Ashdown Richmond heights Lansdown Bath BA1 5QJ Te: 01225 448 092 E mail: ag@charlcombe.com Salix House 40 Westwells Neston Wilts SN13 9RQ Tel: 01225 811 876 E mail: jh@charlcombe.com Feb. 13 Rev. A CONSTRUCTION METHOD STATEMENT This Construction Method Statement is being prepared in order to discharge condition 7 on the planning consent ref: 11/05146/FUL. Final Risk Assessments and construction details are not available at this time but will be submitted as and when they become available if required. BRIEF PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This project involves the construction of five detached houses on a site to the east of Ensleigh House on the northern slopes of Bath. The houses will be built by Charlcombe Homes Ltd, which has already built several houses in the location. PROJECT DETAILS: 1. The registered office of Charlcombe Homes is: Ashdown Richmond Heights Lansdown Bath BA1 5QJ 2. Technical director of Charlcombe Homes, John Hartley, will have overall responsibility for the construction project. 3. Constraints on the planning consent concerning the resident bat will mean that construction will commence in March of 2013 after the bat has completed it s winter hibernation. 4. The project is to construct five, high quality, contempory detached houses together with the access roads, retaining walls and service installations. The site is set away from the Granville Road to the east and is set at a considerably lower level than the road. Access to the site will be via two access roads, one either side of Ensleigh House, which will be installed at the start of the project. 5. It is anticipated that the works will take around eighteen months to complete although it is hoped that this program can be reduced. 1
SIGNIFICANT CONSIDERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SITE: The bat: 1. A bat survey has been carried out and it has been established that there is a pipistrelle bat that is roosting in the roof space of Oakdene, the house that exists on the site at present. 2. Since this building will need to be demolished to make way for the development, it has been agreed that a purpose built bat barn will be erected to provide a replacement roosting space for the bat. 3. Additional bat boxes will also be installed on some of the houses to provide alternative accommodation for the bat. 4. This will be one of the first tasks of the project, after the roads have been installed to access the site. The protected trees: 1. There are protected trees on the site and also on the adjacent site. A Detailed Arboricultural Method Statement has been produced that details exactly what measures are required to avoid damage to the trees. 2. Both access roads will pass through, or close to, protected trees and so installing services to the site, down both these roads, this will almost certainly require some careful hand excavation. 3. There is a large protected conifer in the north eastern corner of the site and some tree protection fencing will be required around the tree. This will be erected at the very beginning of the project and not removed until completion. The ground conditions: 1. The site is set within a land slip plane above Bath and extensive ground investigation works have been carried out to assess the ground conditions. The Ground Investigation Report indicates that there is a slip plane around 3.0m down and this will require some extensive piling to ensure that the houses are founded on good ground. 2. The gardens will also require stabilising and it is expected that a row of piles will be required across lower side of the site, terminating below ground level, in order to stabilise the gardens to the houses. 3. These engineering works will be designed in detail with the assistance of the ground investigation company Core Geotechnical and the structural engineers, Pro Structures. 2
4. Both these organisations have experience of designing piling and ground works in these complex areas. Access: 1. There are two existing access points to the site and both these will be used as access to the site. Both these access roads will require upgrading to allow the passage of construction vehicles and access to the houses for the end purchasers. 2. These upgrading works will need to be carried out in strict adherence with the detailed Arboricultural Method Statement. 3. Both the access roads are single lane with limited turning heads at the site end. A risk assessment will be carried out to assess the risk this posses but it is suspected that a banks person will be required at all times for safe vehicular egress from the site. Services: 1. Introducing mains services to a site like this can be problematic in itself. Both access routes are through Root Protection Zones and so some hand digging will be required for the trenches for these services. 2. The bottom of the site is some 22m below the road so a significant sewage pumping unit will need to be installed to pump the sewage up to the drain in Granville Road. It is intended to run this rising main up the service trench so as to minimise disruption to the trees. PRE CONTRACT PAPERWORK: 1. Prior to commencement on site all the necessary planning conditions will be discharged in full. 2. This project will require full compliance with the current CDM legislation and an independent CDM Coordinator will be employed to manage the preparation and flow of health and safety information as required by the current CDM Regulations. 3. We will undertake a full, intrusive asbestos survey of Oakdene, the existing house, so that all the asbestos can be removed prior to demolishing the building. 4. The technical design of the new houses will be made with health & safety in mind so as to minimise the residual risks on site. Those risks that cannot be designed out will be assessed and the relevant risk assessments and task specific method statements produced. 5. The Construction Phase Health & Safety Plan will be prepared and this will be added to as the work advances. This document will be 3
produced and checked by the CDM Coordinator for compliance with the current regulations. 6. A building regulation application will be made to Bath and North East Somerset Council for the five houses. Charlcombe Homes has developed a good working relationship with BANES Building Control and we certainly intend to continue this relationship. 7. We employ the services of local health & safety advisors, The Building Safety Group, and they will monitor the works as they progress and their involvement will be vital. 8. Charlcombe Homes has an extremely good health and safety record and fully intends to maintain this record on this project. PROPOSED ORDER OF CONSTRUCTION 1. Before any site works commence the tree protection fencing will be erected and inspected and approved by BANES. 2. The next part of the project will involve the formation of the two access routes into the site. These are shown on the planning drawings and existing routes are being followed wherever possible. 3. Since there are protected trees on the site and on the adjacent site, the tree protection works will need to be carried out in conjunction with the access works. 4. Arboricultural works will be carried out in accordance with the Detailed Arboricultural Method Statement. 5. The existing house will then be demolished and crushed for re-use on the site. By crushing the building on site we are able to use the house as hardcore and so minimise road journeys and landfill. 6. The site will then be re-graded and the piling matts installed in readiness for the piling installation. 7. The sequence of work following this has yet to be programmed but a detailed program of works can be submitted when available if this is required. 4
SITE OPERATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS: Site deliveries: Materials and plant will only be delivered to the site between 8.00am and 5.30pm on Monday to Friday. No deliveries will take place on Saturdays or Sundays. All materials will be stored on site in designated storage positions ready to be used in the house construction. Contractors parking: The site is extremely tight in terms of access and the space on the site will be limited for materials storage, site welfare and management. Contractor s vehicles will need to be parked on Granville Road in permitted parking zones. Vehicle Management: Both the site access points are quite tight although they do accord with the appropriate visibility splays. If for any reason a vehicle is not able to leave the site in a forward direction, a banks person will be used to allow the safe egress from the site. 5