The relocation or refurbishment of your business premises will have a number of issues that are unique to your business, but there are also universal matters that are required by all organisations regardless of size. Our web site contains many sections of information that relate to health and safety, fire approval and relevant regulations that must be adhered to, in particular our FAQ section will help with many of these matters. To give a brief overview of these consideration we have set out a list of practical issues that you should address before and during a relocation or refurbishment project. These suggestions are by no means the only matters that will require your attention, and we would be pleased to assist you with any queries that may arise from their perusal. It is certain that you will require someone’s permission to undertake even the minimal amount of refurbishment. Even changing the position of a door will require building control approval and probably the landlords consent. We suggest that at your planning stage you inform your landlord of the Proposal’s to see if they have any objections, if you are altering the fabric of his building you will almost certainly need to consider the long-term dilapidation clause in your lease. Usually the landlord will consent to works that are not controversial, but your lease will contain reference to any works complying with local authority approval. This puts the onus on you to ensure the works meet the appropriate standard. If it is not approved by the authority it will contravene your terms of lease, building approval, insurance cover and in the event of a major disaster resulting in injury or loss of life, could end with imprisonment. Just in all aspect of law, ignorance is not an excuse, so why take unnecessary risks when complying with the regulations is really quite simple. Your local authority will be very interested in any alterations to walls, partitions or changes of travel distances to fire exits that your proposals may contain. This department will usually be based at your council offices, and are often very helpfully in guiding you through the regulations if you have not engaged a professional to help you. We suggest that a visit to them or even better ask them to meet you on site, and armed with a reasonable scaled drawing they will highlight any deficiencies you plan may have and suggest ways of overcoming the problem. Their advice will be limited, as they do not like to be used as a free design service, and also the advice may be generic and with a little knowledge alternative schemes can be found that meet their requirements in a cheaper or more practical way. The ideal scenario is to allow us to formulate the drawing and with our experience we will know what issues the authority will be interested in and design the layout accordingly. Dependant on the type and size of project you will need a FULL PLANS APPLICATION, which requires several sets of detailed drawings to be submitted along with a fee that is based upon the value of the works, and which the authority will often take 4-5 weeks to grant approval. If the work is of a minor nature then a BUILDING NOTICE will be sufficient. This allows works to start within 48 hours of submitting the plans, the only draw back is that consent will still take several weeks and should any faults be found in your scheme you will have to alter them, so this could be expensive if you have not considered the scheme in detail. This is quite a complex regulation and is explained in our FAQ section. Basically it places a legal duty on you and the contractors to ensure a safe working project if your work falls into the criteria. Again if you fall foul of this regulation and an accident happens you can receive an enforcement notice, which means all works must stop while the accident is investigated, and if persons are found to be at fault personal financial penalties will be issued. If you are intending to use a new contractor, maybe ask to see their accident book, or ask them to comply with the CDM regulations, because you can be held accountable for their shortcomings. Once again the risks far outweigh the benefits of ignoring these regulations, so ensure you deal with a competent contractor with a good track record. Most works will require you to notify the Health and Safety executive at least 48 hours before starting work. This simply requires you to fill in an F10 form listing your details, site address, type of work and name of contractors. This allows the HSE to monitor contractors who have come to their attention before, to be aware of the site should an accident happen, and to contact you should an incident occur whilst the site is empty, such as weekends or evenings. There are heavy penalties for not informing the HSE if the worst happens. We recommend that you choose a contractor from a recognised trade association, such as The Association of Interior Specialists. Also it is wise to seek references from their previous clients, particularly if the clients are from a local government department. Ensure that all contractors are quoting like for like and that they include for all necessary components. Ask them to break down the quotation in to relevant trades or areas so you can make a direct comparison. This will highlight any large fluctuations in their costs and allows you to question them in greater detail. The lowest price is not always the best value for money, and you may end up with inferior products that cost little less than proven established products. Also ask the contractors to detail any works that they feel will be needed that you may have overlooked, this will help in assessing the contractors experience and honesty. If possible specify ranges you want installed, rather than allowing all the contractors to put forward their own ranges. If you have not got the time to assess each contractor’s choice of product you may end up with products that fall below your commercial requirements. It is always good to meet with the chosen contractor before work starts to discuss access, security, working hours, extent of disruption to your staff and talk through the whole project so everyone is clear what is required. Also you can check that they have informed all the relevant authorities and have the appropriate approvals. Hopefully this brief summary of the main issues will be of help, please feel free to contact us with any other queries or concerns you may have. We promise to give impartial advise on matters of health and safety and building regulations.