Project Overview:

GHPC Group Ltd worked on behalf of a national Housebuilder to project manage a portfolio of seasonal defects claims relating mainly to water ingress across around 14 separate developments.

On the Client’s behalf, GHPC Group Ltd independently project managed the programme of remedial works to each property including acting as CDM Co-ordinator, assessing each property individually, recording defects identified, instructing contractors, specifying remedial works required, arranging access and co-ordinating all liaison between homeowners and contractors. Homeowners remained in-situ for all works, so access and works were co-ordinated around their availability and requirements.

During the works themselves, GHPC was on-site on a daily basis to monitor works and quality to every property, assess further damage as it was identified once certain areas had been opened up, recording works carried out and any issues encountered. Finally, GHPC would sign off works when satisfactory and report progress & completions to the Client on a regular basis.

The project at Haywards Heath is one of a sample of the 14 projects worked on across Kent, London, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire. It involved an apartment block (four and five storeys) comprising of 65 apartments, constructed circa 2005 where the top floor flats with GRP dormers (11 in total) showed issues with historical and ongoing damp ingress and condensation related problems.

The property had been the subject of an NHBC claim, due to the severe condensation and water ingress through and around the GRP dormer construction and the lead covered mansard roof. Previous investigations had been carried out by both an independent surveyor (appointed by the residents) as well as the NHBC and the housebuilder.

GHPC was appointed to investigate the condensation and water ingress problems, identifying that the make-up of the roof structure was constructed as a hybrid of cold and warm roof without adequate cross-ventilation to any part of the roof voids. In addition to the hybrid construction there were a number of formal cold bridges, areas not insulated (namely junctions between various roof formations - dormer, skilling, mansard), as well as a significant cold bridge formed by a large steel joist which is completely insulated. Faults were also identified with the GRP dormers, which were subsequently remediated.