Month: October 2022

Alex Stubbs, Technical Manager at CB Homes, has worked for the company since 2004. As Technical Manager, she is responsible for all the ‘paperwork and processes’ involved in building new houses.

Having undertaken a self-build herself in the past, Alex is well aware of the challenges of building your own home. She has the ideal experience and skills to be an integral member of the team that delivers CB Homes’ self-build turnkey packages.

What did you do before working at CB Homes?

I was a freelance software engineer, working for some major multinational companies before I took a career break to have my children. I was living quite close to CB Homes’ head office so when an administration role came up I absolutely jumped at it. Once the rest of the team realised I had a lot of computer skills I took on more and more responsibility for the office systems. It was a very natural progression from there for me to take on the role of Technical Manager to steer and oversee all the processes and paperwork that have to be followed when it comes to building houses.

What do you like most about your job as Technical Manager?

I like the fact that I see a house building project through right from the very beginning to the end. I get a huge sense of satisfaction when everything I have been working on comes together on a particular project and everything is ready for our customers to move into their new homes.

I’m lucky too being a Technical Manager for a company that makes a great range of homes, from small developments to one-off grand designs homes so there’s lots of variety.

What does a typical day as Technical Manager look like for you?

I spend a lot of time responding to emails, making phone calls and generally chasing everyone up to make sure every piece of paperwork involved in building a house is being processed correctly and on time!

As Technical Manager, I’m in regular contact with all sorts of different organisations. These can range from the Highways Agency to talk about road closures, and utility providers to co-ordinate connections for a new house, to the Local Authority Planning Office regarding discharge of conditions.

Budgets and accounts form an important part of my work as well, which may sound a bit boring but they’re actually really important to make sure nothing gets neglected which might cause our customers delays further down the line.

I attend regular construction meetings so I can provide our Site Managers with all the information they need so they don’t have to think about anything apart from their responsibilities on-site.

I’m also responsible for organising any training our team needs to undertake and I also make sure we are on top of all our Health and Safety obligations. When we have apprentices working for us I deal with their colleges and sort out the funding applications and paperwork associated with them too.

My diary is my absolute bible as I am constantly checking against my list of things that need to happen and when they need to happen for each building project. It’s really hard for a self-builder to stay on top of it all themselves, especially if they already have a regular job. Even if they have employed a builder to do the actual construction, all this behind-the-scenes work is incredibly time-consuming. You have to get all the details exactly right too or you run the risk of falling foul of the Planning Officer or Building Regulations.  It’s probably one of the reasons that so many of our customers opt for our complete self-build package – we literally take that paperwork pain away from them. We are so familiar with all the systems and processes it makes perfect sense for us to do it all on their behalf.

What’s your biggest challenge as the Technical Manager?

Sorting out the utilities’ connections to a new-build can be very challenging. Looking back to my own experience as a self-builder I remember that being a real headache too. You have to be realistic about the amount of time that needs to be spent on it. It’s just a question of constantly chasing them up and making sure that they are all going to be connected at the right time and in the right order to fit in with the work being carried out on site.

I think overall, my biggest challenge is probably just keeping on top of everything and making sure all the plates are spinning. It can be a bit frustrating as I do spend a lot of my time trying to get hold of people. However, many more systems regarding house building have now been digitalised so they are now online; this has helped increase efficiency in many cases. That evolution was definitely speeded up by Covid when the sector had to find ways of working that didn’t involve people having to be in an office.

What measures do you take regarding sustainable building, especially for self-building?

There are a number of steps we take now to limit our carbon footprint. All new properties have to have electric car charging points. New Building Regulations means that water calculations have to be undertaken for all new build properties. You have to show that a home will use less than a certain amount per person per day so we have to look carefully at every appliance and piece of sanitaryware fitted to make sure they comply with the regulations.

Building houses with sustainable drainage

Sustainable drainage is particularly significant now too. It’s important to look really carefully at every site, particularly with regard to surface water.  We have to ensure that SUDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems), such as ponds or ditches are provided. These can be ponds or ditches so that our projects don’t overload the sewerage system, particularly in periods of heavy rain. 

Why do people like self-building with CB Homes?

We are a small team so everyone knows who everyone is. I think customers find us very approachable and friendly. We certainly pride ourselves on making sure we are very available and responsive. I think our customers really appreciate that.

Interested in building your own home? Talk to us about our complete self-build package.