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Higgins Group: close NCRs faster, meet Gateway 3 on time

With £1.1bn of estate regeneration and Build to Rent schemes running concurrently across London, Higgins Partnerships needs more than site-level quality management. Sablono gives Higgins a structured delivery platform to coordinate trades, close NCRs before they compound, and build the Golden Thread evidence higher-risk residential buildings now legally require.

Why coordinating quality and compliance across a £1.1bn residential pipeline demands more than site-by-site management

At the scale of Higgins Partnerships' estate regeneration and Build to Rent pipeline, the risk of fragmented quality management multiplies with every concurrent scheme. NCRs that stay open too long become defects. Trades that aren't properly coordinated create programme slip. And higher-risk buildings that reach Gateway 3 without a structured evidence trail face occupation delays that directly affect revenue on Build to Rent schemes and regeneration milestones. Sablono closes all three gaps within one platform.

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What Sablono changes for Higgins

Sablono is a construction execution and quality management platform. Site teams use it to coordinate multi-trade activity, log and close NCRs in real time, and capture the quality sign-offs that build a structured Golden Thread record automatically — rather than assembling it retrospectively under Gateway 3 submission pressure.

Foundation icon-1 Multi-trade delivery coordination

Estate regeneration and Build to Rent schemes involve complex, interdependent trade sequences across multiple concurrent developments. Sablono structures those sequences digitally — so each trade knows what's been handed over, what's outstanding, and what comes next, without the phone calls and informal handoffs that create gaps in the programme.

  • Trade sequences and handovers tracked within one structured system
  • Delays and clashes surface before they affect the programme across concurrent schemes
 
Foundation icon (2) NCR close-out, faster

Non-conformance reports are logged, assigned, and tracked to close-out in one system — rather than sitting in site diaries, email threads, or spreadsheets that don't get actioned until someone chases them. On a pipeline of Higgins Partnerships' scale, an NCR management process that relies on individual discipline creates unacceptable exposure.

  • Every NCR has an owner, a status, and a close-out record from the moment it's raised
  • Close-out time reduced by removing the back-and-forth between site and office
 
Foundation icon (3) Golden Thread built from groundworks

For Higgins' higher-risk residential buildings, every quality check, inspection, and sign-off is captured as work happens — building the structured Golden Thread of information that Gateway 3 requires automatically, not scrambled together at submission.

  • Complete, structured evidence trail from groundworks to Gateway 3 sign-off
  • Reduces BSR queries and occupation delays on Build to Rent and regeneration schemes
 
Foundation icon (1) Portfolio visibility across concurrent London schemes

When multiple schemes run simultaneously, quality and programme risks don't stay contained to individual sites. Sablono gives Higgins Partnerships a live view across the full pipeline — so issues on one scheme are visible at the level that can act on them before they affect the wider programme.

  • Live visibility across every concurrent London scheme in one platform
  • Group and project leadership sees the same data site teams are generating, in real time
 

How Sablono Helps

Every trade across every scheme, one platform
Connect Higgins' site teams, subcontractors, and specialist trades across every concurrent development within a single structured system — programme sequences clear, handovers digital, progress visible from site to portfolio level without manual aggregation.
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Live visibility across the Higgins Partnerships pipeline
Project and commercial teams get a real-time view of quality, NCR status, and programme progress across every active scheme — not a summary compiled from individual site reports. Risks surface as they happen, at the level that needs to act on them.
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Structured trade sequences that keep schemes moving
On complex residential schemes, the gap between one trade finishing and the next starting is where programme time and quality standards both slip. Sablono makes those handovers structured, digital, and trackable — across every concurrent development.
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Golden Thread evidence that satisfies Gateway 3
Quality checks and sign-offs captured on site as work happens, building the structured evidence record that the Building Safety Act requires for higher-risk residential buildings — automatically, across every Higgins scheme where it applies.
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Is Sablono right for Higgins Group?

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RESULTS ARE IN

The numbers speak for themselves

Sablono saves time, gives peace of mind and provides clarity across even the most challenging house builds.
92% of users say that Sablono helps give peace of mind around quality reporting
98% of users say that Sablono gives them clarity around progress
92% of users say that Sablono saves them time

One platform from jobsite to central business

We work with the world's leading contractors, multinational organisations, progressive subcontractors and renewable energy leaders to help them stay ahead.

Track

For construction management teams or specialist trade contractors who want to replace manual spreadsheet trackers with real-time progress reporting. 

Popular capabilities:

Real-time progress data

On-site mobile reporting

Insights into how you’re progressing against the plan

Trace

For construction management teams or specialist trade contractors who want to capture quality against the programme to ensure compliance and get it right first time. 

Popular capabilities:

Attach QA checklists to workflow activities to capture all required quality data on the go

Fully accountable digital audit trail of all progress and quality-related data

Built-in schematics to automatically visualise the status of your project

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FAQs

What makes Golden Thread compliance particularly important for Higgins Partnerships' pipeline? Higgins Partnerships operates a large volume of higher-risk residential schemes concurrently across London. Each one carries a direct Gateway 3 obligation — and occupation can't happen until the Building Safety Regulator signs off on the evidence. On Build to Rent schemes, that delay has a direct revenue consequence. On estate regeneration, it affects regeneration milestones and resident commitments. The risk isn't just regulatory; it's commercial and reputational.
How does the platform handle NCR management specifically? NCRs are logged on site in real time — against the relevant area, trade, and activity — assigned to the responsible party, and tracked through to close-out within the same system. Every NCR has a timestamped record of when it was raised, who it was assigned to, and when it was closed. That record becomes part of the broader quality evidence trail rather than a separate paper-based process.
We run multiple concurrent schemes across London. Can it work across all of them at once?

That's where the platform adds the most value at scale. Each scheme runs within the same system, so Higgins Partnerships' project and commercial teams get a live view across the full pipeline — quality status, NCR volumes, programme progress — rather than aggregating incompatible reports from individual sites. Issues on one scheme are visible before they affect others.

How does the trade coordination work on complex residential schemes with many subcontractors? Each trade works within their scope in the same platform — logging activity, receiving handovers from the preceding trade, and handing off to the next. The sequence is structured against the programme rather than managed informally, so gaps and clashes are visible before they affect the critical path rather than discovered when the next trade arrives and finds the previous one hasn't finished.
What does the Gateway 3 evidence record look like? Each higher-risk building produces a complete, exportable record of every quality check, inspection, sign-off, and NCR close-out logged during the build — with timestamps and responsible parties — structured for Building Safety Regulator review. It builds automatically as site teams work rather than being assembled at submission.
Does this cover both the Higgins Partnerships pipeline and the wider Higgins Group? Yes. The platform works across the full Higgins Group — Higgins Partnerships' estate regeneration and Build to Rent pipeline as well as the wider construction and development activity. Each division or scheme manages its own programme within the same system, with Group-level visibility sitting above.