Chapter 6: Loft conversions to domestic dwellings

Loft conversions and extensions have a wide scope for additions and optional extras depending on the taste of the client and the budget available. Safety and health are not among such options. The client, no more than the contractor, can decide that safety and health are to be excluded from the project, and as such it is in the first conversations with the client that contractor places safety and health firmly on the table as integral to the project and to the competencies of the company and its employees.

Just as it is often not practicable to give a firm price for the cost of the conversion or extension until after the wishes of the client have been expressed and the project assessed for its feasibility and practical requirements, so too with safety and health. The hazards associated with the existing structure and with the construction of the conversion or extension need to be assessed accurately and the relevant control measures decided upon, priced and, crucially, included in the quotation for the project. Both the client and the contractor need to be clear on what the safety and health requirements are and how these impact on the budget and thus on the project.