Julian Davies

In a straw poll, 70% our property management clients chose ‘Licences to Alter’ in response to a question: ‘Which part of your work do you most dread?”. The whole process of Licences to Alter is paved with issues – both technical and diplomatic. The key to their irritation factor is the number of involved parties and the collective time pressures to deal with applications promptly. There’s the leaseholder’s application to the landlord; the landlord’s call to the surveyor; the surveyor’s review of th

The greatest value a building surveyor can add to a Major Works project is not the level of technical detail they have amassed. It is true that they can’t get by without qualifications and expertise. They need to be technically perfect (as should every professional). But surveying work and contractual obligations only actually account for about 40 per cent of the time surveyors spend on a typical major works project. The other 60 per cent is spent on diplomacy. Any major works project is defined by a numb

Church Conversions can pose a unique set of maintenance challenges for landlords, leaseholders and managing agents. English weather alongside standard wear and tear mean that all buildings deteriorate over time. Churches, usually built in large expanses with exposed sections of stone and brickwork, often deteriorate faster and require significant additional maintenance and upkeep. Many have steep pitched roofs, with associated turrets and towers. Their intricate design often requires complicated provisi

If ebenezer scrooge had been a surveyor rather than a banker, things would have been very different. First of all, it goes without saying that he would have been a much nicer person. But secondly, when the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future came to see him, he might have noticed something striking about the changing face of his profession, and the property business more generally. When the Ghost of Christmas Past showed Scrooge the Surveyor a vision of years gone by, that vision would have

QUESTION We subscribe to News on the Block which we find very helpful as we are an older married couple who are the only directors of an RTM company.  We have been involved with the company for six years.  There are ten flats and nine of them are very happy with how the company is run.  Before we became directors, returns and accounts were not being sent to Companies House and the company was about to be struck off.  I should say the flat is a second home for us. The only residents who have not been happ

Winter. And no time for surveyors to plant roses. We have been planning the year ahead whilst making a little time to reflect on last year’s experiences. Surveying is fundamentally about people. And human behaviour is one factor it’s often hardest to predict. For example, any surveyor in the residential sector can tell you scaffolding is unpopular with residents: it’s unsightly, often involves noise, and of course it doesn’t come cheap, so it can be a hard sell even when it’s absolutely essential to a pro

Why would a company that’s growing year-on-year spend time and money at this busy time to revamp its brand? Isn’t brand just a gimmick? Something that design companies drag out to make a profit? More specifically, in our line of work, why does brand matter to Chartered Surveyors? The answer is to be found in that single word. Brand. It’s a much misused term. One that originally referred to the number burned into cattle to demonstrate ownership. And one that has been associated with a ‘mark’ or ‘logo’ e

In any normal year, Earl Kendrick would have been celebrating our tenth anniversary this past January. But of course, the past year or so has been anything but normal. It’s been a tough time for us all, and I’m in awe of how people have risen to the occasion – from making such a success of the vaccine rollout to simply keeping the supermarket shelves stocked. Like everyone else, we had to make some changes to how we work at Earl Kendrick – some temporary and some more lasting – and I have to say I’m humbl