Free Solar Energy – but at what Cost?

Another blog from Martyn Fowler BSc(Hons), MEI, ACIPHE

There is currently an ever increasing interest in capturing and using solar energy and with the Government’s recent launch of the feed-in Tariffs, there is now a financial incentive to participate as well as the “Eco friendly” reason. I have not spoken to a customer yet that does not consider the use of solar energy a bad idea and this does not mean you are a Greenpeace activist – it is just plain common sense. So what is preventing Mr Average from doing his bit? The answer is simple – MONEY!

As with all new technology, the early days are marked by high costs due to low manufacturing numbers with Manufacturers trying to claw back their development costs and this is a big stumbling block. I remember when Microwave ovens first really came onto the market (1976) – I bought one for my university tuck shop to heat up Mars Bars! The oven cost hundreds of pounds then and was very basic but guess what, now you can buy one with all the gizmos from your local supermarket for less than £50! This is as a result of massive numbers being sold which reduces costs as well as competition.



Within the last couple of years, the cost of thermal solar units has reduced but there is no doubt that entry into this market will start in the region of £4,000 to have a fully installed system. To get a decent return from a Photovoltaic system, you may well be faced with an investment well in excess of that. The Holy Grail of eco-friendly systems is really the ground source heat pump with very high efficiency rates which at times can exceed 500% but the installation cost really means that it is the provenance of wealthy clients with a mission to be regarded as “Very Green”. So what is the answer?

In the current financial climate, few people want to use a lump of capital as there is so much uncertainty at the moment but the long term benefits are hard to ignore. There is talk about a “Green loan scheme” than uses the savings as an offset against the payments but with the shortage of cash generally in the banking system, it will take a huge effort by the Government to make this happen. In the meantime what is to be done? The answer is to talk to someone like Vast Group who has had all the correct training and actually designed and installed many solar systems as we can recommend the best value for money solution with no bias.

I personally have even been in Germany for hands-on training in Solar equipment so I can talk from first hand experience. So if you want to get honest, practical and realistic advice on how to capture the sun’s energy, please give me a call on 0207 147 9952.

Have you seen our new video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP8aO41kcTM

No job too small............

No Job too small?

I have so much I wish to blog about and shall hopefully get the opportunity over the coming months to share some of my experiences, thoughts and interests and indeed that of my associates. I am personally proud of a small project we have just finished, well the initial phase. The project value is fairly small but demonstrates our capabilities in regards to location (this was not a London project) and dedication on projects small and large.

To quickly digress, quite often I hear potential clients say “our project is too small for you” or “this won't interest you” etc all of which is not the case, last week we installed a shower screen at a client’s house, we replaced some roof tiles on another, replaced a garage door on another and so on. Over the past year, we have completed projects from as little as a bathroom refurbishment through to side and rear extensions; this is the grass routes of our business and shall never be forgotten and welcome with open arms projects of this size and nature.

Vast Group were employed by a London developer to undertake a refurbishment of two existing bungalows into marketable properties. The specification of the first was to create a vibrant new bungalow and the second was to develop a “high specification” bungalow. The refurbished bungalows are the “show homes”, for the overall refurbishment project, which consists of some 250 bungalows.

The site overall is some 1200acre and now has planning for over 1000 new homes.

Our works in brief included the following:

Asbestos Removal, Demolitions, structural alterations
New facia, soffits and gutters
New hard and soft landscaping
External Rendering
Demolitions
New Plumbing and Electrics throughout
New Glazing throughout
New Bathrooms and Kitchens
New Joinery
New Tiling
New Decorations
Overhaul existing roofs
FF & E Procurement

The higher specification bungalow benefited from all of the above with the addition of upgraded finishes and formation of vaulted ceiling over living/dining room, introduction of a mezzanine galley room, 4no automatic Velux Windows, 2no manual Velux windows and ensuite bathroom.


Before Images:

After:

These images where undertaken using low resolution cameras.

www.vastgroup.co.uk undertake construction and refurbishment projects from £5,000 to £2million, should you require any furthur information, please do not hesitate to call Bradley Knight personally on 0207 147 9952

Are you a control Freak?

Another blog from our Technical Manager, Martyn Fowler.....

"It never ceases to amaze me when we go out to repair and or service boilers, that many clients have virtually no controls on their heating systems. They might have a time clock, but nothing else! When you question them and ask about their heating bills, they often state they are excessive but gas is expensive and set to continue to rise, many clients do not realise how much money they are potentially wasting with their existing installation, which can be altered in a cost effective manner.


Some customers believe boiler control is to turn the boiler off when they feel too hot and by which point, you can be sure the room temperature will be around 24 degrees otherwise they probably would not notice or feel discomfort.

It is a often stated that turning down the room stat by 1 degree can save upto 10% on your utility bill therefore, temperature control can not only assist with comfort but the bank balance also.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Mr Techy with his infinite control of everything known to mankind which he can programme and adjust from the Moon. The question is “why would you want to” and most importantly, when it malfunctions, who is going to fix it? I recently went to a client who had a system that could only be sorted by the Manufacturer whose basic call out started at £600, paid in advance!

I totally agree with good controls and I often design and install quite sophisticated systems for clients but they are always based on ease of operation, client requirements and, value for money.




I believe minimum standards should be a timeclock and room thermostat (click link for supplier) and preferably not a gravity hot water system. Programmable room thermostats are becoming very inexpensive and these give great flexibility with the ability to run different temperatures throughout the day to suit client lifestyles. Why get the house up to 20 degrees in the morning when you are not sitting down relaxing but rushing around getting breakfast, the children dressed etc? therefore, you may just need the chill taken off the house. In the evening, which is when you may desire your home to be at 20 degrees you can set your controls accordingly.

Eitherway, with good controls, you are in control. If you need advice and or assistance, do not hesitate to call me personally on 0207 147 9952, I am the Manager of our Plumbing and Maintenance divison at Vast Group

Turning a Blind Eye to Contractor Mistake(s)?

Ignoring a Contractors mistake?

A case not that long ago Traditional Structures Limited (TSL) v H W Construction Limited (HWL) heard in the construction and technology courts made me think about clients understanding, This case can reflect the same as to a client and contractor relationship.

In this case the sub-contractor mistakenly omitted the price of roof cladding from the contract and the contractor failed to notify the sub-contractor of this mistake and as a consequence benefited from it. The sub-contractor brought a claim for rectification of the contract, on the ground of unilateral mistake, and a claim for a reasonable price for the cladding works.

Essentially Contractor (HWL) wrote to the sub contractor (TSL) for a price to supply and fit of steelwork and cladding, the sub contractor returned a tender for steelwork only for circ £30,000 and the contractor placed the order with the sub contractor for supply and fit of steelwork and cladding for circ £30,000 which the sub contractor claimed was just for the steelwork, which was indentified as the only item priced on sub contractors quotation. Communications passed between sub contractor and contractor to remedy this error, which failed and the sub contractor sought adjudication in this matter.


The court ruled in favour of the sub contractor (TSL) with the following statement (abbreviated) “It held that an honest and reasonable man (MD, HWL) would have made such an enquiry in the circumstances of this case. The court further and/or in the alternative held, that the Managing Director had shut his eyes to the obvious, the obvious being that the price quoted was self-evidently a price that related only to structural steelwork, and that the Claimant had not included a separate price for the cladding”

In this difficult financial climate, clients should be even more careful about ensuring clarity from contractors quotes, if it’s appears competitive (cheap), enquirer why and record and contractors response prior to appointment.

At Vast Group we believe in honest tendering.

Full particulars of this case can be read by clicking on this link

To Combi or not to Combi – that is the question?

To Combi or not to Combi – that is the question?


Hi, I am Martyn Fowler, Technical Director at Vast Group. I manage the plumbing and electrical division at Vast Group.

It was not so long ago that Combination boilers were considered to be the salvation of all things and the best thing since sliced bread. However, reality has proven that they are only one option and that they do have drawbacks which need to be pointed out to potential clients.

I remove quite a few in the course of our business because clients become frustrated about their performance, so why is that?
There is no doubt that their biggest advantage is the extra space gained as a result of removing water storage tanks and cylinders, in addition the ability to only heat the water required on demand. However, the delivery of hot water via a Combi is primarily only as good as the incoming water mains pressure and flow rate and with the recent habits of Water Utility companies reducing pressure to minimise leakage in their systems, water delivery is not what it used to be.
Consequently a shower may not highlight the problem, but try to run a bath and 20 minutes later frustrations are bubbling to the surface. Multi bathroom homes also discover that in spite of having 2 showers, they still can’t use both at concurrent times as there is insufficient water available; hence they have to plan the use of hot water – not very convenient if the family are all trying to get ready at once.
We also need to appreciate that Combi boilers supplying hot water on and off do suffer from a loss of efficiency due to the burners coming in and out on full power but the question is does that more than compensate from the heat loss from a tank of stored hot water? Oh why is life not straightforward?



Stored water may have issues in the past as regards ingress of impurities, insects etc, but at least if you wanted a bath, two 22mm pipes could fill a bath pretty quickly. If you wanted a power shower, fit a booster pump and away you went – even two showers at once were not a problem. The advent of better tanks, by Law kits and better plumbing have all increased the purity of water available so gravity systems can still work well with a regular heat boiler. An unvented hot water system is also a happy medium with just the one tank, a regular boiler and good pressure, although the client is still dependant of incoming water pressure. That said, this can be improved with booster pumps or an accumulator which is a very “green” solution to suspect or variable water pressure.

In summary what is best? The answer is to ask your client what they want to achieve and be honest with them as regards the benefits and drawbacks of all the options then you can be sure of a satisfied client.

Vast Group can provide this advice free of charge, Our maintenance team, carry out boiler replacements throughout the South East. Remember, use a Corgi or Gas Safe registered installer like Vast Group.

Please call me personally on 0207 147 9952 if I could be of any assistance.

Should I Tender or Negotiate?

Should I Tender or Negotiate?

We all know the standard approach to awarding contracts can be to identify 3 or 4 contractors to tender against a standard template document. Two contractors that have submitted the lowest cost bids are then asked to forward a detailed breakdown of their tender submissions. A s long as its reasonably accurate, the lowest priced contractor starts work for the client. I know I have simplified what can be a complex process but in reality, and in my experience, is how the majority of contracts are awarded.


This approach is not only time consuming and inefficient for all parties involved but also wrong. It is sensible to ensure that the quotation you have received is not just competitive but meets all terms and conditions required to fulfil the contract. Why can’t the client simply negotiate with a builder direct? Therefore avoiding contractor’s wasting millions of pounds each year in bidding for contracts that they have no real chance of winning? From extensive discussions with many industry professionals including Architects and Quantity Surveyors, they all seem to share a similar opinion. In 1994 the Latham report highlighted best practice as “negotiate with a contractor in the complex world of contracting” (abbreviated for idiots like me).
We have an industry of disputes, adjudications, and arbitrations which highlights why the tendering process does not work. This is frustrating for both the client and the contractor, wasting valuable time and money. Think of the monies that could be saved across the industry by having a simplified process. These costs have to be recovered by the contractor and are normally eventually paid by the client as they are hidden within the tender submission.





With standard costs per sq metre for most works, would it not be simpler for a client to negotiate against a fixed set of fees? A QS recently preparing a Bill of Quantities against architectural drawings for a project circ £5m, estimated the cost as being approximately £25,000. With 4 contractors tendering this would have cost in total circa £100,000. That is £100,000 that needs to be recovered, if not by this client then by others in the future. With little value in my opinion being added to the contract submission, apart from potentially satisfying an internal financial audit purpose.
I met with a QS last week who advised his client to proceed what turned out to be the highest tender. Why, because he believed the other submissions were intending to take every opportunity to exploit variation orders, as their proposed costs, could not deliver against their submitted tenders. Therefore in reality the client ends up losing and often the quality of work is below the required standard, as savings have to be made by the contractor.
In my opinion what a client really wants is a fair and reasonable price, for the delivery of a high quality project. I believe this can be better achieved through a negotiated settlement that meets the needs of the client but also that of the contractor. Therefore saving the industry millions in unproductive time and effort better spent supporting our clients.
Starting a relationship with a realistic contract and pricing, is surely a major step in the right direction for the delivery of a successful project? With both parties committed to working in partnership to deliver a high quality solution at a reasonable cost. After all, the Contractor is in business to make money as well, not just for love?



A motivated contractor in my view would ensure his estimator, planner, project manager look for value engineering opportunities. Therefore utilising their skills to reduce unnecessary cost. During this period, the contractor would update the client on costs on regular occasions and the specifications could be adjusted to suit client’s budgets. The client would get a quicker start on site with negotiations being completed quicker and at less cost for all parties
If this process fails, in my experience, this is due to selecting the wrong contractor, not necessarily because of the process that was followed. I know this is a simplistic argument and obviously there are other elements of the tendering process such as Health & Safety, Risk Management, Financial stability etc that need to be considered as part of this process but I believe all of these can be satisfied at less cost via open negotiation, starting from a position of trust.

A little about me?

I commenced working in the Construction Industry when I was 18 years old, this is also when I married my wife Tracey, and we are still happily married (so I am told), and have two great children aged 7 and 9.

I grew up in Plymouth and at the age of 17 moved to London, where I was housed in a government studio unit in Potters Bar, whilst on benefits trying to find work, which took about a month. I found work with W H Smiths and dabbled around in various roles until 18 at which point I went to work for a regional Fit Out contractor in Slough, I left the company as a Senior Quantity Surveyor. During my time with this employer I worked on some awesome projects valued between £250k and £4m, mostly within the hotel sector. My legacy was overseeing the fit out and construction of a large single home near Basingstoke, worth over £20m in construction work.

I have since gone on to own and sell my own construction business, working and assisting property developers on projects up to £2m and started Vast Group Limited in early 2009.

During the last 7 years, I have also been involved in a number of businesses outside of Construction and have had the pleasure of working in Dubai, St Lucia and Florida.

I really enjoy conducting business in the property industry and have had the opportunity to be involved in situations some of my peers never achieve in their lifetimes.

I am an experienced, time served building surveyor with extensive on site, on the ground construction and technical experience.

I hope you find my blogs of interest.