.