How to Run a Major Works Project: A Practical Guide for RTM and RMC Directors

Section 20 sets the legal floor for consulting leaseholders on major works. It is not the project. This guide is about everything around the consultation: how directors of an RTM company or resident management company plan, budget, tender, instruct and close out a major works project so the money is spent well and the paperwork holds together.

For the statutory detail - thresholds, who is responsible for consulting, the consultation requirements and what happens when they are not followed - use our Section 20 notices explained guide instead. This page summarises that process in one paragraph and does not repeat it.

1. Define the scope before anything else

Scope should be defined by an appropriate professional: a building surveyor, engineer or fire consultant depending on the work. East Valley is a managing agent, not a surveying or design practice, so our role is to help directors appoint the right professional and hold them to a clear brief. Vague scopes are the single most common cause of disputes at estimate stage, because leaseholders cannot compare prices for work nobody has described precisely.

2. Budget and reserve planning

• Set an outline cost range from the professional's advice before leaseholders hear any number.
• Check what the reserve fund actually holds and what the lease allows it to be used for.
• Model the shortfall: a one-off demand, a phased demand, or a longer reserve build before works start.
• Agree how contingency will be handled and disclosed, rather than absorbing it quietly.

3. Brief leaseholders early

A written briefing, and where possible a meeting, before the formal notice almost always pays for itself. People object far less when they have understood the problem and the options. Early briefing is not a substitute for consultation and does not shorten any statutory period.

4. Where the statutory consultation fits

Once the scope is settled, the consultation requirements for qualifying works run their course, with observation periods that must be respected and observations that must be had regard to. The exact stages depend on whether the works are qualifying works or a qualifying long-term agreement, and on whether public notice is required, so read the principal guide rather than assuming a single universal procedure. Plan the project timeline around those periods instead of trying to compress them.

5. Tendering and contractor selection

• Tender the same written specification to every contractor so prices are genuinely comparable.
• Ask for like-for-like pricing on provisional sums, access and making good.
• Check insurance, competence and recent references for work of similar scale.
• Record in writing why the selected contractor was chosen, including any leaseholder nomination considered.

6. Contract and instruction

Any sizeable project should sit under a written building contract, with a payment schedule tied to milestones rather than lump sums paid up front. Contract administration is a professional role: directors should appoint a contract administrator or surveyor for it, and East Valley does not provide contract administration or legal advice.

7. Running the works

• Regular site meetings, with a short written update to leaseholders after each one.
• Variations approved in writing before they are carried out, never retrospectively.
• Costs tracked against the estimated figures so overruns surface early.
• Snagging recorded against an agreed sign-off list before final payment.

8. Final account and closing the project out

Reconcile the final account against the estimated costs, explain any difference in plain English, and issue a short post-works report covering what was done, what it cost and what remains in reserve. Remember that the timing of service charge demands is governed separately by section 20B and its 18 month rule, which is a different matter from consultation.