School of Management Building, Claverton Down, Bath
Client: MCS Integrated Solutions Ltd (end user: University of Bath)
Project Overview
School of Management Building, Claverton Down, Bath
£148,089.04 ex VAT
Service: Reactive
Sector: Education
- Approved Contractor: MLG UK Ltd
- Client: MCS Integrated Solutions Ltd (end user: University of Bath)
- Duration: 5 weeks against a six-week programme
- Work Carried Out: Fire stopping, fire compartmentation reinstatement, joinery, flooring, decoration, ceilings, as principal contractor
Scope of Work
Full multi-trade reinstatement across four occupied floors and the basement of the School of Management Building at the University of Bath, following a concealed escape of water that had compromised fire compartmentation. MLG acted as principal contractor for the remedial package, working around overlapping staff decants in a live university building.
- Levels 5, 4, 3, 2 and basement: four occupied floors plus basement
- Reinstatement of saturated mineral fire batt beneath the raised access floors
- Replacement of contaminated carpet tiles, water-damaged wall linings and skirtings
- Replacement of stained ceiling tiles and ruined window blinds
- Insurance-funded works delivered as a single multi-trade package
- Working hours 07:00 – 18:00 around live building operations
Systems installed
- Fire batt: Mineral fire batt beneath raised access floors
- Floor finishes: Carpet tiles
Challenges & Constraints
A leak nobody saw
An escape of water from a third-party water dispenser on the top floor discharged into a raised access floor void, where there was nothing to see and nobody to see it. It ran long enough to track down through the corner of the building floor by floor.
Compartmentation compromised
Saturated mineral fire batt does not reinstate itself when it dries. The compartmentation between floors, the barrier that buys occupants time to evacuate, had been compromised across multiple levels.
A building in use
Four occupied floors and the basement of the School of Management Building stayed in use throughout, with staff decants overlapping the works.
Project Execution & Techniques
Compartmentation set the sequence
Putting the fire compartmentation back correctly governed the whole package. Every other trade was sequenced around it rather than the other way round.
Fire batt replaced
Saturated mineral fire batt beneath the raised access floors was reinstated across levels 5, 4, 3, 2 and the basement.
One multi-trade package
Contaminated carpet tiles, water-damaged wall linings and skirtings, stained ceiling tiles and ruined blinds were all replaced under a single insurance-funded contract, with MLG as principal contractor and working hours of 07:00 to 18:00 around live building operations.
Continuity from investigation
MLG attended the initial water damage investigation in November 2024 and carried out works to the Executive Lounge water dispenser in January 2025 before MCS appointed the firm to price and deliver the reinstatement. There was no rediscovery of the problem and no gap between diagnosis and repair.
Outcome & Long-Term Benefits
Five weeks against six
On site 28 July to 2 September 2025, the works were completed in five weeks against a six-week programme.
Life safety put back
Fire compartmentation was reinstated across all five affected levels, the primary issue, not a cosmetic one.
No decant required
The university building remained in use for the whole period, with the works planned around overlapping staff decants.
Invited back to present
The University invited MLG back to campus to present the job to other estates teams, a client asking for the method to be shared more widely.
Conclusion
A concealed escape of water at the University of Bath’s School of Management Building did more than stain ceilings. It saturated the mineral fire batt under the raised access floors across five levels, and saturated batt does not recover when it dries, the compartmentation between floors had gone.
MLG had been with the defect from the start, attending the November 2024 investigation and the January 2025 dispenser works before MCS appointed the firm as principal contractor for the £148,089.04 reinstatement. The compartmentation drove the sequence and everything else followed it: batt, carpet tiles, linings, skirtings, ceiling tiles and blinds, in five weeks against six, in a building that never stopped being used. The University then asked MLG back to present the job to other estates teams.
"MLG are the building contractors responsible for the 10 East flood damage repair works. Both the end client and Clerk of Works were impressed with their efficiency and standard of workmanship, and equally impressed by their level of communication and organisation. As such, we have invited them back to campus to kindly provide a presentation to any interested parties concerned with building projects of varying magnitude."
, Oliver Eades, Clerk of Works, University of Bath
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