Builders and project management in Wells

In Wells (BA5) it is mostly ecclesiastical and church work, listed stone renovation, and sensitive extensions, all of it fully project managed on a fee agreed before anything starts. Wells is a cathedral city, which brings a dense historic centre, a high concentration of listed buildings, archaeological interest below ground and, for anything ecclesiastical, the faculty jurisdiction running alongside the ordinary consent process. Every project begins with a look at the building and the site rather than a price guessed over the phone.

Yes. Wells is the smallest city in England and the diocesan centre for Somerset, which is how a good deal of our church work starts. Ring and we will tell you what we usually find in buildings around Wells Cathedral and what yours is likely to need before anything is opened up.

It does. Wells has a dense historic centre where listed buildings sit shoulder to shoulder, the ground below carries archaeological interest, and the buildings themselves are frequently older than they look behind a later frontage. Add anything ecclesiastical and the faculty jurisdiction applies as well as listed building consent, which is a separate process with its own timetable. All of that is workable, and all of it is much easier if the survey and the consent strategy come before the design rather than after it.

Wells is a cathedral city, which brings a dense historic centre, a high concentration of listed buildings, archaeological interest below ground and, for anything ecclesiastical, the faculty jurisdiction running alongside the ordinary consent process. Whether your particular building needs consent depends on what it is, whether it is listed, and whether it sits in a conservation area or a National Landscape, and all three get checked at the first visit rather than assumed. Where consent is needed, the application, the heritage justification and the conservation officer conversation are handled as part of the job.

No. Wells is inside the area we cover, so travel is in the fixed fee rather than added to it. The fee is agreed at the outset and does not climb with the value of the build, which is the whole point of doing it that way.

Getting out to look at a building in Wells and talk it through is usually a matter of days. Starting on site is a different question, because a project of any size needs design, consent and trades booked in the right order, and that is measured in months rather than weeks. We would far rather give you a real date than a hopeful one, so ring and we will tell you honestly where the next slot is.

A network of masons, carpenters, framers, lime plasterers, roofers, leadworkers, electricians and plumbers built up across the South West over more than thirty five years, engaged directly at trade prices rather than bought through a main contractor. On heritage work in Wells that network is most of the value, because the specialists who can do it properly are not people you find at short notice.