Invitation to Tender
CLERK OF WORKS SERVICES
For
BUILDING RENOVATION / EXTENSION
Glencoe Folk Museum
Apr 2025
1. Introduction
Glencoe Folk Museum (GFM) wishes to appoint Clerk of Works services to support the delivery of its capital works project.
2. Client’s Name
CLIENT Glencoe Folk Museum
ADDRESS Main Street, Glencoe, PH49 4HS
Tel: (phone number removed)
3. Principal Contact
Peter Drummond, Lead Project Architect (phone number removed)
4. Background Glencoe Folk Museum was founded in 1967 by a group of local residents who sought to document the rapidly-changing way of life in the Glencoe and North Lorn area. In 1972 the burgeoning collection was moved into its current premises, a pair of 19th century cruck-frame heather-thatch crofting cottages located in the centre of Glencoe village. The collection of c6,000 objects chronicles daily life and work in the area between the 17th – 21st centuries, as well as turbulent times such as the Jacobite rebellions and the infamous Glencoe Massacre of 1692.
The Museum is fully-accredited through Museums Galleries Scotland and is run by a volunteer Board of Trustees, with day-to-day management delegated to a full-time Curator. Management of the redevelopment project is overseen by a full-time Project Director
Prior to redevelopment the Museum attracted c7,000 visitors annually, with just over half of visitors originating from overseas.
5. Context
The Museum premises are life-expired and do not meet modern standards of visitor access and collections care. Significant repair work is required to the Cat. B listed historic buildings including re-roofing and sympathetic modification to permit wheelchair access. The present Museum is not financially sustainable and requires major investment to make it a thriving, appealing and financially secure attraction.
£2.2m funding has been raised to comprehensively overhaul and upgrade the Museum site with significant contributions from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland, SSE and Highland Council among others. The redeveloped Museum is to open Spring 2026.
6. Aim
The aim of this commission is to provide clerk of works services to support the design team whilst the BUILDING repair and redevelopment and FITOUT contracts are on-site. The contract works comprise of the following and a 7-month contract is anticipated.
a. Builders works Demolition / downtakings, Underpinning works, Foundations / masonry / tanking Limecrete floors and lime/sand screeds, Masonry repairs and pointerworks, slappings / infilling of walls, Temporary supports, Thresholds / cills / lintels, BWICS, etc.
b. Roofing works Temporary roof coverings, single ply roof coverings, rainwater disposal
c. Steel and Structural Timber work Beams, columns, fittings, etc.
d. Woodwork and glazier works Rot works, timber strengthening works, timber roof and floor repairs, Roof structures, Rooflights/louvres, Stairs/handrails/glass balustrades, stud walls and partitions Wall lining systems, Glazed screens, Refurbishment of existing windows, Secondary glazing, Aluminium Windows/doors, Internal & Automatic door sets, Plasterboard ceilings and decorative linings, sanitary installations, Cavity fire barriers, etc.
f. Plumbing Installations Rainwater goods, Sanitaryware, Disposal installations, etc.
g. Mechanical Installations Ground Source Heat Pump, heating, automatic controls, ventilation, hot and cold water installations, etc.
h. Electrical installations Lighting, power, fire detection, lightning protection, comms, security, induction loops, DDA compliance works, hand driers, etc.
j. Floor, wall and Ceiling Finishes Linings generally, Vinyl/carpet floor coverings, Skim coat plaster works, etc.
k. Painting and Decorating
l. External works Comprising site preparation works, soft landscaping, resin bond gravel paths, granite paths, recycled precast concrete slabs, Macadam works, cycle store, Potential car park works, etc.
m. Drainage Connections to sewer, surface water soakaway, ACO drains, manholes, inspection chambers pipes, pumping systems, etc.
n. External Services Water, Electrical and BT service utility connections with associated tracks, Fire Hydrant works, etc.
o. Fitout On-site fabrications / installation of cabinetry, interior / exterior exhibition materials, electrical / A/V hardware, and finishings.
7. Scope of Commission
The key responsibilities and accountabilities include:
MATERIALS Inspection of materials delivered to site, including those of subcontractors for compliance with the contract documents. The architect is informed in writing of any materials that do not comply.
CONSTRUCTION Inspection of the works in progress, including those of subcontractors, throughout the contract period for compliance with the contract documents. The architect and contractor is informed in writing of any works/materials found not to comply.
OFF SITE MANUFACTURE Visit, as agreed with the architect, the premises of the contractor, subcontractors and suppliers where components are being manufactured off site and inspect for compliance with the contract documents.
RECORDS Keep records of, and mark up, drawings with the dates of installation/erection of the various elements of the structure.
HIDDEN WORKS AND VARIATIONS Maintain records of covered works and variations.
DAYWORKS Check work recorded on dayworks and confirm if they are a true reflection of the resources used onsite.
REPORTS Prepare and submit a weekly report on: progress against programme, labour on site, weather, note delays, defective works, general safety issues.
CONTRACT DIARY Maintain a diary and record the following:
• Record of progress onsite at the time of visit
• Quality issues
• Design Issues
• Weather conditions
• Delays
• Safety issues
• Compliance with the contract documentation
• Remedial action undertaken
TESTS Witness tests as directed by the architect. Maintain a register of such tests.
PHOTOGRAPHS Digital photographs to be taken to record both progress and quality issues.
DELAYS Record the details of any occurrence or situation likely to cause a delay to the contract and inform the architect.
COMPLETION Carry out inspections at completion stages, prepare schedules of defects and issue to the architect.
8. Budget
The maximum budget available for this engagement is £12,000 excluding VAT.
9. Timetable
Tender returns are expected no later than Fri 23rd May.
ender assessment will take place from Mon 26th May – Fri 6th June, with a start date of Tues 1st July.
10. Reporting and Liaison
The Clerk of Works will report to the lead project architect and work day-to-day with the contractor on site.
Lead Project Architect: Peter Drummond (PDArch) (phone number removed)
11. Consultant Specification
Essential
Attention to detail and excellent observation skills.
Broad knowledge of the construction industry covering materials, trades, building methods, and legal requirements
Excellent communication and negotiating skills
Good written communication skills, for completing paperwork and compiling reports
Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with a wide range of project team members
Be physically fit and comfortable working at heights
Desirable
Membership of an appropriate professional body e.g. ICWCI
Experience
Essential
Demonstrable experience of:
o Providing clerk of works services on listed and traditional buildings
o Working with Microsoft Office, particularly Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel
Practical knowledge of Health and Safety with particular focus on major construction projects.
12. Tender Submission
Details of submissions should be treated as private and confidential. The form of the submission should be as follows:
• Firm or Individual name, address and contact details
• Name of Director/Partner in charge and contact details
• Details of approach to the project (methodology)
• A fee proposal – to be provided in a separate, sealed envelope (or separate, clearly marked email).
• CVs of key personnel including details of the experience of the individual(s) who will directly undertake the work, and examples of previously completed projects for which he or she was responsible
• Copy of current Public Liability / Professional Indemnity documents
• Examples of previous relevant work i.e. an evaluation report and an evaluation plan
• Any other project specific information in support of the submission
• Two contacts for references
A lump sum fee is envisaged. Any additional work/costs excluded from the fee should be clearly noted.
13. Assessment of Submissions
The submission is to be sent electronically to Lead Project Architect, Peter Drummond, by no later than 5pm, Fri 23rd April
GFM is not bound to accept the lowest or any offer of Tender.
Tender submissions will be assessed on a 70% Quality/ 30% Price weighting.
Quality Assessment Criteria (70%):
• Relevant experience (25%): To evaluate this criterion, consideration will be given to the evidence shown of previous relevant experience of delivering similar projects, which should be described.
• Project team (25%): To evaluate this criterion, consideration will be given to the evidence shown of the skills and suitability of the firm/project team to deliver this type of work.
• Methodology (50%): To evaluate this criterion, consideration will be given to the details provided in your methodology statement including, but not limited to, method of working, stakeholder engagement, programme and timescales etc.
The quality related criterion shall be assessed on the basis of the tender and supporting evidence submitted by the Tenderer.
Tenderers may be invited to interview.
14. Presentation of Reports and Documents
Interim reports and procedural documents inc. meeting minutes should be submitted electronically to the Lead Project Architect. Copies of all formal reports are to be submitted in hardcopy format (2 copies) and electronically via email or similar.
All formal reports and publicity materials must acknowledge the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Highland Council, Museums Galleries Scotland, SSE, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Environment Scotland, Robert Barr Foundation and Foyle Foundation and include the relevant logos in line with their requirements.
15. Further Information
The Project Outcomes to be achieved are at Annex A. Further project information is available by enquiry.
GFM gratefully acknowledges the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Highland Council, Museums Galleries Scotland, SSE, Garfield Weston Foundation, Historic Environment Scotland, Robert Barr Foundation and Foyle Foundation, who are the main funders of the Delivery Phase of this project.
Annex A – Project Outcomes
The following outcomes derive from GFM’s NLHF project plan and demonstrate how the Museum will further its mission goals.
GLENCOE FOLK MUSEUM WILL ENGAGE WITH A WIDER RANGE OF PEOPLE
● Annual visitors to the redeveloped Museum will increase from average 7,000 to 20,000 over the next five years (figure derived from Visit Scotland data - 500,000+ tourists pass the end of the Museum's street each season).
● Partnerships with local cafes, craft shops, and other relevant businesses for cross-promotion to support the cultural offer of the whole community– attracting a greater audience to our venue than would ordinarily consider visiting museums.
● Our engagement programme will target groups in the Lochaber area, and beyond, to reach out to more diverse audiences than previously. This includes reaching out to the Highland diaspora and forging new connections through them to link the world-wide Highland community with Glencoe. This will also emphasise making the Museum easier for audiences to reach remotely.
● The increased admission fee of the redeveloped Museum (From £3 to £6 to promote financial sustainability) will be compensated by the introduction of a concessionary rate for students and low-income visitors to ensure that income is not a barrier to visiting.
● New exhibitions and accessible facilities will better communicate local history to visitors. Promoting our improved physical and intellectual access to history will remove barriers to visits by audiences put off by stereotypes of a ‘traditional’ museum experience. All new interpretation will meet modern accessible text standards for content and appearance.
● Digital counterparts to all exhibitions and activities, including a new digital classroom, will allow worldwide access to the Museum for people unable to physically visit. Resources will be aimed at a broad age range and available in multiple languages for maximum remote engagement.
● Digitised collection will make the Museum’s unique artefacts available for research/revenue-generating licencing/merchandising worldwide.
● The new facility for changing exhibitions and holding more activity demonstrations will encourage repeat visits by tourists and locals. This will attract participation from members of the community who did not previously attend through the belief that nothing happened at the Museum and it did not change.
● New covered spaces mean the Museum can be promoted as a wet weather venue, increasing visits during poor weather. Greater reception/exhibition spaces and toilet facilities and remove a barrier for visits by those with health/mobility issues. It will also encourage increased dwell time and provide greater scope for hosting school/group visits (Highland Museums Forum ‘Our Collective Future’ identified insufficient space and facilities as barrier to school visits).
● A programme of online activities including historical talks, performances and craft demonstrations will broaden engagement beyond traditional museum methods and attract larger and more diverse audiences.
● The new learning/outreach programme, including curriculum linked session plans with physical and digital resources, will strengthen links with schools, care homes and local groups. It will assist engagement with new audiences including vulnerable local residents (‘OCF’ report recommends ‘explore developing reminiscence activity programme for care homes in off-season’).
● New remote volunteering opportunities, such as transcribing historic documents, identifying images from the photo archive, delivering online talks and assisting with running the online shop, will encourage a new volunteer audience to engage with the Museum.
● The programme of youth work placement will fill a gap in the local employability skills market, giving participants useful experience in customer service, admin, retail and curatorial skills.
GLENCOE’S HERITAGE WILL BE PROTECTED
● New drainage measures and improvements to the thatching base layers, including removing hazardous asbestos, will protect our most valuable object – our 19th century cottages. The Cat. B listed outbuilding will be re-roofed and re-mortared, stabilising its structure and environmental conditions.
● Unobtrusive secondary glazing, chimney cowling and door brushes will stabilise baseline environmental levels. New conservation heating will bring humidity levels within standard limits and flatten fluctuations. UV filtering blinds and films and a new, adjustable, filtered, LED lighting system will reduce the risk of light damage to collections in the existing and new structures.
● Modern display cases, fitted with passive climate control and VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) tested display materials will protect particularly vulnerable collections and allow us to accept loaned objects.
● Our digitising project will include the creation of digital replicas of key objects, protecting originals where our community programmes would not normally allow frequent handling and transport.
● Remedial conservation will allow important artefacts to be safely displayed for the first time, including a rare ‘funeral boat’.
GLENCOE’S HERITAGE WILL BE INTERPRETED
● New exhibitions designed by Mather & Co. will improve physical and intellectual access to local history, including through bi-lingual English/Gaelic signage, Makaton interpretation options and foreign language translations to accommodate the significant proportion of international visitors (53% in 2017).
● New sensory interpretation, including audio recordings of Highland music, sounds from the local slate industry and the smell of peat fires in the 18th century cottage spaces will broaden engagement with the Museum beyond reading interpretation without a reliance on hands-on interactives (which could pose a risk to public health in times of increased infection).
● Handling objects and traditional interactive features will be complemented by augmented reality versions for mobile devices. This will enable artefacts and the historic buildings (inc. being able to view a virtual interior of the cottages as built) to be explored and interacted with even if it is necessary for public health reasons to remove hands-on features from display. These will be designed to appeal to a broad audience, from simple collection and history-based games for younger visitors to more in-depth interpretation for visitors with a particular interest.
● Removing 1970s outbuilding displays and constructing viewports in the new exhibition building will expose sides of the 19th century cottages to public view for the first time in over 40 years, improving visitors’ understanding of their construction. The new cottage interior exhibitions will reveal more of the original walls and cruck frame construction whilst retaining elements of the cluttered 'cabinet of curiosities' charm of the existing displays as per our visitor consultations.
● Our central Glencoe location and expertise amongst our volunteers will allow the Museum to promote itself as consultants for incoming film production companies (Building on our experiences of being involved in TV productions such as ‘Mach a Seo’ for Caledonia TV in 2017 and Starz 'Men in Kilts' and Paul Murton’s ‘Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs’ in 2019) as well as assisting the development of itineraries for local, national and international tour operators.
● Digitised collections will be promoted online and information crowd-sourced for artefacts which currently lack identification.
GLENCOE FOLK MUSEUM WILL IMPROVE WELLBEING
● Our exhibitions will focus on Highland history, celebrating Gaelic culture. This will increase awareness of and foster local pride as well as educating and entertaining visitors.
● The digitised collection will make the greater proportion of our artefacts accessible to the public, encouraging greater connections between the community and their history.
● The upgraded Museum will be accessible for all – including becoming physically accessible for the first time through improvements including a new wheelchair-friendly entrance and toilets as well as increased clearances through internal doorways. There will also be new provisions for the sight and hearing impaired as well as a sympathetic visual design and quiet spaces accommodating those living with perception impairments including dementia.
● ‘The Byre’ new Community Gallery will allow groups to produce displays in museum-standard conditions as well as providing a quirky meeting venue and space for low-pressure drop-in social sessions and outreach activities to combat disengagement and loneliness among residents (Scottish Govt ‘A Connected Scotland’ report found 22% of adults feel they lack a sense of belonging to their community).
● Embedding remote engagement alongside every aspect of our physical developments will enable the Museum to reach people worldwide who are either physically unable to visit our premises or are restricted either by public health measures or an unwillingness to risk public contact.
● An active collecting project (building on our successful ‘Life During Lockdown’ 2020 project) will empower the community to contribute their own stories to the historical record.
● Visitor and staff comfort will be improved through access to a toilet and a climate-controlled building. Water facilities for visitors to refill bottles will be provided, increasing comfort levels and contributing towards environmental sustainability.
● Employment opportunities have been created, particularly through recruiting a Learning and Engagement Officer, Project Evaluator and use of local contractors to perform the capital works.
● The young placement scheme will teach local employment skills and foster a sense of purpose and pride in work.
● Putting infection security at the forefront of the Museum’s design will create a venue which staff and visitors can attend with confidence that the risks of contracting viruses will have been minimised.
● Glencoe village and local businesses will benefit from increased tourist spend and dwell time in the area, as well as local residents having more access to community spaces and activities.
GLENCOE FOLK MUSEUM WILL BE MORE RESILIENT
● A governance resilience review, including creating a new business plan and fundraising strategy, will maximise sustainability beyond end of project.
● Completing the redevelopment of the Museum will allow the organisation to begin work on the housing development of its field site, further securing our financial sustainability.
● Our remote engagement will open the Museum to a vast global audience with far greater opportunities for online revenue generation than exist currently.
● The Fundraising Consultant role will refine and deliver the Museum’s Fundraising Strategy, embedding sustainable fundraising in all activities.
● Our sources of income will become more diverse instead of relying on admissions and gift sales revenue from physical visits. Following consultations with the community, a remote engagement programme will be introduced including online exhibitions and photo galleries, curator talks, historic craft skills workshops and an online collections database. These will be monetised through a 'pay what you feel' donations system. We will also complement these measures by increasing our present online fundraising options including ‘adopt an object’. Licencing images and producing unique merchandise based on our digitised collections will create an additional source of revenue.
● Increased value of activities and quality of displays will increase visitor numbers and permit an admission price raise from £3 to £6, generating greater income.
● The climate-controlled building will permit a longer opening season, increasing access to museum audiences and generating greater income. The Museum will also be more resilient to the effects of adverse weather produced by climate change.
● Installing a toilet will remove a barrier to volunteer recruitment and working availability, increasing volunteer hours worked and reducing reliance on paid staffing to open the Museum. This addition will also permit more group visits, including out of hours attendance.
● The higher profile of a redeveloped, thriving Museum will increase our potential to attract new sponsors, volunteers and trustees, promoting long-term resilience. Our capacity to collaborate with external organisations worldwide will also be enhanced.
● We will build on our experiences of opening under Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 to design a museum around possible future periods of restricted operation, maximising the potential for safe opening. We will be able to maximise ventilation and implement social distancing measures, as well as removing hands-on features, providing protective screens and other public hygiene measures, at short notice without compromising the museum experience.
● A purpose-built gift shop in the new reception building will allow a greater range of merchandise to be attractively displayed, increasing retail revenue. This will have an equivalent online gift shop, enabling gifts to be purchased worldwide and protecting a vital revenue stream for periods where the Museum is unable to open under public health measures.
● Selling locally produced gifts will help stimulate the local economy, promoting goodwill, increase partnership working and developing a network of community advocates for the Museum