Working with landscape maintenance contractors
[edit] Introduction
A well-designed and maintained landscape can attract people to a site and can have a positive impact on property value and personal wellbeing. With more elaborate landscaping, it is fairly common for facilities managers or other property management professionals to outsource maintenance responsibilities to a company that specialises in grounds maintenance.
[edit] Preparing a contract
As is the case with other specialist contractors, it is important to include essential information in tender documentation, such as:
- Identification of the parties involved, addresses, names, licenses, qualifications, insurance and so on.
- Services offered, including specifics that are agreed upon as well as those being excluded. Some examples include:
- Core tasks such as grass cutting, turf, hedge, tree and bed maintenance, maintenance, removal and disposal of landscaping waste and so on.
- Optional tasks such as replacement of trees, bulbs, hedges, shrubs and so on (including the design and maintenance of replacement bedding schemes, if necessary).
- Seasonal planting and cleanup schedules.
- Clarification regarding damage to property (including irrigation systems that may be used).
- Agreements regarding maximum and minimum height levels for grass, grass edging and hedges and other landscape elements.
- Requirements for maintenance and monitoring of moisture detection systems (to ensure irrigation systems do not activate when it’s unnecessary).
- Special environmental concerns (such as schools or other sensitive adjacent areas or ecosystems to be protected from pesticides, fertilisers or pest control measures).
- Notification procedures and documentation for application of any potentially harmful chemicals (such as pesticides).
- Inclusion (or exclusion) of car park maintenance, and tasks such as ice removal or other safety issues.
- Inclusion (or exclusion) of specific activities such as weed control, mulching, leaf collection and removal and so on.
- Equipment storage.
- Procedures for reporting and dealing with vandalism.
- Arrangements when safety restrictions or exclusion zones must be put in place (particularly when landscaping work requires the placement of safety barriers).
- Fees (typically for work completed), including payment plans and form of payment.
- Key dates, including start and finish dates.
- Arrangements regarding access to locked or restricted areas.
It is also helpful to have an inventory of trees, shrubs and other types of landscaping on the site. In order for the list to be suitable for the contract specifications, it should include details such as size, age, condition and maintenance requirements of each item.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
HSE simplified advice for installers of stone worktops
After company fined for repeatedly failing to protect workers.
Co-located with 10th year of UK Construction Week.
How orchards can influence planning and development.
Time for knapping, no time for napping
Decorative split stone square patterns in facades.
A practical guide to the use of flint in design and architecture.
Designing for neurodiversity: driving change for the better
Accessible inclusive design translated into reality.
RIBA detailed response to Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report
Briefing notes following its initial 4 September response.
Approved Document B: Fire Safety from March
Current and future changes with historical documentation.
A New Year, a new look for BSRIA
As phase 1 of the BSRIA Living Laboratory is completed.
A must-attend event for the architecture industry.
Caroline Gumble to step down as CIOB CEO in 2025
After transformative tenure take on a leadership role within the engineering sector.
RIDDOR and the provisional statistics for 2023 / 2024
Work related deaths; over 50 percent from construction and 50 percent recorded as fall from height.
Solar PV company fined for health and safety failure
Work at height not properly planned and failure to take suitable steps to prevent a fall.
The term value when assessing the viability of developments
Consultation on the compulsory purchase process, compensation reforms and potential removal of hope value.
Trees are part of the history of how places have developed.