PROJECTS
How we brought 25 military homes back to life
The vision
As part of their vision to equip defence with a more efficient, better quality estate, the DIO were looking to bring 174 long-term void properties back online – homes that for various reasons were unliveable or in poor repair.
With Mitie overseeing the project, we were brought in to transform 25 of those properties at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire. The brief: To strip out and remediate any issues, and then get them ready to become homes for service families again.
The details
Overview:
Bringing 25 military homes from Void Unavailable (VUN) to Void Available (VAV)
Location:
Catterick, North Yorkshire
Timescale:
10 months
Works included:
- Bronze: New kitchen and bathroom, decoration, flooring
- Silver: Full rewire, new plumbing and heating system throughout, replastering throughout, new kitchen and bathroom, decoration, flooring
- Gold: Same as silver, plus new doors and windows
Plus some additional works for some properties including drying out and extra garden work.
The challenges
25 properties, each in a different state of repair
The initial challenge was working out what each property needed. We agreed on three works packages – gold, silver and bronze – then did a walkaround with the DIO and Mitie to grade each home. We also agreed any extra work outside these packages, like additional bathrooms, fencing or drying out damp properties. The clients now had a clear plan that they could benchmark works against.
A 21-mile drive between properties
The homes were spread across Catterick Garrison – the largest British Army garrison in the world – and visiting all 25 meant a 21-mile drive. This made it much harder to monitor health and safety, quality and logistics.
To handle this, we had two site managers who were constantly mobile, a central site compound for materials and a system to get what was needed to each home.
Drying out time
One property had had a pipe burst in the loft during a cold snap. Because it had been empty, the damage and mould were severe. It took two weeks of forced drying by a professional drying company before the property had its drying certificate and we were able to start work.
The people
Minimum fuss for the client
This was a complex project with many moving parts. As they were managing the refit of 174 properties and 11 other contractors, our main focus was on making life easier for our clients at Mitie and the DIO. This meant making sure they were kept up to date, sticking rigorously to high quality and health and safety standards, and being ready for benchmarking and walkarounds.
A smooth handover and quick response for any snagging
To make sure the service families could settle in comfortably, we put together handover packs containing instruction manuals, guarantees, and information like sanitary ware, type of flooring and paint colours. Then we were on hand to make sure any issues were handled quickly and with minimum disruption.
The impact
25 homes in ship shape and back online for service families, all delivered to high standards with minimum fuss. The properties were snapped up quickly, with the first people moving in within a week of handover. We received hugely positive feedback from both our clients and the new residents.
"As senior project manager overseeing bringing 174 void houses back online, my job was to make sure everything ran smoothly, on time and on budget. Chris and PAH really helped with that. They’re a very helpful company with excellent quality standards and H&S practices – the sort of company where you can relax and know the job will be done, and done to an excellent standard.What mattered most to me was client satisfaction. These are service personnel coming back from deployment, and when we did the walk-arounds with the MOD and DIO after completion, they were very impressed. We guarantee the houses for a year, and anything that came up, PAH dealt with it quickly. Every single service person was really impressed with both the standard of the homes and the aftercare."
David Days
Senior Project Manager, Mitie