1st fix carpentry
Joists, structural floors, stud partitions, roof structure and door linings. The stage that decides when second fix can start.
Commercial carpentry
Second fix carpentry
Second fix carpentry gangs for contractors and developers across Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk: doors, ironmongery, trim, staircases and panelling, plot by plot. Send the door and finishes schedule for a package price.
Scope
Plaster to handover, signed off first time.
Second fix is the stage a client actually sees, which is why it is the stage that generates the snag list. Doors that bind, architrave that does not meet, skirting scribed badly to an out-of-square wall: none of it is structural, all of it delays handover. AJB Group takes second fix as a defined package with the same employed carpenters across every plot, so plot thirty looks like plot one.
The package covers doors and ironmongery, including FD30 and FD60 fire door sets, architrave and skirting, window boards, staircases and balustrades in softwood, oak or glass, panelling and drop-down feature ceilings, boxing to services and pipework, fitted joinery, and kitchens where they belong in the same appointment. Snagging is carried out by the team that did the work rather than handed to somebody else.
Second fix can be taken on its own or run behind AJB Group's own first fix carpentry. Running both is usually better value because the same team already knows where the noggins and linings sit, but plots first fixed by others are picked up regularly.
Capacity matters here more than anywhere else on a programme, because second fix arrives at every plot at once toward the end of a phase. Fourteen employed carpenters plus vetted gangs is what allows a run of plots to be finished in parallel instead of one at a time.
Second fix scope
- Doors
- Internal and external, FD30 and FD60 fire door sets, frames and ironmongery
- Trim
- Architrave, skirting, window boards, boxing to services
- Stairs
- Straight flights, winders, double winders, timber and glass balustrades
- Feature
- Wall panelling, drop-down feature ceilings, media walls
- Kitchens
- Supply and fit or fit only, in package or separate
- Volume
- 72 fire doors and frames installed across 9 apartments
- Scope
- Supply and fit, or labour only
- Compliance
- CHAS, SMSTS, project RAMS
Evidence
Second fix already delivered.
Apartment conversions. At 17-19 High Street in Grantham for Probus Construction, the second fix scope ran to 72 internal fire doors and frames across nine apartments, two double winder staircases and nine kitchens, following on from the stud layout and new joists earlier in the same package. Deliveries were taken at 9am against a scheduled door installation programme, with second fix and kitchens starting once the flats were formed.
Volume housing. On five-bedroom homes in Peterborough for HB Developments the internal second fix teams work plot by plot while the developer brings further plots out of the ground. On a 300-home development the full internal carpentry package covers second fix across plots at different build stages.
High specification residential. A completed home at Thorney took kitchen and utility, LVT and click-down flooring, an oak staircase with glass balustrades, bathroom furniture and panelling, master bedroom panelling, drop-down feature ceilings and front room media walls.
Difficult existing buildings. Contracted in by SSL Home Creations in Spalding, a weekend on the biscuit jointer fitted doors into a sloped roof with several cut down to suit smaller openings. At Lympne Castle in Kent, trim carpentry and a bespoke cafe fit-out were built largely in oak to sit alongside the castle's existing features. Fire door upgrade work has been completed for North Norfolk District Council, with all failed doors ripped out and refitted to regulations.
Where this sits
The packages either side of second fix.
Second fix is normally bought with the first fix that precedes it, or as part of a full package across the whole development.
Full carpentry packages
Joists to handover under one appointment across every plot, priced as a package with one point of responsibility.
Shopfitting and fit-out
The commercial equivalent of second fix: shop fronts, counters, office fit-outs and restaurant interiors.
Back to commercial carpentry · Case study: 17-19 High Street, Grantham
Pricing and programme
Send the door and ironmongery schedule, the finishes specification and the plot drawings. What comes back is a package price for second fix broken down by item, so a quantity surveyor can see which items sit inside the carpentry package and which are being bought elsewhere. Kitchens and staircases can be priced inside the same package or held separately, whichever suits your procurement.
Programme is agreed plot by plot against the plastering sequence. The practical constraint on second fix is rarely labour, it is materials arriving in the right order: door sets, ironmongery and trim need to land against a schedule or the gang stands about. AJB Group works to a delivery schedule agreed up front, which is how 72 fire doors were installed at Grantham without a stop.
AJB Group is CHAS accredited and SMSTS certified, retains an external health and safety consultant and issues project-specific RAMS before mobilisation.
A note for homeowners
Second fix on a private house is the same work with a shorter list. If you want doors, skirting, a new staircase, fitted wardrobes, panelling or a media wall in your own home, you get one point of contact, a free site visit and a written estimate first. The in-house trades cover the electrics, plastering and decorating that go with it, so there is one number to call. See staircases and balustrades.
Common questions
Second fix carpentry, answered
What does a second fix carpentry package cover?
Doors and ironmongery, architrave and skirting, staircases and balustrades, window boards, panelling and feature ceilings, boxing to services, fitted joinery, kitchens where they sit in the same package, and the snagging that follows. In short, everything from the plasterer leaving to the plot being signed off.
How many doors can you hang in a week?
Volume depends on the door type and whether frames are already in. For scale, we installed 72 internal fire doors and frames across nine apartments at 17-19 High Street in Grantham, taking deliveries at 9am and working through a scheduled installation programme ahead of second fix and kitchens.
Can you do fire doors as part of second fix?
Yes. FD30 and FD60 door sets are installed to current fire safety standards as part of the second fix package. We have completed a full rip out and upgrade of failed fire doors for North Norfolk District Council and built a fire safety test centre in Peterborough used to demonstrate door mechanisms to trainee fitters. See fire doors.
Do you fit kitchens and staircases in the same package?
Yes, and it is usually cheaper and faster than splitting them out. The Grantham package included nine kitchens and two double winder staircases alongside the doors and trim, so one subcontractor carried the whole finish scope and one programme covered it.
Will you take second fix only, or do you need the first fix too?
Second fix can be taken on its own. It is often better value to run it with the first fix, because the same team knows where the noggins and linings are, but we regularly pick up second fix on plots first fixed by others.
What standard of finish do you work to on high specification homes?
A recent high specification home at Thorney took kitchen and utility, LVT and click-down flooring, an oak staircase with glass balustrades, bathroom furniture and panelling, master bedroom panelling, drop-down feature ceilings and media walls. At Lympne Castle in Kent the trim carpentry was largely oak to match the existing 13th century features.
Second fix gang needed on your plots?
Send the door schedule and finishes spec and we will price the package.