Onwards: Walls Getting Done...

Faial experienced some pretty poor weather last week, in common with many places, as it seems. Of course here in the UK we had the "Beast From the East", and also a storm that came from the Atlantic pushing up from the south of England towards the midlands... which of course started in the Azores...

After the snow (sort of) stopped I cleared the screen and tried to move my car. Top tip: 3.0 Litre rear wheel drive sports-car does not do ice and snow. Result: Stuck once I got off the gravel underneath. Joy. Oh, Azores. My creaky bones need you. Seriously, as you get older things start to seize up, as did the car...

My project manager emailed me earlier in the week to confirm progress, although he mentioned the poor weather and heavy rain. And yet the intrepid foreman and the builder continued work on the retaining walls. Apparently it was a shudderingly cold 10 degrees (meanwhile minus 7 here in the UK, with a windchill factor down to minus 15) - but 10 degrees is pretty unusual for the Azores! Having looked at the historical data, the usual coldest 'winter' hovers around 12 degrees. Mix it up with some rain and wind and low cloud though and I truly feel for my wall builders. They are not used to it.

I see construction workers in the UK and they are wearing hi-tech cold weather kit, insulated; although I doubt anyone could describe their condition as toasty. The pictures of my guys shows them wearing regular shirts and jeans!

It looks a bit misty on Faial here.. Yes, it is not a tropical island, and does get damp and miserable, but not too cold. This picture shows the front (roadside) retaining wall under construction. Parking and footpath to follow.

So, work has continued to progress on the front retaining wall, in fact, double reinforced wall. And the neighbours "destroyed" wall has been rebuilt with the drive ready for repair and in-filling.

Here we can see that the boundary wall to the neighbouring property is being rebuilt - the hole needs to be filled (shown later), to give a good solid drive.

The builder, Azevedo, has started moving their plant onto the site and preparing the area for foundations and ground-work.

I had a little chuckle at this... porta-loo, tool store or perhaps a place to keep warm and have a smoke? Perhaps all of the above. Seriously, just a place to keep the tools when off site.

Meanwhile, I am still waiting for the Building Certificate - although this does not stop preparatory being undertaken. My project manager had to collect what is known as the "Yellow Book" and get it signed by a second independent engineer. Then the documents had to be submitted to the Camra. This has now been done and it should be only a week or two until the licence is granted. Actually, there was much more running around to be done - as several offices had to be visited during the day... so yes, I have understated the process a bit: Project Manager = Star.

As far as I know, the "Yellow Book" is similar to what we have here in the UK. It essentially lays out everyones resposibilites for undertaking the construction. From the landowner / client, the architect, the project manager, the engineer, the construction company and any trades employed. The main thrust of this document is safety, responsibility, insurance and financial conditions (in the case of non-completion or non-payment). It is essentially a fair protection schedule for all those involved in the project, and describes everyones responsibilities and obligations.

I may have mentioned before, but one thing that is outstanding with Portuguese / Azorean practice is the thoroughness of the planning process. Yes, it generates some extra bureaucracy, but gives a solid base to work from. Excellent in fact. My only criticism would be how this impacts the time factor, as we are already a few days behind as paperwork was a little slow to materialise. My worry is that these minor delays will stack up, leading to a substantial overshoot of the build time.

This would normally have no substantial implications. But Brexit..... Say no more.

Meanwhile, awaiting the certificate, preliminary work was underway:

Here we see the first stages of staking out the foundations on the plot. Exciting!

Next Up: .... Meanwhile....