Washrooms rarely make the headlines on a project. But ask any project manager where the late-stage problems tend to surface, and washrooms come up more often than their size on the drawings would suggest. Tight service spaces, multiple trades converging in a small footprint, and a specification that has to satisfy compliance, durability, and design intent all at once. It is a small space carrying a disproportionate amount of risk.
For architects and specifiers, that risk shows up in a few predictable places. At the point of specification, through procurement and manufacture, on site during installation, and in the years after handover when the client lives with the result. Understanding where risk actually enters a washroom project, and how to close it down at each stage, is the difference between a specification that holds up and one that quietly unravels.
Where the risk actually sits
Specification risk. This is where most problems begin, long before anyone sets foot on site. A specification written without full visibility of manufacturing tolerances, lead times, or how a design will be built can look perfectly fine on paper but still create problems down the line. Substitutions get made later in the process, sometimes without the specifier even being consulted, and the design intent starts to drift.
Supply chain risk. Washroom projects typically draw on multiple suppliers. Cubicles, vanities, IPS panelling, washroom accessories, sometimes from entirely separate manufacturers. Every join between suppliers is a place where accountability can blur. If something doesn’t fit, or a finish doesn’t match, or a delivery is late, working out whose problem it is can consume time nobody has.
Coordination risk. Washrooms sit at the intersection of several trades. M&E, waterproofing, tiling, joinery. A change in one discipline, a moved stud wall or a relocated drainage point, can cascade into every other element. Without someone tracking that coordination specifically for the washroom package, small changes on other packages become expensive surprises for this one.
Programme risk. Washroom fit-out often lands late in a build sequence, which means any delay earlier in the programme gets absorbed by whoever is next in line. Lead times that were fine at RIBA Stage 3 can become a genuine threat to the completion date if they are not actively managed as the programme compresses.
Quality and defect risk. This is the risk that follows a project past practical completion. Sanitaryware and cubicle systems in high-traffic commercial and public buildings take a hammering. A washroom that looks right on day one but starts showing wear, movement, or component failure within a year becomes a reputational problem for everyone whose name was on the specification, not just the installer.
Reputational risk. For architects and specifiers working across multi-site programmes, portfolios, or repeat client relationships, the stakes compound. A washroom problem on one school, or one retail unit rarely stays contained to that single site. It becomes a question the client asks about in relation to every other project in the portfolio.
Where control gets lost
The common thread through all of these is a loss of control at the handover points between design, manufacture, delivery and installation. Every time a project passes from one party to another, whether that is architect to specifier, specifier to supplier, or supplier to installer, there is an opportunity for information to be lost, assumptions to be made, and accountability to blur. The more handover points a washroom package has, the more places there are for something to go quietly wrong.
This is not a reason to avoid multi-supplier projects, most projects need them. It’s a reason to be deliberate about where those handover points sit, and to reduce them wherever the project allows.
How Dunhams removes risk from the process
Dunhams’ approach is built around exactly this problem, reducing the number of places where a washroom project can go wrong by keeping control in one place for as much of the journey as possible.
One point of ownership from design through to manufacture. Dunhams designs and manufactures washroom systems under one roof, rather than acting as a broker between separate suppliers. That means the person who understands the manufacturing tolerances is involved at the design stage, not discovering a problem after the specification has already gone out to tender. Issues that would otherwise surface on site, or worse, after handover, get caught before they become a problem, because the same team is responsible for the idea and for building it. You also get a dedicated project manager who works with you throughout the process, keeping you informed throughout.
Consistency whether it’s the first project or the fiftieth. For architects and specifiers working across multi-site programmes, that single point of ownership matters even more. A specification that works on site one needs to work in exactly the same way on site forty, without every location becoming its own negotiation. Dunhams builds that repeatability in from the start, so a specifier’s confidence in the outcome does not depend on which project team happens to be delivering it that month.
A specification built to be built. Because Dunhams manufactures what it specifies, the documentation that comes back to an architect or specifier reflects what can actually be delivered. That reduces the risk of late substitutions and the design drift that comes with them.
Coordination that follows the washroom package specifically. With design and manufacture under one roof, Dunhams can flag the knock-on effects of a change, whether that is a moved wall, a revised service run, or a shifted programme date, before it becomes a problem for the wider build. That is a different level of attentiveness than a supplier who only sees their own scope.
Delivery when you need it. With washrooms landing late in the build sequence, timelines can shift unexpectedly. You don’t want your washrooms lying around waiting to be installed on an already busy site as they’ll be prone to damage or piece going missing. You also don’t want to be hanging around for days waiting for them to arrive, paying for contractors to be on site to install them with only a vague delivery timeframe of ‘sometime this week’. At Dunhams we talk to you to understand when you actually need your washrooms on site, and provide you with a specific dedicate delivery date, so you know exactly when they’re going to turn up, so you can plan your time on site effectively.
Manufacture built for demand, not just delivery. Public washrooms take sustained, heavy use. Dunhams designs and manufactures systems to withstand that use over time, so the risk does not simply move down the line to appear as a defect or a complaint eighteen months after handover. All SGL based products come with a 15-year warranty.
The specification as the safeguard
For architects and specifiers, the most effective point to remove risk is also the earliest one, the specification itself. A specification that has been developed with full visibility of design, manufacture, and delivery carries far less risk than one assembled from separate parts and hoped into alignment. That is the role Dunhams’ specification document plays. It is not a brochure of finishes. It is the record of exactly what will be designed, made, and delivered, and by whom, so that everyone, from contractor to client, is working from the same certainty.
Washrooms may be a small part of the drawing set. They do not have to be a large part of the risk.
If you’d like to discuss your next washroom project, get in touch, we’d be happy to advise.
