CA2/895/2

Kempston; `The Barns' Childrens Home, High St: adaptations and additions (P.743; SS/K2/P2) Tied Bundle of Papers

1973-1982

From: 1973 To: 1982

includes: Schedule of Tenders for Electrical Engineering Services; two tenders submitted from each Contractor, one for 65 weeks and one for 91 weeks: R Clarke Ltd, 4 Bedford Road, Barton-le-Clay £8,254.59 £8,778.83 J A Wady Ltd, 1a Balsall Street, Bedford (first tender received late) £9,203.47 £10,092.37 J Wesley Ltd, 25 Greys Lane, Hitchin, Hertfordshire £8,620.51 £9,223.58 R J Constant Ltd, 79 Garfield Street, Bedford £8,112.00 £8,741.00 Bedfordshire Electrical Contractors Ltd, Industrial Unit A, College Street, Kempston £11,699.48 £11,184.10 M & D Electrical Ltd, 41 Manor Road, Rushden, Northamptonshire £8,393.36 £9,057.47 with recommendation to accept the tender of R J Constant; 24 November 1975 Final Account for Alterations and Extensions; Tender Amount £131,185; Actual Total £128,666.99; 28 May 1982 Quotation from Heywood Patent Glazing Systems, Birds Royd Works, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, for 5 rooflights (supply only), £108 in total; 12 March 1976 Quotation from Midland Structures Limited, Ampthill Road, Bedford, for the fabrication, supply, delivery and erection of External Mild Steel Fire Escape Stairway; £623 (subject to VAT); 14 June 1976 Schedule of Tenders for External Mild Steel Fire Escape Stairway: 28 May 1976 Safety Tread Limited, Crown Wharf Iron Works, Dace Road, Old Ford, London E3 £718 D Mackay, Britannia Works, East Road, Cambridge £895.50 J Starkie Gardner Limited, Lady Lane Industrial Estate, Hadleigh, Ipswich £845 Charles Head, Tavistock Street, Bletchley - Borough Engineering Works Limited, Leagrave Road, Luton £625 Midland Structures Limited, Ampthill Road, Bedford £527 £623 for revised design requested by telephone Tenders for Mechanical Engineering Services from John Corby & Son (Bedford) Ltd, Heating & Ventilation Division, 27 Tavistock Street, Bedford: £12,297.17; 21 November 1975 £11,961.79 (reduced price); 20 November 1975; with covering letter 11 February 1976 Schedule of Tenders for Mechanical Engineering: 24 November 1975 Relyon Heating Ltd, 36a Leagrave Road, Luton £12,631 £13,277 John Corby & Son Ltd £12,297.17 £11,961.79 Plested & James Ltd, 6b Tudor Road, Luton £12,335.38 £13,407 Pace Heating Ltd, 6 Park Road, Sandy £15,938 £15,314 R Parsons, Thrift Street, Wollaston, Northamptonshire £14,354.17 £13,999.25 Tender for Trussed Rafter Trusses from John Wright & Son (Redditch) Ltd, Diglis Dock, Worcester, for £450.81 (before VAT); 25 July 1975 Schedule of Tenders for Trussed Rafter Trusses (includes gable ladders); 6 August 1975 Jewson Gangnail Company Limited, Westfield Road. Toftwood, East Dereham, Norfolk £993.86 W Brown & Company (Ipswich) Ltd, Greyfriars Road, PO Box 13, Ipswich £1,008.04 J Rawlinson & Sons (Willaston) Ltd, Victoria Saw Mills, Willaston, Nantwich, Cheshire - John Wright (Redditch) Ltd, Saw Mills, Stodley, Redditch, Worcestershire £450.81 J S Towell Ltd, Skirbeck Road, Boston, Lincolnshire £636.65 Rainham Timber Engineering, York Road, Pocklington, Yorkshire £869.66 John Willmott Construction Limited, Hitchin Road, Meppershall, submitted estimate for flooring for £600 plus VAT; 9 March 1976 Infestation detected from furniture beetle (woodworm), dry rot and wet rot; 9 November 1976 Treatment by Rentokil, Baldock Two Certificates of Guarantee (30 years) from Rentokil, dated 14 December 1978; one for Cavity Wall Insulation, completed 18 September 1976; the other for woodworm and dry rot, completed 3 March 1977 Letter from ?John Willmott; 'As far as could be determined by our Surveyor, no effective form of damp proof course had been incorporated at the time of construction. Symptoms of rising damp were apparent in various areas taking the form of slight deterioration of the decorations due to contamination by hygroscopic salts from the soil. In the dining room (rear) there is evidence to suggest that attempts have been made to combat the damp conditions by the application of impervious linings. A close inspection of the wall bases revealed a problem of rising damp in varying degrees; 9 July 1975 Certificate of Guarantee (30 years) from Rentokil, regarding Electro-Osmotic damp-proofing course, dated 14 December 1978; for work completed 8 September 1976 Estimate from Rentokil for Cavity Wall Insulation for £801; 18 June 1975 Revised Estimate from Rentokil for Cavity Wall Insulation for £824; 11 March 1976 (due to inflation) Form of Tender from Concept Interiors Ltd, 12 Lower Ham Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey, for Fitted and Loose Furniture; £2,670.46; 8 September 1976 Schedule of Tenders for Fitted and Loose Furniture; 14 September 1976 Wrinch and Sons Limited, St Lawrence Works, Nacton Road, Ipswich - Bushby and Edwards Fitted Furniture, 71 Station Road, Flitwick £4,700 Haverhill Furniture Limited, Rookwood Way, Haverhill, Suffolk £2,832.15 Concept Interiors Limited, 38 Coombe Road, New Malden, Surrey £2,670.46 Aston Cabinet Company Limited, Aston House, 46 Coventry Road, Bordesley, Birmingham - Consort Furniture Limited, Bentley Lane, Walsall, Staffordshire £2,105.97 with note that Concept were prepared to accept conditions of invitation and quoted for all items Quotation and Form of Tender from T R Rainbank, Flooring Contractors, 2 Spring Road, Kempston, to supply and fix flooring; £1,305.50; 5 December 1976 Only two tenders received, the other was from Neofloors Ltd, 98 Midland Road, Bedford for £1,439.61; 9 December 1976 Schedule of Tenders for Main Building Contract; two tenders submitted from each Contractor, one for 91 weeks and one for 65 weeks: J M Hill & Sons (Ampthill) Ltd, Church Street, Ampthill £170,520 £150,970 T & E Neville Ltd, Marsh Road, Leagrave, Luton £165,058 £156,612 L A H Ames Ltd, 106a Bedford Road, Wootton £158,152.65 £147,452.65 John Willmott Holdings Ltd, Hitchin Road, Meppershall £139,959 £131,185 M & F C Foster Company Ltd, York House, Stevenage Road, Hitchin £144,056 £136,555 Richardson & Bottoms Ltd, 105-107 Biscot Road, Luton - - T & B (St Albans) Ltd, 38 Upper Marlborough, St Albans £158,617 £149,327 Wrights (Langford) Ltd, High Street, Langford £169,742 £153,871 24 November 1975 Letter from Department of Health and Social Security 'final approval by the Secretary of State has been given to this project in the sum of £112,760'; 23 February 1976 Report of the General Purposes Sub-Committee 'The Barns is a Home for disturbed adolescent girls usually between the ages of 15 - 19. Most girls have been the subject of harrowing emotional experiences and are grossly deprived and emotionally unstable. Accommodation is for ten girls but at the present there are eleven ...The staff establishment ...is the Superintendent and one assistant (without any training or experience in residential care). There is also 40 hours per week domestic help ...It will be realised quickly that staff are not only working considerable hours overtime but also the individual attention desperately needed by the girls is non-existent. At best one can only be said to be providing physical care whilst the real problems remain untouched'; recommendations include 'the present establishment of professional staff be increased to 5 (two will have to be non-residential because of lack of accommodation)' and 'each girl to have a personal minimum of £4 per week and bus fares to work plus meals at work... Rent be calculated on the sum of money remaining when the fares and lunch have been deducted to a maximum rent of £5 per week'; 10 May 1972 Home Office, Children's Department, recommended standards for residential accommodation - Children's Homes; June 1965 Children's Bedrooms Dormitories: 50 sq ft for each of the first two beds and not less than 45 sq ft for each succeeding bed, with 3' between the sides of adjacent beds Single rooms: 65 - 70 sq ft; some latitude should be given over considerations arising from the use of fitted furniture It is assumed that the minimum ceiling height is 8'. If the ceiling is lower than this, some adjustment of the floor area per child may be necessary. Staff Bedrooms: Single rooms: 90 sq ft Bed-sitting rooms: 120 sq ft Common rooms and play rooms: 25 sq ft per child Dining room: `12-14 sq ft per seat, depending on the size of the establishment Washing and sanitary accommodation: Wash basins: 1 basin for every 3 children W.C.s: 1 W.C. for 5 children Baths: 1 bath (or shower) for 8 children Separate washing and sanitary accommodation to be provided for staff Sick room: The number of beds should be 5% of the certified number. If this is over 40, a separate isolation room should be included. Single bed sick room not less than 70 sq ft; 80 sq ft where there are two or more beds in a room. In homes for not more than 12 children, a single bedroom should be provided that can be used as a sick room if necessary. In larger Homes it is desirable to have a special sick room. Memo from County Architect to Deputy Director, Social Services; ...it is confirmed that vacation of the premises during the alteration and extension works is not possible. Arrangements during the course of the works are to be made as follows: Phase I: Demolition of existing outbuildings - construction and completion of new building for occupation by girls accommodated in existing building. Transfer from existing building to new building Phase II: Occupation of vacated existing building to carry out works to completion including connection of services Phase III: Relocation of occupants within new and existing buildings. Completion of external works; 11 July 1975 Order to County Surveyor mentions 'Sulphate tests to be carried out on random soil and water samples'; 2 April 1973 Order to London Brick Company for 120,000 common bricks; 31 May 1973 Order to J Willmott (Bedford) Ltd to carry out alterations and extensions; 65 week contract starting from 8 March 1976; 26 February 1976 Architect's Instructions Nos 1 - 61 from March 1976 to December 1979 includes Drawing No 41/05; New floor details over rooms 9, 10 and 11; June 1976 and Detail of balustrade fixing to concrete staircase; November 1976; mentions 'I am displeased that work was carried out on site unsupervised other than by Rentokil and still wish to be assured in writing that work was thoroughly carried out. I am surprised that a firm of Rentokil's repute would treat timber for worm, when it was so patently obvious the timber was affected for other reasons, and that your (John Willmott's) supervision failed to see such work being done. In view of the nature of other defective timber that has become apparent as a result of my assistant asking for another check to be made, I would like a coordinated report from Rentokil Ltd upon both timber treatment and decay and damp penetration. It is apparent that corridor O/37 has timber defects attributable to dampness and I wish to know Rentokil's recommendations in relation to their system and the work they have so far carried out'; 24 November 1976 Minutes of Site Meeting No 6, 18 January 1977 Minutes of Site Meeting No 7, 23 February 1977 Minutes of Site Meeting No 8, 29 March 1977 Minutes of Site Meeting No 9, 22 April 1977 Correspondence from V B Johnson & Partners, Quantity Surveyors; May 1973 - December 1975 includes report on tenders received; 1 December 1975 Minutes of Site Meeting 16 March 1976 Minutes of Site Meeting 11 May 1976; mentions 'the site is very untidy and littered with debris. The site is to be cleared and maintained in a tidy manner in future' and lack of adequate protection to persons: 'absence of scaffold toe boards, absence of scaffold hand rails and unsatisfactory protection to open manholes'; 'The Contractor is required to conform to the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974' Minutes of Site Meeting 8 June 1976 Minutes of Site Meeting 13 July 1976 gives list of Sub-Contractors: Plastering D S Manners of Kempston Felt Roofing Delomac Glazing Gibbs & Dandy Painting & Decorating Richard Roberts & Associates Roof Tiling U B M of Bedford Minutes of Site Meeting No 5; 10 August 1976 Minutes of Site Meeting No 5 [sic]; 7 September 1976 mentions General Contractor reported that Damp Proofing work had commenced on site 6 September 1976 Letter from Rentokil Ltd; 'Further to the limited inspection of the exposed timber framing ...it would appear that the sole plates and bases of the large section stanchions at ground level are either decayed by the Wet Rot Fungus together with infestations by woodworm, or in the case of the Front Left W.C. there is a slight attack by the True Dry Rot Fungus in the sole plate beneath the right hand partition wall. At this point in time it would be rather unfair to submit to you a report and estimate for only dealing with small areas when there may well be other timbers that are at present concealed, that require treatment or replacement ...we would strongly advise that all built-in timbers at ground level are exposed by removing the plaster from every wall approximately up to one metre in height, in all rooms of the timber framed section of the property'; 22 October 1976 Letter from County Architect to V B Johnson & Partners; mentions 'I am anxious to tighten cost control on this project; my assistant recently instructed the Clerk of Works to stop on site and check how work was being carried out as the Bill of Quantities description for screeds had been queried, but it was found that work had not been carried out properly and screeds in two first floor bedrooms were broken up and replaced by the Contractor'; 17 November 1976 Letter from County Architect to John Willmott Holdings Ltd; mentions 'May I also reiterate the concerns of my assistant that, without wishing to be unreasonable, I feel that as Contractor you should ensure to the best of your ability that any works carried out by sub-contractors are in accordance with good practice, and that they are likewise made aware that if there are any works associated with theirs which conflict that they should be drawn to your attention'; 8 December 1976 Letter and Specification from Blue Circle Group; 'outlining my recommendations for treating the new fletton brickwork and existing Cullamix Tyrolean with Sandtex-Matt ....there is always an element of risk involved when decorating onto fletton brickwork and that the longer it has to dry out and weather, the better the life expectancy of the decorative finish. I understand here that it is possible to delay decorating the brickwork up until some time in March'; 20 December 1976 Letter from Rentokil Limited to John Willmott Construction Ltd; '...the damp proof course you have placed in the partition wall that adjoins the rear wall of the original building, where the electro-osmatic damp proof system is, will have no effect at all on the electro-osmatic damp proof system. Ground Floor, Front Room Left: This floor has now been removed and therefore no treatment is required First Floor, Middle Room Left W.C.: Treatment as detailed in our report ... together with the sterilization on the brickwork behind the skirtings and the application of Zinc Oxychloride paint to the brickwork Front Middle Room: You will be removing all the floor timbers and inserting a concrete floor incorporating a suitable damp proof membrane. However, once the timbers have been removed, we recommend that the oversite is sterilized with fungicidal fluid before the hardcore and concrete are inserted'; 23 December 1976 Letter from County Architect to John Willmott (Bedford) Ltd; 'Thank you for your letter ...informing me of the loss and expense owing to disruption of regular progress of the Works ...I note that your letter is in general and unspecific terrms in relation to the Works and I am wondering whether this letter has been submitted in all seriousness ...Particular care has been taken in issuing instructions and at site meetings, to avoid the sort of letter you have written, and in my opinion you have not been affected as your letter would imply. Therefore if you still wish to pursue this matter, please state to what particular part/s of the Works your letter refers, and how, when and why such part/s of the Works were affected'; 1 April 1977 Letter from County Architect to Director of Social Services; 'I understand ...that you are making arrangements to occupy the Barns on 4th and 11th July 1977 ...at present I cannot confirm a date and it could be that the Contractor is being optimistic and may not complete until the beginning of June ... The Fire Prevention Officer (Mr Barker) wishes to meet one of your staff and the Warden who will be in charge of the Barns in order to establish fire drills and procedure, prior to the Barns being occupied'; 12 May 1977 Letter from County Architect to V B Johnson and Partners mentions that the Contractor is willing to replace defective internal doors at their own expense; 'I believe that approximately 50% of the internal doors are defective'; 20 June 1977 Invoice and Statement from R J Constant, Electrical Contractor, to John Willmott; total amount £9,206.39; less monies received £8,698.19; balance £508.20; 25 January 1978 Memo regarding claim for liquidated damages [?by/from V B Johnson & Partners]; 'It seems to me that Employer would be unwise to consider seeking liquidated damages even if any were due - this project was an extension and alteration of an existing building and part of Contractors claim was based on extra work in alterations arising from what was found when existing floors and walls were opened during construction work'; with notes 'no action required' and 'liquidated damages not justified'; 13/14 March 1980 Letter from V B Johnson & Partners; 'Please note the agreed final account total [agreed with John Willmott] of £128,666.99 excludes deductions in respect of liquidated and ascertained damages'; 6 January 1982

Stored off site - 2 working days notice required to retreive from storage. Please contact us for advice.

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R J Constant Limited,
John Corby & Son,
John Willmott Construction Limited,
Rentokil Ltd,
V B Johnson & Partners

KEMPSTON, Kempston The Barns Children's Home, Kempston High Street, children's homes, building work