Walsall Housing Group Planned Investment & Cyclical Maintenance

Programme overview

As part of Walsall Housing Group’s investment into the safety of residents homes, Kier were engaged as a principal contractor to deliver multi-year programmes of:

  • Planned kitchen and bathroom replacements.
  • Roof renewals and associated external fabric works.
  • Boiler replacements and heating upgrades.
  • Cyclical maintenance and associated minor planned repairs.


The delivery model was based on Kier managing a largely subcontracted supply chain, with specialist tier-2 contractors appointed for key trades (joinery, plumbing and heating, roofing, electrical, finishes, etc.).

Staffordshire Cost Consultants Ltd were commissioned by Kier to act as project Quantity Surveyor across these workstreams, providing a blend of commercial management and commercial administration to keep the programme on a firm financial footing.


Our appointment and brief

Kier required dedicated QS support with experience in social housing and planned maintenance, capable of handling a high volume of relatively low-value individual schemes within a broader contractual framework.

Our brief included:

  1. Day-to-day QS functions for live programmes – valuations, applications for payment, change control, subcontractor management and final accounts.
  2. Commercial oversight and reporting – monitoring budgets, margins and financial risk across multiple workstreams and years.
  3. Support to a subcontracted delivery model – from procurement and onboarding through to payment certification and close-out.


We embedded into Kier’s regional team, working closely with their contract managers, planners and operational leads, and aligning our reporting with both Kier’s internal governance and WHG’s external reporting requirements.


Scope and nature of the works

The works were typical of a well-established planned investment programme in social housing, but carried the usual challenges of access, resident liaison, and sequencing multiple trades in occupied homes. Key workstreams included:

  • Kitchen and bathroom replacements
  • Boiler replacements and heating upgrades
  • Roof renewals and associated external works
  • Cyclical and planned repairs


Each stream carried its own cost drivers and risk profile, but all had to be managed within the overarching commercial framework agreed between WHG and Kier.


QS role – day-to-day commercial control

Our work for Kier covered the full range of project QS duties expected on a long-term planned maintenance contract, including:

  • Applications for payment and valuations
    • Preparing, checking and agreeing valuations based on completed work – whether measured using schedules of rates, property archetypes, or agreed component prices.
    • Ensuring applications to WHG accurately reflected completed and certified works, and reconciling any disputes or queries.
  • Subcontractor and supply chain management
    • Reviewing and negotiating subcontract orders and variations for key work packages (kitchens, bathrooms, boilers, roofing, etc.).
    • Assessing subcontractor applications for payment, agreeing valuations and issuing payment recommendations in line with contract terms.
    • Working with operational teams to ensure that commercial performance of each subcontractor was visible and understood.
  • Change control and variations
    • Capturing scope changes arising from variations in property condition, resident choices, access issues or updated client requirements.
    • Pricing and agreeing variations with WHG where works fell outside standard programmes or specifications.
    • Maintaining clear audit trails for all changes to support both interim and final account negotiations.
  • Profit and loss reporting
    • Monitoring project-level and programme-level margins, including analysis by workstream and subcontractor.
    • Identifying emerging risks to profitability (e.g. increased material costs, productivity issues, access problems) and advising on mitigation.
  • Final accounts and retentions
    • Closing out work packages and yearly workstreams with both WHG and individual subcontractors.
    • Agreeing final accounts, addressing outstanding variations and reconciling any defects-related costs.
    • Managing retentions – both upstream and downstream – to align with contractual obligations and practical completion milestones.


Supporting a subcontracted delivery model

Because the model relied heavily on tier-2 subcontractors, a significant part of our contribution was in structuring and operating commercial processes that worked at scale. This included:

  • Helping Kier implement consistent pricing and ordering mechanisms for repeatable elements such as kitchens, bathrooms and boiler swaps, to reduce transaction costs and ambiguity.
  • Ensuring that subcontract orders clearly captured scopes, rates and assumptions, reducing the scope for later disputes.
  • Supporting the commercial team with regular supply chain reviews, comparing costs, productivity and quality across subcontractors and informing decisions about allocations and future procurement.


In practice, this meant that our role went beyond pure measurement and valuation; we acted as a commercial “anchor” for a multi-contractor delivery environment, making sure the numbers stayed aligned with both contract commitments and operational reality.


Outcomes and benefits

For Kier and WHG, the commission delivered a number of benefits:

  • Commercial clarity and control – Robust QS processes ensured that spend on kitchens, bathrooms, roofs and boilers was visible, trackable and reconcilable at both property and programme level.
  • Stronger subcontractor management – Clearer appointments, valuations and change-control processes supported fair, timely payments while protecting Kier’s commercial position.
  • Improved predictability of outturn costs – Regular forecasting and profit and loss reporting allowed Kier to manage risk proactively and engage early with WHG where pressures were emerging.
  • Efficient handling of high-volume workloads – Standardised templates and processes made it possible to manage large numbers of concurrent properties and orders without losing commercial discipline.


Why Staffordshire Cost Consultants

This commission illustrates Staffordshire Cost Consultants’ capability in supporting Tier 1 contractors on social housing frameworks, particularly where:

  • Delivery is high-volume and multi-stream (kitchens, bathrooms, roofs, heating, cyclical).
  • The model is heavily subcontracted, requiring strong commercial interfaces.
  • Both the client (WHG) and main contractor (Kier) need reliable, evidence-based commercial information to manage budgets and performance.


By providing pragmatic, hands-on QS support, we helped Kier deliver WHG’s planned investment programmes with the level of commercial rigour expected on long-term strategic partnerships.