Whitefox Chartered Surveyors cements schools expertise after delivering the project a week early, under budget and without a single defect
Bournemouth-based Whitefox Chartered Surveyors is formalising its position as a specialist in the education sector, after successfully delivering a major window and door replacement scheme for Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School in Bournemouth, finishing a full week ahead of schedule and within budget.
The project, commissioned by the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth, saw Whitefox Chartered Surveyors replace 83 window and door units across the primary school and Nurture Hub in Boscombe, alongside works to install automated closers and new handrails at key egress points, all within the confines of the six-week summer holiday period, the only window in which term-time-sensitive school works of this scale can happen.
It’s a deadline that leaves zero margin for error. Funding for the scheme was only confirmed in early spring 2026, giving Whitefox Chartered Surveyors a matter of weeks to survey, cost, design and tender the works before the summer shutdown even began, and then just six weeks to deliver them before pupils returned.
Turning a tight window into a track record
Acting as Project Manager, QS/Employers Agent and Principal Designer, Whitefox Chartered Surveyors’ Jon Mills led a process that compressed what would typically be a much longer programme into a matter of weeks, without cutting corners.
The team pre-empted building control requirements around fire resistance, safety glazing and thermal performance early, avoiding costly late-stage design changes. When the original preferred contractor showed signs it would struggle to hit the deadline, Whitefox Chartered Surveyors made the call to switch to the second-placed bidder, a decision that ultimately delivered the project three to four weeks faster than the original contractor trajectory would have allowed.
The result: 83 large, offsite-manufactured window units taken from survey to installation in a matter of weeks, no building control advisories, no accidents or near misses, and a school back in session on time with warmer, better-performing classrooms.
A growing specialism
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School is the latest in a run of education sector projects for Whitefox Chartered Surveyors, reinforcing its credentials as a chartered surveying practice that understands the unique pressures of working within live school environments: compressed holiday-only programmes, safeguarding and access considerations, budget scrutiny from diocesan and multi-academy trust clients, and zero tolerance for disruption to term-time teaching.
“Schools can’t simply close their doors while building works catch up, every project has to work backwards from the first day of term,” said Darren Frias Robles, Managing Director of Whitefox Chartered Surveyors. “That discipline, and the ability to make quick, decisive calls when a programme is under pressure, is exactly what we specialise in. It’s why more education clients; dioceses, academy trusts and individual schools alike are coming to us for surveying, project management and contract administration across their estates.”
Susan Solly, Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School said, “Whitefox Chartered Surveyors kept us informed every step of the way and never let the pressure show. The classrooms are warmer, brighter and quieter now, and there was no disruption to our pupils or staff at all. We couldn’t have asked for a smoother project.”