Meet Harris

Experience

Over the years I have worked for many builders as a subcontractor, and also for myself on my own projects. Here are a few of them and what types of work It would entail.

Jeremy Rendle Ltd,
Working for Jeremy I would be mostly working on house building sites, so where there would be a big home building company building 200 homes on a large section of land, the houses would normally vary in 5 different “types” and sizes, so anything from a one bedroom apartment to a 5 bedroom house, I was mainly a second fix carpenter for him, so I would fit doors, skirting’s, architrave’s, door linings, stair handrails, kitchens and much more work on the finishing side of the trade, I worked for Jeremy as a subcontractor for about 4 years.

Paul Hamilton (MAG Construction), working with Paul and his guys was always fun, there were a load of guys whom worked with him so id learn a lot from all of them, mainly working for Paul we would be shop fitting in the evenings so after the stores close, we would go in and refit work that was down to be changed, moved or new work to be installed, it was always night work so we would work 6pm to 6am, then the other side of the work I would do for Paul would be on big commercial projects, so we worked for about 8 months on a huge university extension and a big hotel in the same town for a similar amount of time, just carrying out the general carpentry works, like doors, kitchens, staircase’s, studwork, big roofs, roof spaces and always working alongside other trades. I worked for Paul for about 2 years.

JNE Construction, working for Jne construction was a great experience as they were a small company who I would subcontract to, so one day I would be fitting kitchens, the next day I would be tiling floors, the next painting schools, so the work was always very interesting and very varied, I have learnt a lot of skills over the years helping them out on jobs, I worked for Jne Construction for about 3 years.

Andy Williams, I met him when I first moved to France and working for Andy was and is the best experience I’ve ever had as a tradesmen, as well as being one of my best friends he is a great boss and influence as a fellow tradesmen, I have learnt so much about so many different trades as well as more about carpentry, we worked together on a huge renovation and extension on a house on the coast, in the south west of France, we carried out all the works on the property, from digging the foundations, to pouring the slab, to the building of the actual extension in block work, then pitching the roof, covering it all in and tiling it all ourselves, then fitting the kitchen, doors, laminate flooring, skirting boards, tiling the bathrooms, fitting the stairs, we completed the house from start to finish all with in 3 months very hard work. We also converted a watermill into 5 self-contained studio apartment’s but that’s another job, It was a true pleasure to work with such an accomplished tradesmen. I worked for Andy for 2 years on an off.

Steve Benham, working alongside Steve in France has also been a great learning curve, he only has about 5 clients but all of them are millionaires who have their holiday homes in the south of France near to where I was living, so we would carry out works on their holidays homes which would range from 14th century chateau’s to posh bankers houses overlooking the mountains, since I have worked for him we have renovated a huge 3 storey townhouse, which has consisted in works such as stud walling, dry lining, taping and jointing, tiling, doors, carpeting and many more trades I seem to be learning more about on a regular day to day basis, the second big job we have worked on is the 14th century chateau, our spec was to design, construct, paint, and fit a huge kitchen, we have carried out all the works from the making of the cabinets to the painting of it and fitting, at this same time we have tiled all the floors in both the kitchen area and utility area, as well as carrying out the construction of more storage cabinets which are all bespoke and hand made, and finally more recently we were working on a huge extension of a garage, from cutting down the trees to digging the foundations, laying the blocks, rendering the walls and painting it when it was finally complete. I have worked for Steve for a year and a half and right up until I left France to move to America.

FAQs

• What about my dog/cat/bird?
  We love animals! We’ll go over the rules about keeping door open/closed, food covered, etc
• Is you team in uniforms?
  We always arrive clean and ready, and the crew is easily identified with company T-shirts which match the truck
• Are you all craftsmen?
  The president of the company loves his work, and everyone he hires has the same attitude.

The Process

1. Meet, understand, consult (offer design suggestions).
2. Plan the work
3. Estimate & Approval
4. Deposit & permits
5. etc…

Includes a daily progress text, providing great communication, sense of your control,

Initiation

At the beginning of the project, we create and evaluate your project in order to determine if the project if feasible and if it should be undertaken. Feasibility testing may occur, if needed. If all parties decide to move forward with the project, a project charter or project initiation document (PID) is created, including the business needs.

Planning

Next, the team develops a roadmap for everyone to follow. During this phase, the project manager creates the project management plan (PMP); a formal, approved document to guide execution and control. The PMP also documents scope, cost, and schedule baselines. Other documents included in the planning phase include:

• Scope statement and scope documentation: A document that defines the project need, benefits, objectives, deliverables, and key milestones.
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): A visual representation that breaks down the scope of the project into manageable chunks.
• Communication Plan: This plan outlines the communication goals and objectives, communication roles, and communication tools and methods. Because everyone has a different way of communicating, the communication plan creates a basic framework to get everyone on the same page and avoid misunderstandings or conflict.
• Risk management Plan: This plan helps project managers identify foreseeable risks, including unrealistic time and cost estimates, budget cuts, changing requirements, and lack of committed resources.

Execution

This is when the work begins. After a kick-off meeting, the project team begins to assign resources, execute project management plans, set up tracking systems, execute tasks, update the project schedule, and modify the project plan.

Performance and Monitoring

The monitoring phase often happens at the same time as the execution phase. This step is all about measuring progress and performance to ensure that items are tracking with the project management plan.

Closure

This last phase represents project completion. Project managers sometimes hold a post-mortem meeting to evaluate what went well in the project and identify failures. Then, the team creates a project punch list of any tasks that didn’t get accomplished, performs a final budget, and creates a project report.

References

Here are the emails of my refrences, if more details are needed please just ask.

• Jeremy Rendle: jeremyrendle@btconnect.com
• Steve Benham: benhamdesign@gmail.com
• Andrew Williams: mel@fermedecandeloup.fr
• Jne construction: Estover close, Plymouth, Devon, PL6 7PL. +441752 696269
• Paul Hamilton
• Michael & Tamerra Jarvis – homeowners, Newport Beach, CA
• (MAG shofitting) : +441752331245 or email info@thefitoutgroup.com