Sports Labs - a Professional Services Company providing excellence in the design, procurement and testing of sports facilities and their surfaces. When Sports Labs is involved in your project, you can’t fail to win.

Sports Surface Advice

When considering installing a synthetic sports surface, no matter what sport, whether it is for athletics, football, tennis, hockey or multi-use it is essential to plan carefully and to seek professional advice from the outset.

Sports Labs Ltd has many years experience providing expert consultancy advice backed by sound knowledge of products, systems and methods of construction gained over the last 15 years.

The diversity of products on the market confuses everybody, we have made it our business to assess and test new products to be able to properly advise our clients regarding the merits or otherwise of one system against another.

Value for money, whole life costing? We come across these terms and indeed demand daily again it is our business to help the client understand the implications of budgetary constraints in 10, 20 or 30 years time.

Safety is a huge issue now pitches or tracks which are slippery or have many trip hazards can lead to potential litigation, we know believe us as we are asked weekly to act as expert witnesses to accident sites. We can provide very cost effective safety checks for our clients, it could save you £,000 in claims or litigation.

Feasibility Studies

Before any project is given the green light a feasibility study is an essential tool in the decision making process.

A detailed narrative describing the proposed facility is drawn up. This is compared with and assessed in conjunction with the lists of available resources and constraints: financial, site related (size and ground conditions), end-use activities, sports governing body requirements, maintenance needs and time scales.

Civil Engineering Consultants

Sports Labs Ltd offer a special design and advisory service to support clubs and groups through the whole process, from the site feasibility studies to technical drawings, from grant aid to contract supervision.

Geotechnical Engineering Consultancy

Sports Labs Ltd offer a full service here to undertake the geotechnical investigation through to providing a professional interpretation service to a client who has already undertaken the study but requires independent advice. Sports Labs design the Site Investigation to provide data specific to the project in mind and which takes account of the prevailing ground conditions, which are likely to be encountered. This ensures that suitability of ground conditions for the proposed project are fully documented, tested and understood.

Any survey undertaken by Sports Labs is planned, specified and procured in such a way as to generate representative data, cost effectively for the client. The information will be analysed by experienced engineers in order to make an assessment upon the commercial and technical measures necessary to achieve the proposed developments, assuring quality from the ground up.

Budget Planning

Sports Labs are able to provide cost plans and budgets to assist Clients to estimate expenditure on the installation of sports pitches, tracks and indeed changing rooms and associated facilities.

Whether it be for funding applications or to secure capital for a proposed project by using our current knowledge of the market conditions, cost of materials and availability of suitable contractors you will with our help be able to accurately estimate the budgets for your new pitch or track.

Funding Advice

At Sports Labs Ltd funding is a key sensitivity in any project life cycle. We aim to assist all our Clients to seek the best funding package to help kick start a project. Sports Labs will author feasibility studies; business plans and complete all aspects of the application forms. All advice and design work is individually conceived to meet the requirements of your organisation.

Our approach to a project is simple. We will visit any client without obligation in order to discuss your ideas and plans. If we think, your ideas would not be supported by grant aid, we will tell you at that early stage. When employed by a club or association, Sports Labs Ltd will undertake all the work required to submit the application to the funding Agency.

Planning Applications

The construction of new sports pitches and tracks with changing facilities and floodlighting can constitute a fundamental change of use of land. In most cases this requires planning permission. However, there are some forms of development, which do not require planning consent, or are granted consent by statute or other statutory instrument.

Sports Labs can compile all the relevant data and prepare any necessary drawings and plans, complete the planning application forms, together with certificates and any notices, and enclose any other relevant information on your behalf.

It may be necessary to deal with other specialists during this phase. In these more complex cases you may need detailed research to support the application, such as environmental and/or highways assessments, contaminated land reports etc.

However, it is likely that in these circumstances you will have specialist advisors those such as Lighting experts and arboriculturists, perhaps even hydrologists involved to produce these for you, in accordance with the relevant technical requirements.

Sports Labs have much experience in dealing with other professionals and as such can make the use of these specialists more cost effective.

Authoring Specifications

The specification or ‘employer’s requirements’ must provide a template for the desired outcome, in the case of a track or pitch. The specification must deliver the performance requirements be it local or international standard. Sports Labs specifications have evolved from many years of experience in the sports facility construction sector and it is our intention that they provide a robust template to achieve the goals identified. These documents have helped to deliver many of the Countries finest sports pitches in the last 15 years.

Preparing Tender Documentation

The preparation of legally binding up to date tender documents is a precursor to secure contracts which are fair to both parties and can be enforced should things go wrong. Sports Labs uses the tried and tested ICE form of terms and conditions to help administrate a contract and deal with eventualities as they occur.

Tender Evaluation

The tender evaluation process, supports the commitment to achieving the “Value for Money” procurement principle that recognises that lowest price is not necessarily value for money.

The tender evaluation process is an evaluation methodology. It is a process for handling tender documents and can be utilised regardless of the evaluation methodology being used.

The tender evaluation process can demonstrate that price is not the only criteria for selecting a Contractor as evaluation of non-price (technical) criteria of a request for tender (or proposal). This can be achieved by first assessing the technical capability of tendering companies to deliver the goods, services or works, followed by the second stage of the evaluation, which assesses the price tendered.

There are a minimum of three stages when evaluating tenders:

Stage 1 - Technical Assessment

Stage 2 - Financial Assessment

Stage 3 - Assessment of Best Value for Money

This process has proved highly effective in procuring the best Service provider with the best package available on many of our contracts to-date.

Project Management

Generally, projects are split into three phases Initiation, Control and Closure. During each phase, a number of documents are produced as part of the project control process.

Testing

Sports Labs Ltd due to its cross-disciplinary expertise within the construction and sports industry is able to offer a comprehensive approach to providing solutions to any synthetic surfacing problems. The starting point for many of these solutions is applied research and development of testing procedures.

The testing facilities are independently assessed for competence and calibration through the ISO 9000 standard, thus quality and consistency can be independently verified. The following list illustrates a typical suite of tests that are commonly carried out both internally and externally for clients; this list is not intended to be exhaustive:

• Lab based product testing
• Testing synthetic grass carpet for pile weight, density and stitch rates
• Tensile strength testing of seams, shockpad systems and track systems
• Laboratory or field testing (hockey specific)
• Determination of ball rebound resilience
• Determination of slip resistance
• Determination of peak 'g'
• Determination of Ball roll and deviation angles
• Determination of Force Reduction
• Determination of modified vertical deformation
• Determination of severity index & HIC
• Surface irregularity surveys (Straight Edge)
• Determination of traction Laboratory or field-testing for football, tennis or netball

Certification

An important part of the work of our internationally accredited laboratory is the certification of products supplied for testing. The certification requirement is normally in response to the need for a supplier of a synthetic surfacing product to be tested to assess its compliance with the standards set by the Governing Body of the Sport. For example the International Hockey Federation and FIFA have such a scheme. Sports Labs Laboratory handles many synthetic carpet and polymeric systems tests routinely from suppliers all over the world.

All Weather Pitch ' Under the Weather'?

Sports Labs Ltd, the UK's leading synthetic surfaces consultants and test house have recognised the need for strict monitoring and inspection of synthetic pitches to prolong their useful lives. Early identification of potential problems can reduce the cost of expensive remedial works or repairs.

Performance and safety are normally the first things to decline in a any synthetic surface. The 'Sports Labs Health Check' is provided on a fixed fee basis and will identify problems before the pitch deteriorates to a point where replacement is the only option. The service is carried out annually to accurately identify the wearing pattern of the surface. The Health Check will identify any problems with your pitch, however you may wish to utilise some of the following services, based upon our independent findings:

• Site survey by an experienced engineer or hockey professional  Proposals and designs for future replacement work
• Safety and performance testing  Feasibility study with budgets and cost analysis
• Maintenance recommendations and costs  Action plan identifying key stages
• Proposals for remedial work  In depth reporting for presentation to school Governors or funding committees