Residential project management · Harpenden & St Albans
Someone whose whole job is keeping your build on track.
Will Cawrey & Co is a Harpenden project management company, formed in 2006. We run residential renovations, complete rebuilds and interiors on behalf of the homeowner — holding the programme, the budget and every trade on site together, so you get a finished home instead of a second full-time job.
One person accountable for the whole build
"Will made our project as stress-free as it could possibly be." — from a client testimonial published on our site
Since 2006
a Hertfordshire limited company
Harpenden
and St Albans — where we work
BSc (Hons)
construction management, Will Cawrey
One contact
from first drawing to snagging
One of our own completed projects
Residential project management · Harpenden · est. 2006
We're not the builder. We're the person making sure the builders, the architect and the budget all end up in the same place.
Will Cawrey & Co was formed in 2006 by Will Cawrey, who holds a BSc (Hons) in Construction Management and spent 2000 to 2005 managing large-scale new-build construction for a big building firm — around 500 new properties — before setting up on his own to do the same job for individual homeowners.
Since then the company has run residential projects in Harpenden and St Albans: renovations, complete rebuilds and the interiors that follow. We're appointed by you, not by the contractor, and that's the whole point — the programme, the costs, the drawings, building control, the neighbours and the snagging list are all one person's responsibility, and that person reports to you.
Why an independent manager
We're appointed by you — and we never hold the building work.
A main contractor manages your project as well, but they're managing their own work, so challenging a price, a substitution or a shortcut is a conversation with themselves. Because we're engaged directly by the homeowner and hold none of the trades, being straight with you about programme, cost and quality costs us nothing. That independence is the entire reason the role exists.
What a project manager actually does
Our own work — photographed on completion
What we do
Four things, and nothing we can't run properly.
Projects
Homes we've run, photographed on handover.
In our clients' words
What people say afterwards.
These are testimonials clients have given us. We publish them as they were written and without names, because that's how they were given to us.
Will clearly has an excellent knowledge…
Client testimonial · name withheld
We took the decision to employ Will as Construction Manager…
Client testimonial · name withheld
Will made our project as stress-free as it could possibly be.
Client testimonial · name withheld
How a project runs
Four stages, and you know what happens in each one.
01
A first conversation, on site
We come to the property, look at what you're planning and talk honestly about what it involves — the likely sequence, where the difficult decisions sit, and whether the project needs a project manager at all. There's no charge for that conversation.
02
Drawings, consents and a real programme
We work with your architect (or help you appoint one), take the scheme through building control and planning where it's needed, and turn the drawings into a programme and a cost plan you can actually read — stage by stage, with the decisions you'll need to make flagged in advance.
03
Trades appointed and managed
We put the work out, appoint the trades, and then manage them: sequencing, site meetings, quality checks, variations, valuations and invoices. You get one point of contact and one set of updates rather than eight numbers in your phone.
04
Handover, snagging and a finished home
We walk the property, write the snagging list, and stay on it until it's closed out — certificates gathered, warranties handed over, the last small things done. The project ends properly instead of just going quiet.
Before you commit to anything
Three things worth reading first.
We'd rather you understood the job than hired us blind. None of this is a sales pitch — if it tells you that you don't need a project manager, that's a useful answer too.
Where we work
Harpenden and St Albans — close enough to be on site.
Our recent projects have all been in Harpenden and St Albans, and that's deliberate. A project manager who can't get to site at short notice isn't managing anything. We're based on Luton Road in Harpenden, which puts every project we take on within a few minutes of the office. If you're just outside the two towns, ask — we'd rather tell you honestly than stretch.
Planning a renovation, a rebuild or an interior?
Ring Will and describe it. The first conversation and the site visit are free, and if you don't need a project manager he'll tell you that.
Call or email and we'll come back to you · Site visits across Harpenden and St Albans by arrangement