Considerate constructors win praise
Helping nursery pupils to gain a better understanding of house building, daily liaison with neighbours and strict controls over on-site conduct have earned one of North Kesteven District Council’s contractors top accreditation as a Considerate Constructor.
Robert Woodhead Ltd is this week putting the finishing touches in place on five new council houses built at a cost of £500,000 at Pinfold Lane, Ruskington.
The outstanding finish to the buildings and considerate, respectful, environmentally sound, responsible and safe way in which they have been constructed has won the admiration of Council officers and members and at least four written compliments from within the community.
Assessors from the building industry’s Considerate Constructors Scheme which monitors a firm’s conduct against the scheme’s requirements say the exceptional score of 36 out of 40 shows ‘a very high level beyond compliance’ and puts it in line for a national award. Across two assessments the score was 70.5 out of 80.
The monitor David Pickett singled out site manager Pete Winson for congratulations, saying he had developed ‘excellent relations’ with neighbours through a range of initiatives which included personal and written updates on progress and goodwill gestures like free supply of building materials, fence repairs, logging of a tree and washing of adjacent fascia boards.
Children at the nearby Ruskington Rascals Nursery were given fortnightly briefings at the site entrance and guided around the completed houses by Mr Winson, who had given bricks, cladding boards and guttering to help them with their activities at nursery. There was even a waterbowl for passing dogs.
“I’m very passionate about my job and concerned about the neighbours, who are always my first priority. I won’t tolerate any swearing or unnecessary noise and always run a clean and tidy site, said Mr Winson, whose next job is to oversee the first new building project at Lincoln Castle in more than a century.
“One of the best things was that the neighbour I spoke to daily said that if she hadn’t looked out of her window she’d not have even known there was a building site here, we were so quiet and courteous.”
Councillor Stewart Ogden, NKDC Executive Member with responsibility for housing, said, “This is one of the best sites we have dealt with, in terms of both the management of the development phase and the superb finished results.
“I have no doubt that the tenants will reap the benefits of the care that has been taken in every respect of this project and it has certainly ensured a positive relationship with the wider community.”
The buildings are timber framed and pre-fabricated and went up very quickly, which helped towards the completion one month ahead of schedule. There are three houses and two bungalows, comprising a mix of two or three bedrooms.
On top of the heat recovery and insulation measures which are typical of all NKDC new-build homes – and in excess of industry standards – bird and bat boxes, low energy light fittings and water butts are even included to ensure a high sustainability rating and each house will be left with a pack of useful numbers and details of the plumbers, electricians and other trades involved in their construction.
As with all 46 new homes built in the three-phase £6.2m new-build programme, they have been jointly financed through a government Homes & Communities Agency grant and NKDC funding.
Areas where Robert Woodhead Ltd were singled out for praise included:
> Letters sent prior to commencement to those potentially affected by the work
> Unobstructed roads and footpaths
> Monitoring of the site’s carbon footprint
> Site remains clean, tidy and well-presented; clean vehicles and waste
> Timber obtained from sustainable sources
> Use of local labour and materials
> Restricted site hours, with neighbours told of any change
> Excellent relations with neighbours
> Appropriate dress and courteous conduct and behaviour from all site operatives, with zero tolerance on swearing and restricted use of music and mobile phones.
> Invitation of suggestions to exceed compliance of the CCS code
> All near-miss accident information is studied for further improvements
Feel free to use the attached photo of Pete Winson, site manager for Robert Woodhead Ltd and children from Ruskington Rascals Nursery on site at Pinfold Lane, Ruskington.