PRINCIPAL CONTRACTOR FOR REMEDIATION AND RETROFIT
Taking responsibility for
the whole.
Complex remediation brings together design, regulation, materials, specialist trades, programme, residents and evidence.
As Principal Contractor, IRS takes responsibility for bringing those elements together and turning the approved solution into controlled construction delivery.
Our specialism across Façade Remediation and Fire Safety Compliance, External Wall Insulation and Whole-House Retrofit means we understand both the work itself and the occupied residential environment in which it has to happen.
Responsibility needs control behind it.
Being Principal Contractor is about more than coordinating activity on site. It means understanding what needs to be delivered, bringing the right people and information together, planning how the work will happen and maintaining control as conditions change.
Taking responsibility means knowing what needs to stay under control, and making sure it does.
People
The teams, specialists and supply-chain partners responsible for delivery.
Programme
Planning and sequencing work realistically around the building and its residents.
Materials
Controlling procurement, specification and traceability.
Quality
Inspecting work while it can still be checked and corrected.
Risk
Identifying technical, construction and resident risks early.
Information
Keeping the project record aligned with what is approved and what is being built.
Residents
Planning construction around the fact that the building remains somebody’s home.
Where control matters, we keep it close.
IRS directly employs site teams and procures key materials directly. That gives us greater visibility over labour, materials, sequencing, productivity, quality and programme.
Where specialist expertise is required, we bring in the right people and manage the interfaces between them.
Self-delivery isn’t about trying to do everything ourselves. It’s about taking ownership of the things we can control.
Control starts before construction does.
Through early engagement and PCSA, IRS brings practical delivery expertise into the developing solution, working alongside clients, designers, fire engineers, structural engineers, manufacturers and other specialists.
Buildability. Materials. Sequencing. Logistics. Programme. Cost. Resident impact. Risk.
Resolve risk while there is still time to change the outcome.
A good second check before construction starts.
Early involvement gives the project team another opportunity to test the proposed solution against the realities of delivery.
Through a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA), we can contribute to buildability, cost planning, programme development, logistics, materials, specialist procurement, resident impact and risk while the design is still able to change.
Whether it is required by the regulatory route or simply good project practice, the objective is the same: understand more before committing more.
“A PCSA gives the project a good second check. It gives us the opportunity to test cost, programme and delivery risk before those decisions are fixed.”SARA DEWAR · FRAMEWORKS AND BID MANAGER · IRS CONSTRUCTION
More certainty on cost. More certainty on programme. Less risk reaching site.
Taking responsibility doesn't mean knowing everything.
Complex remediation needs specialists. Our role is to understand the limits of our own competence, bring the right expertise into the project and create the conditions for people to work together effectively.
We collaborate with Principal Designers, architects, façade consultants, fire engineers, structural engineers, manufacturers, building control professionals and other specialists.
We ask questions. We challenge where necessary. We share practical construction knowledge. And when somebody else knows more about a specialist issue than we do, we listen to them.
Surround yourself with people who are better than you at what they do.
Different regulations. The same discipline.
Principal Contractor responsibilities sit within different regulatory environments depending on where the project is being delivered.
In England, Principal Contractor responsibilities sit across the construction health and safety and Building Regulations dutyholder regimes, with additional requirements on higher-risk buildings.
In Scotland, projects operate within the Scottish Building Standards system alongside CDM responsibilities. IRS’s Scottish experience goes back to the origins of the business as Insulated Render Systems (Scotland).
What remains consistent is our approach: understand the requirements, establish clear responsibilities, maintain control of construction and information, and build the evidence alongside the work.
Working within the new building safety regime.
Our understanding of the Building Safety Regulator and Gateway process is being built through live higher-risk building projects at different stages of Gateway 2.
Approved projects include The Blake in Southampton and Hatton Garden in Liverpool.
5Gateway 2 approvals
£21mvalue of Gateway 2 approved projects
10projects across approval, submission and preparation
When the building changes, the information has to change with it.
Existing buildings do not always reveal everything before work begins. Opening up can expose different substrates, hidden defects or interfaces that were not visible during design.
The important thing isn’t pretending those discoveries won’t happen. It’s having the people, processes and information to respond properly when they do.
Proposed changes are connected back to the relevant design and technical specialists, assessed through the appropriate process and reflected in the information used to deliver the work.
The project record is built alongside that process: inspections, photographs, material information, approved changes and as-built records captured as the work progresses.
Build the record while you build the building.
People live here while we work.
On an occupied building, decisions about scaffolding, access, sequencing, working hours, noise and dust affect people’s everyday lives. Resident Liaison works alongside project delivery so that impact is considered as the work is planned.
Responsibility you can see in the work.
The Blake Building, Southampton
Nine storeys, Gateway 2 approved. Early PCSA involvement supporting Thomasons, with the delivery expertise brought in while the solution was still being shaped.
Logie Manor, Aberdeen
Appointed Principal Contractor by Aberdeen City Council, following the completion of phase one: 36 flatted dwellings, external wall insulation, new roofs, balconies and structural repairs.
Advent 2 and 3, Manchester
A £9.7m façade remediation and external wall insulation programme across 242 occupied properties, delivered as Principal Contractor under CDM through the Building Safety Fund.
In their words.
Robert Mackay
“Brendan and his team were diligent and efficient and expertly managed this project. Their attention to resident liaison and communication was exemplary and so much so they have been chosen to remediate another BSF project in Manchester where I am Director and looking forward to working with them on this project too.”
Ben Roberts
“Nigel and his team delivered this complex project with professionalism and care, ensuring minimal disruption to residents while maintaining excellent quality and programme control.”
Bring us in before the design is fixed.
Early involvement gives us the opportunity to challenge buildability, review materials and sequencing, identify delivery risks and understand resident impact while there is still time to do something about them.
SCOTLAND
74 Glencraig Street
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
ML6 9AS
NORTHERN REGION
Unit 12 Ashburton Park
Trafford Park, Manchester
M17 1EH
SOUTHERN REGION
Unit 3, 362B Spring Road
Southampton
SO19 2PB
Insulated Render Systems (Scotland) Ltd, trading as IRS Construction · Registered in Scotland no. SC441561 · © 2026