Case Study: Ty Glas

Situation

Level Contracts worked on the government office block, Ty Glas, in Cardiff from 6th January 2020 to the 13th March 2020. The total value for this contract was a circa £445,000.00 and ran for just over three months.

Task

Female WC’s:

• Strip out and Disposal of existing Cubicles, Sink Unit, Vinyl Flooring, Ceiling Tiles and 1 Nr Coat Hanger. 4 Nr Cubicles and 1 Nr Disabled Cubicle; 1 Nr 1000mm Sink Unit with Double Base Unit; Removal of Ceiling Tiles & Vinyl Flooring – Toilet Area – 3.5m x 8m = 28m2; Removal of Ceiling Tiles & Vinyl Flooring – Toilet Lobby Area – 2m x 2.5m = 6m2. Set aside all dispensers for reuse / refit to new Cubicles.
• Replace existing Wash Hand Basins and Taps within existing Vanity Unit. 5 Nr Existing Wash Hand Basins; New Taps to be Monobloc Thermostatic Mixer Tap.
• Whiterock existing Vanity Unit and allow for 3 Nr Access Hatches to be cut into existing Unit. Existing Vanity Unit is circa 5.8m (L) x 1.04 (H).
• Remove existing capping detail to Vanity Unit along with Splashback and replace with White MFC Capping Detail and White UPVC Splashback Detail. Capping Detail runs the full Length of the Vanity Unit and is circa 250mm in Depth. White UPVC Splashback Detail to run full Length of Vanity Unit Wall (to Mirror Height – 210mm in Height from Vanity Unit Top and 355mm in Height from Sink Unit Top) so it Sits above Vanity Unit and Sink Unit – Length of Wall = 7.5m (taking into account return of 0.6m for Sink Unit).
• Supply and Install White Splashback Detail which will sit FFL to Height of Hand dryers. Splashback will be circa 2.5m x 1.5m and will need to be fitted behind or cut around existing Mirror.
• Replace ceiling tiles with Gypsum Satin Spar (Wipeable) 600 x 600mm Square Edge Ceiling Tiles. Existing Ceiling Track to be used. Toilet Area – 3.5m x 8m = 28m2; Toilet Lobby Area – 2m x 2.5m = 6m2.
• Replace existing Light Fittings with 600 x 600 LED Light Panels. Existing Lights Toilet Area – 5 Nr Spotlights and 4 Nr 600 x 600 Lights. Existing Lights Toilet Lobby Area – 1 Nr 600 x 600 Light. Allow for Emergency Lights.
• Replace existing Toilet Seats for new Heavy Duty White Toilet Seats, with movement resisting fittings.
• Clean Vents on Wall, wipe down as they cannot be removed.
• Remove 2 Nr Doors prior to Vinyl Flooring Works and Reinstate upon completion, plane if required to suit new Vinyl Flooring.
• Supply and Installation of Vinyl Flooring (Polysafe) to Toilet Area and Toilet Lobby Area. Black Vinyl Skirting to be used as Coved Formed Skirting’s cannot be achieved without removing the Toilet Pans.
• Decoration Works to all Walls within Toilet Area and Toilet Lobby Area. Trade Diamond Matt – White or Magnolia. Remove any loose items i.e. Dispensers etc and Decorate behind, reinstate once Decoration Works are completed.
• Decorate Service Rise Door – incl Architrave and Casing. Colour / Specification of Paint TBC.
• Supply and Install 1 Nr Sink Unit with Double Base Unit. Specification (Howdens): Base Units and End Panels:Greenwich White Gloss; Worktop: White; Sink: Lamona Single Bowl; Tap: Lamona Bolsena Single Lever. Supply and Install new CGL Cubicles to match existing configuration. Colour White. 4 Nr Cubicles and 1 Nr Disabled Cubicle.
• Silicone around all Toilet Pans once Vinyl Flooring has been completed. 5 Nr Toilet Pans. Sugar Soap Cleaning of existing Doors (2Nr).
• Sparkle Clean of Area upon Completion of Works.

Male WC’s:

• Strip out and Dispose of existing Cubicles, Sink Unit, Vinyl Flooring, Ceiling Tiles and Coat Hanger. 2 Nr Cubicles and 1 Nr Disabled Cubicle; 1 Nr 1000mm Sink Unit with Double Base Unit; Removal of Ceiling Tiles & Vinyl Flooring – Toilet Area – 3.5m x 7m = 24.5m2; Removal of Ceiling Tiles & Vinyl Flooring – Toilet Lobby Area – 2m x 1.5m = 3m2; Set aside all dispensers for reuse / refit to new Cubicles.
• Replace existing Wash Hand Basins and Taps within existing Vanity Unit. 4 Nr Existing Wash Hand Basins; New Taps to be Monobloc Thermostatic Mixer Tap.
• Whiterock existing Vanity Unit and allow for 3 Nr Access Hatches to be cut into existing Unit. Existing Vanity Unit is circa 3.3m (L) x 1.04 (H).
• Remove existing capping detail to Vanity Unit along with Splashback and replace with White MFC Capping Detail and White UPVC Splashback Detail. Capping Detail runs the full Length of the Vanity Unit and is circa 250mm in Depth. White UPVC Splashback Detail to run full Length of Vanity Unit Wall (to Mirror Height – 210mm in Height from Vanity Unit Top and 355mm in Height from Sink Unit Top) so it Sits above Vanity Unit and Sink Unit – Length of Wall = 5.3m.
• Supply and Install White Splashback Detail which will sit FFL to Height of Hand dryers. Splashback will be circa 2.5m x 1.5m and will need to be fitted behind or cut around existing Mirror.
• Replace ceiling tiles with Gypsum Satin Spar (Wipeable) 600 x 600mm Square Edge Ceiling Tiles. Existing Ceiling Track to be used. Ceiling Tiles – Toilet Area – 3.5m x 8m = 28m2; Ceiling Tiles – Toilet Lobby Area – 2m x 2.5m = 6m2. Allow for reinstating / cutting around existing Services i.e. Detector Heads, Light Sensors etc.
• Replace existing Light Fittings with 600 x 600 LED Light Panels. Existing Lights Toilet Area – 3 Nr Spotlights and 4 Nr 600 x 600 Lights. Existing Lights Toilet Lobby Area – 1 Nr 600 x 600 Light. Allow for Emergency Lights.
• Replace existing Toilet Seats for new Heavy Duty White Toilet Seats, with movement resisting fittings.
• Clean Vents on Wall, wipe down as they cannot be removed.
• Remove 2 Nr Doors prior to Vinyl Flooring Works and Reinstate upon completion, plane if required to suit new Vinyl Flooring.
• Supply and Installation of Vinyl Flooring (Polysafe) to Toilet Area and Toilet Lobby Area. Black Vinyl Skirting to be used as Coved Formed Skirting’s cannot be achieved without removing the Toilet Pans.
• Decoration Works to all Walls within Toilet Area and Toilet Lobby Area. Trade Diamond Matt – White or Magnolia. Remove any loose items i.e. Dispensers etc and Decorate behind, reinstate once Decoration Works are completed.
• Decorate Service Rise Door – incl Architrave and Casing. Colour / Specification of Paint TBC.
• Supply and Install 1 Nr Sink Unit with Double Base Unit. Specification (Howdens): Base Units and End Panels: Greenwich White Gloss; Worktop: White; Sink: Lamona Single Bowl; Tap: Lamona Bolsena Single Lever.
• Supply and Install new CGL Cubicles to match existing configuration. Colour White. 2 Nr Cubicles and 1 Nr Disabled Cubicle.
• Silicone around all Toilet Pans once Vinyl Flooring has been completed. 3 Nr Toilet Pans.
• Sugar Soap Cleaning of existing Doors (2Nr).
• Steam clean existing Tiled Surface underneath Urinal and regrout Tiles. Existing Tiles are to be retained.
• Sparkle Clean of Area upon Completion of Works.

The project had to be delivered within a ‘live environment’ with works being undertaken during normal working hours and whilst staff occupied all 16 floors of the property. We liaised closely with Mapeley and HMRC to put forwards a programme which phased the works in an order which would least impact upon the building users. The phased programme resulted in us working across two floor at a time as per the below schedule:

• Phase 1 (Two Weeks) – 16th & 7th Floor WC’s.
• Phase 2 (Two Weeks) – 13th & 5th Floor WC’s.
• Phase 3 (Two Weeks) – 12th & 3rd Floor WC’s.
• Phase 4 (Two Weeks) – 14th & 6th Floor WC’s.
• Phase 5 (Two Weeks) – 4th & 2nd Floor WC’s.

It was agreed during the pre-start meeting that two phases could not take place at the same time, therefore it was imperative that we stuck to the programme to ensure there wasn’t an impact to the phases as a result of delays.

Actions/ Activities

Issues were overcome by making deliveries outside of regular working hours to avoid impacting existing staff. Waste was also removed from the site outside of normal working hours and via dedicated agreed routes to limit any impact upon the building users.

A clear route was placed from our designated building access/egress point to our site compound, with signage to warn others of the ongoing activities.

Site hoarding was provided between the building users and our operatives so as to keep the construction works completely separate to staff / visitors which helped to eliminate any H&S risks.

We fulfilled our duties by ensuring that our onsite H&S File was kept up to date with all relevant sections updated daily by our site manager and PM. This resulted in weekly H&S audits by our PM and daily checks by our SM, passed onto all stakeholders for their review. A contractor’s report was also issued weekly. All of the above measures helped us to deliver the works without any near misses, injuries or accidents.

Results

The project was successfully delivered between our site and management team. All stakeholders were happy from inception to completion, with no issues being reported throughout.