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BUILDING DESIGN &
CONSTRUCTION THE MAGAZINE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
OCTOBER 2013 ISSUE 190
OCTOBER 2013
BUILDING DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
WELSH GOVERNMENT
WORKING FOR A FAIRER AND PROSPEROUS WALES
A PROUD SAFETY RECORD
PRIDE (SERP) LTD NORLAND MANAGED SERVICES EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE, EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE
GOING FOR GOLD AT THE
ROSPA AWARDS
STILES HAROLD WILLIAMS
MAKING PROPERTY WORK
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PROPERTY AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: STILES HAROLD WILLIAMS
MAKING PROPERTY WORK IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET, MAKING PROPERTY WORK FOR YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS REQUIRES THE BEST ADVICE, ON TIME, EVERY TIME. STILES HAROLD WILLIAMS STRIVES TO PROVIDE THAT ADVICE.
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PROPERTY AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: STILES HAROLD WILLIAMS ith a history dating back to 1798 and a business firmly established as a multi-disciplined firm of Chartered Surveyors, Stiles Harold Williams took the strategic decision two years ago to substantially expand into residential property management. The firm’s background and its particular focus on big mixed use, mixed tenure, town centre regeneration projects, allowed it to adopt a holistic approach, according to Head of Residential Management Nicholas Faulkner: “We had a very substantial building consultancy division with building surveyors based in a variety of offices, so our property managers can count on their support. Additionally, we now use a bespoke software package that forms and runs residents’ limited companies for our clients, whilst our insurance department works very closely with a firm of insurance brokers to enable us to offer a full range of policies.” “We have even created a highly specialist legal expenses policy to support Resident Management Companies in Leasehold Valuation Tribunal disputes, which is the first in the market. As a result we have a very broad approach and, if we are dealing with commercial properties, particularly mixed use nowadays, we can offer both capabilities — letting them through our local commercial office and selling commercial investments onward if our clients wish.”
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Admiralty Quarter, a property in Portsmouth that has 566 apartments, three retail units, a public car park and a private car park
RESIDENT MANAGEMENT COMPANIES The new strategy has helped the firm build up to the point where it now manages in excess of 7,500 residential units. As it can handle the full property management cycle from initial management strategy, clients are a mix of developers (including Barratt Homes, Crest Nicholson and Redrow Homes), third party building owners such as several substantial Housing Associations, and the Resident Management Companies to which blocks are transferred after completion. Nicholas says: “We work directly with developers to set up the service charge management strategies, liaise with solicitors to make sure everything is right from day one. We then progress those schemes through a number of phases, ultimately transferring the management, often to Resident Management Companies.” Typical of that process is Admiralty Quarter, a property in Portsmouth that has 566 apartments, three retail units, a public car park and a private car
park. “We acted for the developers, Crest Nicholson, and piloted the development through the change of management to the residents,” recalls Nicholas. “We called an inaugural extraordinary general meeting to elect the volunteer directors, helped with the first board meeting for those directors, explained what is involved for each of them and helped guide them through the administration of their company. “The scheme has a number of schedules, some rather complicated mechanical and electrical elements, and full time staff on site. There is a wide range of contractor involvement and everything has to work effectively for these volunteer directors. I think a lot of RMC directors are unsung heroes of
“WE WORK DIRECTLY WITH DEVELOPERS TO SET UP THE SERVICE CHARGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES, LIAISE WITH SOLICITORS TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS RIGHT FROM DAY ONE” NICHOLAS FAULKNER HEAD OF RESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT www.bdcmagazine.co.uk
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PROPERTY AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT: STILES HAROLD WILLIAMS the industry! It’s one thing to rely on your managing agent but, to make correct policy decisions regarding where you live, it means giving up a lot of time and making a substantial commitment.” COMMON GOALS When Stiles Harold Williams acts on behalf of Resident Management Companies, there is no fine line between the owners’ and tenants’ interests. However, when the two are separate, Nicholas believes they both have the same general goal of wanting the building maintained in good order and so doesn’t see any need for conflict. The way to avoid any problems, he insists, is through good quality communication: “At the start of every service charge year, when residents receive their demand, we issue detailed notes of explanation regarding the service charge elements so that residents know what they’re paying towards. We might need to explain, for example, that a fire risk assessment is required, due to a particular piece of legislation. We expect to have an on-going dialogue with residents and attend meetings during the annual cycle of the building. If any major work is required, we step through a consultation process and carefully advise our clients, often calling a meeting to discuss the issue, which we find works very well indeed.” Providing service charge information in advance tends to avoid unnecessary arrears, and Stiles Harold Williams further helps the situation by allowing monthly payments by direct debit or standing order at no charge to the resident. Many of their
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“OUR INSURANCE DEPARTMENT WORKS VERY CLOSELY WITH A FIRM OF INSURANCE BROKERS TO ENABLE US TO OFFER A FULL RANGE OF POLICIES” competitors, claims Nicholas, charge for this extended service. “Ultimately, our business is about collecting the service charges and then paying to make sure the building is cleaned and operates efficiently,” remarks Nicholas. “On a simple layout, this sounds fairly straight-forward although not everyone is aware that there are 87 separate sections of legislation that cover the statutory compliance of what we do.” Communication flows by a variety of methods. Increasingly, property directors are using electronic document stores and specific property portals to download documents and see relevant information such as insurance certificates, newsletters, images and other specific information. These make it quicker to share the same information and easier to inform colleagues. Of course, some notices still need to be served in paper form. APPROVED CONTRACTORS To handle the work, Stiles Harold Williams has developed an extensive database of trusted con-
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tractors, service suppliers, insurance brokers, accountants and others. All go through a pre-qualification process and are monitored and controlled. Nicholas advises: “We have a full time Health and Safety Director whose role includes the maintenance of the Approved Contractor list. All our suppliers are required to have an annual Health and Safety check and have to fulfil certain requirements that include conforming to industry regulations in their specific field. A good example would be being SafeGas accredited. They also have to keep up to date with their professional and public liability insurances. That requires constant monitoring because they don’t all renew their insurances at the same time. We also like to hear feedback from the directors as to supplier performance.” To operate a residential building safely means undertaking regular health and safety checks. These might include Legionella testing of communal water tanks and the identification and dissemination to contractors of asbestos incidences. Added to the regular work are one-off projects, where good
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communication is essential because of the scale of work involved in larger buildings. One requirement to recarpet the communal areas of one building required over three miles of carpets! Taking care of the detail is essential so that leaseholders can understand the full extent of the job. REDUCING ENERGY USE Property directors are increasingly focused on reducing energy use and simultaneously saving money. These, as Nicholas says, sometimes have unforeseen outcomes: “For a while we have been working with a utility broker to look at energy costs. We started off by brokering the electricity supply and then in came combined heat and power plants”. “Recently we have started looking at various green initiatives and now we’re looking at light fittings, with a suggestion to move away from fluorescent and install PIR sensors. We've just concluded an exercise for the client where the potential payback is two years if we change the car park lighting to LEDs. In some of these big buildings, the electricity bill can be in the region of £100,000 a year so we are always on the lookout for valuable client cost-savings.” Nicholas has instigated a sensibility check when it takes over a new property with the aim of reducing out-going costs. A recent example was the discovery that the previous managing agent, having never brokered the electricity supply, had been paying bills with an incorrect 20% VAT rate. Spotting and correcting that resulted in a £20,000 refund and lower bills for the client from then on.
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A FOCUS ON INNOVATION The oldest current SHW client has been on the books since 1908. Not content to deliver the “same old, same old”, the modern Stiles Harold Williams is focused on continued innovation where it provides client benefits. Comments Nicholas: “We are comfortable with addressing green issues. We are using electronic storage systems and websites to improve our communications between our clients and their residents. One such system allows developers to upload their electronic files to create CDM manuals; this assists greatly with the smooth transfer to Resident Management Company control at the end of the development. We are also light years ahead from the insurance perspective in some of the products that we offer. We’re simply not resting on our laurels.” Indeed, rather than resting, the firm is planning further expansion. Already extremely well-placed in the Southeast and London, it has moved into the Midlands over the last two years. That expansion is likely to extend further north and west, with new office openings meeting clients’ needs. Nicholas says: “Our clients are currently happy with where we’re based. However, our discussion with developers and Residents Management Companies are on a national basis and, as they want us to look after properties further afield, we will expand our reach to continue to offer a great service”. www.shw.co.uk Tel: 020 7389 1500
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