A Fixed Renovation Crew for the Season at a Holiday Park Instead of Subcontractors - How Does It Work?

What is the difference between a fixed on-site team and successive subcontractors?

It comes down to one team that stays on the park premises for the entire season, instead of a rotation of external companies arriving for single jobs. The effect is simple: fewer onboardings, fewer arrangements starting from scratch, and one point of contact for the entire list of works.

Under the subcontracting model, every new crew has to learn the site, the park's standards and the guest schedule from the ground up. When a team stays on site, that knowledge does not disappear once one job is finished - it is used from the first to the last day of the season.

For a manager, this saves a considerable amount of coordination conversations and eliminates situations where the same things have to be explained to a third company in a row. Changing the contractor mid-season also usually means downtime, because the new crew needs time to familiarise itself with the site before it can start working.

What scope of work does such a team cover at a holiday park?

The scope covers roofs, interiors and facades of the cottages, as well as elements of shared infrastructure, planned as a single programme for the season. These are different types of work, but carried out by the same team under a shared schedule.

Roofs of cottages and service buildings

Replacement, repair and full re-roofing of cottages, lodges and utility buildings is one of the core parts of the crew's work throughout the season. The roof is the element that most often requires intervention between guest stays, so a permanent presence on site allows for a faster response than waiting for a subcontractor's available slot.

Renovation of rental units

Interior and facade renovation covers both a single lodge and an entire section of the park. The work can be spread over successive weeks of the season, so that units return to the rental offer in stages, without closing the entire park at once.

Terraces, facades and shared infrastructure

The park renewal programme combines units, terraces, facades and shared infrastructure into a single plan scheduled for the season. Work on shared elements - internal roads, fences, gazebos - is easiest to weave into the schedule when it is carried out by a team already present on site, rather than a separately commissioned subcontractor.

Why does one team reduce the park manager's workload?

It reduces the number of decisions and points of contact that have to be handled alongside running the park itself. Rotating subcontractors means different quality standards between successive crews, whereas a team working on site throughout the season maintains one established standard.

Instead of settling several invoices from different companies and keeping track of several separate contracts, the manager deals with one scope of work and one contact person for any questions. This also makes it easier to plan subsequent stages of renovation without repeating the same arrangements every time the contractor changes.

For portfolios covering several locations in Belgium, the Netherlands or Luxembourg, it is also important that the decision concerns one larger contract, rather than a series of smaller orders settled separately at each location.

Who is responsible for employment formalities and crew documentation?

Recruitment, postings, A1 forms, insurance and documentation are the contractor's responsibility - everything is handled entirely on their side. The park manager does not need to verify the employment status of individual workers or track the validity dates of documents.

This matters in cross-border work, where the crew operates in a country other than the country in which the company is registered. Posting and insurance matters must be in order before work even starts on the site.

Centrally maintained documentation also means that in the event of an inspection or a question from the park's owner, the answer is available immediately, without having to collect papers from several subcontractors at once. The manager gains more time for the day-to-day running of the park, instead of spending it on administrative matters.

What does planning a season-long park renewal programme involve?

It involves scheduling work on units, terraces, facades and shared infrastructure in an order that does not clash with the guest season. A schedule is established, not a list of individual jobs carried out as needed.

Such a programme makes it possible to foresee which sections of the park will be unavailable in a given week, and to coordinate this with reservations. The work stops being a reaction to a breakdown and becomes the execution of a previously established plan.

The order of work usually takes the low and high seasons into account. Renovation of rental units is planned outside the peak booking period, while roof work or shared infrastructure work can be carried out in parallel with the season if it does not disrupt guests' stays. For larger portfolios, the schedule is sometimes divided into stages across locations, so that the crew can move from one section to another without downtime.

What does the first contact and scoping of work look like?

The first contact usually consists of a conversation about the condition of the park, the planned scope of work and timelines, before the contract details are settled. The manager presents which buildings, units or sections of infrastructure require attention in the upcoming season.

On this basis, it can be assessed whether the scope is large enough to justify one larger contract covering the whole season, or rather a shorter, one-off job. The conversation also covers logistical matters - access to the site, guest arrival dates, and the order in which sections of the park can be taken out of use for the duration of the works.

For portfolios with several locations, the arrangements may cover several parks at once, so that one crew's schedule can be spread across them over the course of the season.

Who is this season-long, single-team working model suited to?

It works well where the scope of work for the season is large enough to justify one larger contract instead of a series of smaller orders. This applies both to single parks and to portfolios covering several locations.

The decision to enter into such cooperation is usually made at the level of the director or manager responsible for the entire park or property portfolio, rather than at the level of a single renovation order. Such an arrangement allows work to be planned in advance instead of reacting to current needs with a separate order every time.

A park considering a larger renewal programme for the coming season can start with a conversation about the scope of work and timelines. Details of the offer, including roofing, rental unit renovations and park renewal programmes, are described on the company website of SMR Properties.