Colmore Tang Cladding is one of the UK’s first single-solution providers of cladding remediation services. Working on behalf of building owners, managing agents and quantity surveyors, Colmore Tang draws on its vast experience of delivering high-rise commercial and residential developments to bring a fully-managed solution for the remediation of unsafe clad.
Following the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017, it is estimated that there are around 2,000 residential buildings that are still enveloped in high-risk, combustible cladding. In 2020, the UK Government announced a £1 billion Building Safety Fund to support the remediation of unsafe residential buildings 18 metres and over.
In addition, there are many high-rise buildings across the UK, including hotels, student accommodation and residential care homes, that also have unsafe cladding systems.
Having delivered over 3,500 new apartments since its inception in 2013, Colmore Tang is one of the UK’s fastest growing main contractors. Now, it is using its expertise in construction and supply chain management to offer a complete, and insurable, cladding remediation solution that provides peace-of-mind to occupiers, building owners and agents.
Nobody should have to occupy an unsafe building.
With a wealth of experience in constructing new buildings - as well as reengineering existing buildings under permitted development - Colmore Tang understands the design complexities, supply chain requirements and risk management in delivering cladding remediation and EWS1 compliant properties.
Colmore Tang Cladding’s 360° main contractor approach provides clients with a golden thread of cost, quality and time assurity, from fire assessment and design to project management, tax advice and delivery. It can also support building owners to access public funding.
With the Government targeting the end of 2021 to complete the remediation works of all unsafe cladding in England, pressure is mounting on building owners and managing agents to deliver on behalf of their leaseholders.
In 2021, it is expected that the Government will legislate to make cladding remediation mandatory. If this work is not done proactively, it is anticipated that local authorities will carry out the work and recharge it to building owners and managing agents. This could result in owners incurring additional costs.
In addition, the interim costs of fire safety management are starting to stack up. Owners and leaseholders have faced significant financial burden through costs such as new fire alarm systems, waking watch patrols and a hike in building insurance premiums, some by over 400%*. These premiums are expected to rise exponentially until buildings are remediated. Many of these inflated costs can be mitigated by remediating buildings sooner rather than later.
Colmore Tang can also help clients navigate the tax implications of remedial work on their buildings. This includes the zero VAT rating for the supply of construction services, as well as any additional tax relief that follows the legislation of cladding remediation.
In residential properties, leaseholders are, understandably, becoming increasingly impatient. Without the presence of an EWS1 form, homeowners are often unable to sell their homes and most lenders will not offer mortgages to potential homebuyers. There is growing frustration with managing agents and building owners who are not taking swift enough action to remediate buildings.
Most importantly, individuals currently occupy unsafe buildings. No matter where in the chain organisations sit, there is a collective responsibility to protect people from the potential risks of flammable cladding.
Now is the time to act.
Why Colmore Tang Cladding?
Colmore Tang understands that clients often struggle to engage with specialist consultants, finding themselves going around in circles when looking for an appropriate solution. Colmore Tang takes the hassle out of this complex system and works in partnership with clients, offering a single point of contact and a transparent project management and procurement process.
By working with a main contractor that understands the full construction process, additional time can be spent during the preconstruction phase to ensure that a bespoke, value-engineered design solution is created for each project. This is challenging to achieve, and often costly, when working with separate professional consultants.
By drawing on Colmore Tang’s established supply chain, it can leverage its economies of scale to offer clients a competitively-priced solution and fully-audited mechanism of delivery.
Colmore Tang also takes a proactive approach to engagement with building occupiers, providing regular communications throughout the remediation process. This can help educate residents, mitigate disruption concerns, and garner support for any longer-term service charge impacts. Leaseholder engagement is also a requirement for access to Government funding.
To provide an additional layer of assurance for building owners and agents, Colmore Tang provides a latent defects warranty on all its remediation works.
Our main contractor approach
Step 1: Plan the complete journey for the client from beginning to end, advising on the routes to compliance. This includes fire reporting, reviewing future planned legislation, project mapping and identifying necessary works.
Step 2: Produce a design specification and issue to existing supply chain for competitive tender. This draws on an existing team of architects, fire engineers, cladding designers, scaffolding specialists, engineers, works engineers and surveyors. All of which integrate with Colmore Tang’s supply chain framework.
Step 3: Use value engineering and economies of scale to drive a competitive solution that is compliant; drawing on existing supply chain to secure materials and labour. In addition, Colmore Tang can support clients to access Government funding and identify any tax relief or allowances that may be available.
Step 4: Create a communications strategy to engage with leaseholders and residents for the duration of the works.
Step 5: Project manage works, carrying out regular inspections and using a digital recording system to audit works. This ensures compliance and provides evidence for certification. Colmore Tang insists on audits from its third-party independent fire engineers and insurers to guarantee building control compliance.
Step 6: Provide a latent defect policy, up to the value of £10 million, to insure works against any long-term defects.