A developer with clear ambition… and an escalating risk profile 

The project comprised the conversion of a former public house into residential apartments, alongside the construction of two new-build dwellings. The client’s objective was a straightforward development programme leading to a timely and profitable exit.

Midway through construction, the original contractor ceased trading and abandoned the site. A subsequent review revealed a far more serious issue: no formal Building Control process had been engaged from the outset.

Critical project fundamentals were absent, including a coordinated building-services strategy, energy-compliance documentation, discharged planning conditions, building control documentation and accurate cost information. This resulted in repeated cost shocks, programme uncertainty, and widespread non-compliance.

As a consequence, completed elements of the development were legally unsellable. Significant capital had already been invested, and the prospect of extensive remedial works placed the viability of the project at risk.

Cityzen’s Role

Cityzen was appointed to stabilise the project, restore regulatory control under a Building Control Reversion process, and provide a clear route to compliance and marketability.

Forensic technical investigation
To avoid unnecessary demolition, Cityzen undertook targeted investigative works, opening up construction only where essential. This allowed the team to assess insulation continuity, construction build-ups, fire stopping, and acoustic separation without compromising viable elements of the build.

These investigations identified multiple critical failures, including:

• External walls not achieving required thermal performance
• Internal walls failing acoustic standards
• Absence of fire compartmentation between dwellings

All findings were comprehensively documented, supported by photographic evidence, and presented to Building Control to support an agreed remediation strategy.

Regulatory alignment and control
Cityzen re-established engagement with the original Building Control Inspector, and the Local Authority’s head of Building Control, responding directly to technical queries and providing the contractor with structured, buildable documentation. This included:

• Detailed technical methodologies to improve windows, roofing interfaces, materials, and junctions to meet the requirements of the Approved Documents
• Building-services and energy-compliance strategies
• Planning condition discharge information

This ensured all subsequent works were aligned with current regulatory requirements and capable of achieving approval.

Bespoke remediation strategies

Fire safety at roof interfaces
A key risk involved a new dwelling constructed adjacent to an existing thatched roof, creating a fire-safety condition that did not meet modern regulatory standards.

Cityzen designed a bespoke fire-protection solution incorporating fire-rated membranes, non-combustible materials at all interfaces, and enhanced compartmentation to address concealed voids and junctions.

To secure long-term compliance, a maintenance obligation was embedded within the property documentation, requiring ongoing fire-retardant treatment of the thatch. This approach provided clarity on responsibility and ensured compliance was maintained beyond completion.

Mezzanine escape compliance
Within one apartment, a mezzanine level did not meet fire-escape visibility requirements. Cityzen developed an alternative solution using a structural glass floor panel to provide visual connection to the escape route below. This approach was reviewed and approved by Building Control, resolving the issue without the need for structural reconfiguration.

Commercial viability and warranties

Following technical completion, it became evident that earlier project stages had failed to secure essential structural warranties and roofing guarantees, rendering the properties unmortgageable.

Cityzen coordinated and specified the necessary remedial works, including the removal and reinstatement of flat roof coverings, to achieve warranty compliance. While this ultimately enabled the properties to be brought to market, it introduced further delay and cost that could have been avoided with early technical oversight.

Project outcome

Cityzen delivered full regulatory sign-off, resolved all fire, thermal, and acoustic non-compliance, and restored the project to a saleable, mortgageable condition.

Cityzen insight

This project demonstrates the material consequences of proceeding to site without a coordinated, compliant design and regulatory strategy. The remedial works required exceeded twenty times the professional fees that would have been required to deliver a compliant construction package from the outset. The overall programme was extended by approximately twelve months. Using Professionals can save 10’s of thousands in rework and Prelimb costs.

Early technical leadership is not an overhead; it is a risk-control mechanism. Properly procured design, compliance planning, and regulatory engagement protect programme certainty, safeguard investment, and prevent avoidable losses.

Let us guide your project so you can focus on delivery, confident that compliance won’t come back to bite.