2019-07-01 Homebuilding & Renovating

homebuilding.co.uk 169

if nobody

clears things

up on site,

the whole

job will get

bogged

down in a

quagmire

of debris

and dust...

cleaning up

is the biggest

grey area

jargOnBusTer

in very basic terms, in

warm roof construction,

insulation sits above

theroofdeckorrafters

(inordertoprevent

coldbridging).in a cold roof

the insulation is between

the rafters and/or below.

Similarly with roof insulation: the
carpenters often install insulation between
the rafters as they go to create a warm roof,
but not necessarily. And when it comes
to installing insulation to a cold roof void,
there really is no trade within whose remit
this falls.

l Leadwork
This used to be the sole responsibility of
the plumbers but, lately, with prefabricated
items being available off the shelf, things
like skirts (a large area of lead typically
found at the bottom of dormers), soakers
(placed under tiles where a roof abuts a
wall or similar) and flashings can fall to the
roofers, the carpenters or the bricklayers.
Make sure that if any leadwork needs
pointing in to the brickwork, someone on
site – usually the bricklayers – is tasked
with the job. And while they’re on with it,
they can point in any putlog holes left when
the scaffolding is removed.

l Filling in holes

The electrician or the plumber may need to
cut a hole in plasterboard to fit their pipes
and wires through. But is it their job to
make good that hole? Usually the answer is
‘no’. So the responsibility for this snagging
job falls to the decorator who should make
good any and all of the blemishes and
rough patches within the home. But make
sure that they understand that.

l Cleaning the site

Unless you get a specialist company in, or
again the onus is on main contractor, this is
nobody’s job except the self-builder’s. Yet it’s
essential and ongoing throughout the build.
If nobody clears things up the whole job will
get bogged down in a quagmire of debris. If
nobody sweeps and vacuums the dust, no
painter in the world can create a good finish.
It seems, depressingly, that no trade
will ever have factored in clearing up
after themselves within their price. It’s
the biggest grey area of them all, and the
job – undertaken by you, theself-builder –
deserves a title all of its own.

insTalling

insulaTiOn

sometasks,such

asinsulatingthe

concreteslab,fall

withintheremitof

onetrade,butnot

alljobsassociated

withinstalling

insulationdo.

hiring

equipmenT

if you’reproject

managing,youwill

beresponsible

forhiring

equipment—

suchasconcrete

mixersforthe

bricklayers.

BeamandBlOck

flOOring

Worktoground

floorbeamand

blockflooringmay

bestartedbythe

groundworkers

andfinishedby

thebricklayers—

butdocheckfrom

theoutset.

cleaning

ThesiTe

Oneofthemost

underestimated

butkeytaskson

site—cleaning

upattheendof

eachday/week

mayfalltothe

self-builder.

snagging

snagging tasks

such as filling

in holes left by

the electricians

completing

second fix work

are usually

undertaken by the

decorator, but not

always.

fivecOmmOn grey areas