星空传媒

In September 2000, Coventry city council transferred its entire housing stock of over 19,000 properties to Whitefriars, a registered social landlord. Tenants voted in favour of the massive handover because moving out of local authority ownership was the only way to upgrade their properties. The council鈥檚 housing budget was only sufficient to cover emergency repairs and health and safety issues. The council wasn鈥檛 allowed to borrow the estimated 拢230m needed for catch-up repairs and improvements to bring the homes to a reasonable standard.

If they transferred, residents were promised an ambitious list of external works and a huge refurbishment programme, including rewiring, replumbing, reroofing and repointing. Whitefriars also promised it would replace all the windows and doors in the 19,000 homes within three years of the transfer 鈥� significantly faster than anything the council could achieve.

鈥淭hat level of programme to that timetable is unusual,鈥� says Lorraine Knibb, Whitefriars project manager for the windows and doors refurbishment. 鈥淭he local authority couldn鈥檛 move at that speed, mainly because it didn鈥檛 have that kind of money or expertise.鈥�

We want windows!
The properties are a mix of early post-war and some pre-war; many of the 1950s/60s-built homes have had little investment. Replacing the windows was the work most eagerly anticipated by tenants.

鈥淚n the last years of council ownership, the improvement programme had dwindled to almost nothing,鈥� says Knibb. 鈥淢ost of the budget was going on fulfilling health and safety obligations and vital repairs. Many of the wooden and metal windows were ready to fall out and really couldn鈥檛 last much longer.鈥�

Before the transfer had taken place, Whitefriars was already determined to do something different. It decided against tendering out the work in favour of long-term partnerships.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time that stock repair and improvement work on this scale has been tackled in this way,鈥� says Whitefriars chief executive Howard Farrand. 鈥淲e had to undergo something of a culture shock before adopting the partnering approach. Traditional tendering methods would have required an army of people to administer, and the complex logistics would have brought potential delays, cost overruns and a confrontational approach from contractors who might not share the same objectives. In short, back to the old 鈥榖lame and claim鈥� culture.鈥�

This innovative approach helps explain why Whitefriars is a Rethinking Construction demonstration project.

鈥淭he scale of the refurbishment lets contractors forward-plan their material purchases, so we also get fixed prices,鈥� says Mike Brown, director of property investment at Whitefriars. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 important for us because, as with all big urban housing transfers, the low value of the housing stock meant we had to take out a 100% mortgage to raise funds for the refurbishment, leaving us with very little headroom on costs.鈥�

the profit is in the bag for the contractor

Mike Brown, Director

Partnering lets Whitefriars continually review price without running up against contractors with a vested interest in keeping it high. 鈥淲e guarantee the contractors鈥� profit,鈥� says Brown. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in the bag, they鈥檝e got it.鈥�

Whitefriars also pays out half the cost of each job when the contractor starts work, with the remainder on completion. As a result, the contractor doesn鈥檛 have to turn to its suppliers for credit. Crushing out credit from the supply chain in this way has allowed Whitefriars to negotiate price reductions with its contractors.

Given the size of the windows and doors refurbishment project, Whitefriars wanted to partner with a large company that had enough resources to cope. However, it didn鈥檛 want to put all its eggs in one basket, so it chose two partners, Anglian Windows and Graham-Holmes Astraseal, for its windows and doors project, signing a PPC 2000 contract with them.

The profits of partnership
鈥淚t鈥檚 much better for us than constant tendering,鈥� says Astraseal managing director, Andrew McEwan. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e tendering you have to spend time estimating absolutely everything. Now we can dedicate our time to administering larger, more significant contracts instead of smaller, more fragmented contracts.

鈥淲e can also plan production because we know the volumes we need. If the price of raw materials rises, then we can discuss that with Whitefriars. It鈥檚 a two way benefit: if we make savings, we have to notify Whitefriars and split the savings with them.鈥�

For example, composite doors from third parties were originally specified, but when guaranteed deliveries repeatedly failed to turn up, Astraseal suggested substituting cheaper PVC doors it made itself, fitted with extra panels for strength. Whitefriars was happy with the security, insulation and design options for tenants, and approved the change, with the result that both Whitefriars and Astraseal cut around 20% off their door costs.

Likewise, when the new Part L appeared this year halfway through the refurbishment, Astraseal discussed the options with Whitefriars, realising that the use of low-E glazing in the laminated safety glass specified could have left the landord鈥檚 windows budget in big trouble. The upshot was that low-E glass was used, at no extra cost to Whitefriars, by despecifying the glazing to toughened rather than laminated.

Five have the value of 20
鈥淯nder a strict, formal, tender-based contract, we could have turned round and said, 鈥榊ou specified laminated glass and that鈥檚 what you鈥檒l get,鈥� but partnering is good for us too because it lets us plan our resource management for the year,鈥� says Richard Essam, Astraseal estimating and surveying manager. 鈥淚t lessens our overheads because we don鈥檛 have to flit from one contract tender to another, which is a big cost. Now we have five contracts compared with 20 contracts previously for the same value turnover.鈥�

there鈥檚 none of this 鈥榠t鈥檚 your problem鈥�

Lorraine Knibb, Project manager

Partnering with Whitefriars has also helped Astraseal justify its investment in its factories in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. Production capacity has doubled to 3,000 windows per week, with around 16% of output going to the Whitefriars project.

Knibb is also enthusiastic about partnering: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got contacts on the ground and we can work with them in finding solutions to problems. There鈥檚 none of this 鈥業t鈥檚 your problem鈥� attitude. It used to be them and us with contractors - they all had their own agenda.鈥�

The whole partnering approach is not without critics. Councils that sign up with a large contractor tend to lose out in the long run, believes partnering consultant Peter Gracia. 鈥淚t just adds a layer of management,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he contractor simply takes on local subbies, who鈥檇 have been doing the job anyway, and commits them to hitting the key performance indicators. Councils could achieve the same by putting more work out to local subbies at the start and being more proactive with them.鈥�

In the front line
In the case of Whitefriars, Knibb disagrees. 鈥淭here is no extra layer of management. Our partners are in the front line if anything goes wrong. That鈥檚 an awful lot of responsibility. We鈥檝e gained considerable cost advantages from economies of scale. And we can get issues sorted out quickly.鈥�

The partnering arrangement has also led to the creation of 95 new jobs in Coventry, half of which have been taken by local people. Astraseal, for example, has taken on and trained Coventry people, including young unemployed, who will achieve NVQ level 2 and 3 with the help of its training staff.

To date, 9,000 homes have been fitted with new windows. At the high point of refurbishment, 130 homes were being completed each week. The 3,500 homes that were single-glazed by the council 10 years ago will also be asked whether they want double-glazing.

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