Glossary

The terms that come up on a hotel refurbishment, in plain English. If one is missing, ask us.

 

Practical completion

The point at which the works are certified complete apart from minor items, and the hotel takes the building back. It starts the rectification period and usually releases half of the retention.

 

Rectification period

Also called the defects liability period. Usually six to twelve months from practical completion, during which the contractor must return and put right defects that appear.

 

Certificate of making good

Issued when the defects notified during the rectification period have been put right. It normally releases the balance of the retention.

 

Retention

A percentage of each payment held back by the client as security for defects. Under most contracts, if the contractor fails to fix a defect, others may be employed and the cost deducted from it.

 

Snagging

Inspecting finished work and listing the defects and incomplete items, so they are put right before or after handover.

 

Variation

A change to the scope, quantities or working conditions after the contract is agreed. It should be priced and agreed in writing before the work is done.

 

Payment and pay-less notices

Notices required by the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 that set out what is due, or what will be paid instead, and why.

 

PIP

Property Improvement Plan. The list of works a hotel brand requires, with deadlines, for a property to stay in or join the brand.

 

FF&E and OS&E

Furniture, fixtures and equipment, and operating supplies and equipment. The loose and fitted items in a hotel that are usually scheduled and procured separately from the building works.

 

Back of house

The areas guests do not see: staff corridors, changing rooms, stores, offices, kitchens, laundries and plant rooms.

 

In occupation

Carrying out works while the hotel keeps trading, in phases, with protection, noise controls and agreed working hours.

 

RAMS

Risk assessments and method statements. The documents that set out how a task will be done safely, issued before work starts.

 

CDM 2015

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. They set duties for clients, designers and contractors, including a construction phase plan for every project.

 

Fire-stopping

Sealing the gaps where pipes, cables and ducts pass through fire-resisting walls and floors, so fire and smoke cannot spread through them.

 

Compartmentation

Dividing a building into fire-resisting sections so that a fire is contained where it starts.

 

Intumescent seal

A strip fitted to a fire door or frame that expands in heat to close the gap around the door.

 

BS 8214

The British Standard for the installation and maintenance of timber fire doorsets.

 

RAAC

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. A lightweight concrete used mainly in roofs and floors from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, which HSE describes as less durable than traditional concrete and liable to collapse with little or no notice.

 

TR19 Grease

The BESA specification for cleaning grease from kitchen extract ductwork, and the report that proves it was done.

 

Approved Document M

The Building Regulations guidance on access to and use of buildings, read with BS 8300 for accessible design.

 

Tanking

A waterproof layer under tiles in wet areas such as showers and spas, which stops water reaching the structure.

 

Close-out record

The handover pack at the end of a job: photographs, test certificates, warranties and the signed-off list of every item completed.