Property Update – September 2021
In: UncategorizedAdhamaalahu Ujuruna Waujurakum Bimusabina Bibi Zainab (S.A.)
Respected Scholars, Dear Elders, Brothers and Sisters
Salamun Alaikum
As per the Executive Committee commitment of providing the community with a monthly update, we are pleased to provide you the latest position in relation to the works at our Beloved Centre.
Centre Restoration – Surveyors Update
Our Surveyors’ Northwood Carter have been working with the various specialists and consultants to get their final reports, which are all required by the Insurers before we can commence with restoration works. Many of our members will have seen multiple consultants in attendance on behalf of the insurers, and we have been informed that our members and staff have been very accommodating, may Allah SWT reward you all. Alhamdulillah we are now nearing completion of the surveys – with the final ones taking place over the coming days.
As indicated in our previous updates, this whole process was due to take up-to 6 months and Alhamdulillah we are within this target time. Northwood Carter have confirmed they are confident that all the reports will be with the Insurers by the end of October, which will allow us to move to the next stage of discussions with the Insurers.
For the purpose of explaining further to our members, when Northwood Carter talk about specialist reports, these are reports to create detailed scope of works to allow competitive tendering to ensure any scope of work created provides information to the insurer and contractors about what works are necessary to restore the building. This would apply for each discipline – thereby giving the insurers confidence that the restoration meets current building regulations and standards.
The Insurers will not progress any discussions until all these reports are submitted and we have been informed that some of these reports have already been submitted and the remainder are due to be submitted to the Insurers by the end of October.
The next stage would be finalising the scope of work for competitive tendering to contractors. These prices from contractors will be used as a platform for discussions to move forward towards a restoration value, and more over the insurers working with the selected contractor to restore the centre. The insurers will be tendering to 5 contractors, 2 from their internal framework and 3 provided by Northwood Carter. This would give them a good baseline for moving to contract award.
Centre Restoration – Architect Update
The architects appointed by Hujjat are working diligently with the various stakeholders including our Surveyors, Heritage Teams, the Council and the Hujjat Property Team to work out the potential options for the community.
There are currently three options which are being presented to the executive committee, which we will present to the entire membership to make a decision on the potential options to include time and cost. These include (a) a restoration solely done by the insurer, (b) an enhanced restoration of the centre and (c) pursuing the wider development plan to include extensions of the building.
We have been assured by the Architects that we should receive options b&c, the visuals and the costings by the end of October.
This will tie in well with having some indication on the level of works required from an insurance restoration perspective, along with the wider development plan, it is our intention to call a General Body Meeting around end November/beginning December time to provide the membership with comprehensive options to decide on the best option forward.
Temporary Steel Structure within the Centre
As updated to the community, the Executive Committee was exploring temporary structures to be erected at the Centre whilst the restoration work was being done. A pre planning application was submitted to Harrow Council and we are still waiting to get a formal update from the council in respect of our application.
In the meantime, the Executive Committee are exploring alternative options within the existing premises. These are dependent on a number of factors, including Health and Safety clearance, Insurance Clearance and also the various reports that are being submitted to the Insurers.
As your Executive Committee, we are making you aware of the options we are exploring, some of these may not materialise due to multiple reasons. This is just to assure you that we are undertaking various options and modalities to see how best we can reopen our centre as soon as its possible.
We expect to have a more concrete and practical plan of reopening our centre by the end of October when we will update the community. If we are able to obtain approval prior to this time, we will naturally update the community earlier.
Ashrae Zainabiya
The team is working very hard and diligently to plan and prepare for Ashra Zainabiya at our beloved Hujjat Centre. The works for this are at final stages and like the first Ashra, we are working on having Marquees and have the majlises face to face in our centre. We are extremely grateful for the support from our members and volunteers throughout this period. InshAllah we can be all together once more at our beloved centre to commemorate the Chehlum of Aba Abdillah (A.S), his family and companions and mourn the atrocities faced by Imam Sajjad (A.S), Bibi Zainab (S.A) and the families of the Martyrs of Kerbala.
Wassalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
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