Second fix carpentry
Doors and ironmongery, architrave, skirting, staircases and the finish work that follows the plasterer through the plot.
Commercial carpentry
First fix carpentry
1st fix carpentry gangs for main contractors and developers across Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk: joists, structural floors, stud partitions and roof structure. Send the drawings and the joist design for a priced package.
Scope
Shell to plasterable, in one appointment.
First fix is the stage that decides whether the rest of the programme holds. Everything after it, plastering, mechanical and electrical second fix, doors, kitchens and handover, is queuing behind the day the plot is boarded and ready. AJB Group takes first fix as a defined package so there is one subcontractor responsible for that date rather than three.
The scope covers floor joists and structural floors, stud partitions and internal walls, roof structure where it forms part of the same package, door linings, noggins and firrings, timber infill to steel, boarding and loading out. On conversions it extends to forming new floors inside an existing shell, and on industrial work it covers framing out a unit from scratch.
Specifications are worked to as drawn. A typical traditional set is C24 8x2 at 400mm centres with 22mm Caberdex flooring. Posi-joist sets and traditional hand cut sets are both routine, as is infilling structural steel with hand cut joists and hangers, boarded in 18mm marine ply where that is what the engineer has asked for.
Programme is the reason contractors keep coming back. Fourteen employed carpenters are split into external and internal teams, so joists and roofs run ahead of the first fix teams following behind. At Quadring the bungalow roofs went on with first fixes starting the following week, and on the 300-home development the internal carpentry package runs across plots at different build stages while garage roofs are installed on others.
First fix specification
- Joists
- C24 8x2 at 400mm centres, posi-joist and traditional hand cut sets
- Decking
- 22mm Caberdex, 18mm marine ply to steel infill
- Partitions
- Stud layout and partitions, including to external walls on conversions
- Structure
- Roof structure, steel infill, hangers, noggins, firrings
- Rate
- 288 m² joist set completed in 2 days
- Scope
- Supply and fit, or labour only
- Plant
- Company crane for joist and truss lifts
- Compliance
- CHAS, SMSTS, project RAMS
Evidence
First fix already delivered.
Volume housing. On a 300-home development AJB Group is delivering the full internal carpentry package alongside garage roof installations, across plots at different build stages. At Long Sutton the team took a 69 to 70-unit estate and all its exterior works, following joists and roofs through the site. At Quadring, a 9-bungalow development, roofs went on first and first fixes followed, with 7 plots roofed in a single day at peak.
Conversions. At 17-19 High Street in Grantham for Probus Construction, first fix meant new internal joists and flooring, stud partitions to all external walls and the stud layout for nine apartments inside a disused town centre building. Near King's Lynn, barn conversions have involved re-installing traditional joist sets to form entirely new first floors in tight existing structures.
High-value residential. A 6,000 square foot house for SSL Home Creations with six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a private gym and a pool took a 288 square metre joist set completed across two days on the first visit.
Apartments and industrial. At Gladstone House in North London an empty shell was turned into four luxury apartments starting with the joists and floors, completed by a team of three in five days flat. At Fleet Hargate the package was 8 industrial units with a further 3 in Spalding: 11 joist sets in total, then full office fit-outs. In Gainsborough a warehouse was framed out for a meal prep company, 14 hours on the saw in a day.
Where this sits
The packages either side of first fix.
First fix rarely stands alone. Most contracts run it with the joists that come before it and the second fix that follows.
Floor joists and structural floors
The load-bearing detail behind first fix: posi-joist, traditional hand cut sets, hangers, squint blocks and decking.
Full carpentry packages
Joists to handover under one appointment, priced as a package across every plot on the development.
Back to commercial carpentry · Case study: 17-19 High Street, Grantham
Pricing and programme
Send the architectural drawings, the joist and truss design and the structural engineer's details. What comes back is a package price for first fix with the scope broken out, so a quantity surveyor can see exactly which items sit inside the carpentry package and which do not. Where the scope cannot be defined, for example survey-led work on an existing building, day works are quoted instead.
For programme, first fix is agreed against your build sequence. On multi-plot sites that normally means external teams staying ahead on joists and roofs while the internal teams work through behind, which is how a site keeps a steady flow of plots reaching plasterable rather than all arriving at once. On single-building conversions it means phasing, as at Grantham where phase one was six weeks on site.
AJB Group is CHAS accredited and SMSTS certified, retains an external health and safety consultant and issues project-specific RAMS before mobilisation. There is a company crane for joist and truss lifts, so the lift is not sitting in a hire queue.
A note for homeowners
This page is written for contractors, but first fix on a private extension or self build is the same work at a different scale. If you are building your own house, you get one point of contact, a free site visit and a written estimate before anyone lifts a tool, plus in-house trades for the brickwork, plumbing, electrics and plastering that follow. Start at extensions and renovations.
Common questions
1st fix carpentry, answered
What is included in a 1st fix carpentry package?
Everything structural and everything that disappears behind plasterboard: floor joists and structural floors, stud partitions, roof structure, door linings, window boards where specified, noggins, firrings, boarding and timber infill to steel. On our contracts it typically also covers loading out and setting out with the site engineer.
What joist specification do you normally work to?
It depends on the structural design, but a typical traditional set is C24 8x2 at 400mm centres with 22mm Caberdex flooring. We also fit posi-joist sets and traditional hand cut sets, and infill steel with hand cut joists and hangers, boarded in 18mm marine ply where the specification calls for it.
How quickly can you get a plot to first fix complete?
Pace depends on the design, but for reference we completed a 288 square metre joist set in two days on a 6,000 square foot house, and formed the joists and floors for four luxury apartments at Gladstone House in North London with a team of three in five days flat.
Can you run first fix across multiple plots at once?
Yes. Fourteen employed carpenters are split into external and internal teams, so roofs and joists can run ahead of the first fix teams following through. On the Quadring 9-bungalow development the roofs went on first with first fixes starting the following week, and on a 300-home development internal carpentry runs across plots at different build stages.
Do you supply materials or fit only?
Both. Full package supply and fit is the more common arrangement, but labour-only first fix gangs are supplied where the main contractor is buying timber directly, which is normal on volume housing sites.
Do you do first fix on conversions as well as new build?
Yes, and it is a large part of the workload. At 17-19 High Street in Grantham the first fix scope covered new internal joists and flooring, stud partitions to all external walls and the stud layout for nine apartments inside a disused town centre building. Barn conversions near King's Lynn have involved re-installing traditional joist sets to form new first floors.
Need a first fix gang on programme?
Send the drawings and the joist design and we will price the package.