Contract Administration
The importance of professional contract administration services is understated when controlling an organisations budget and expenditure. There is little room for Capital Projects to be late and over budget.
Aqua’s staff each bring specialist knowledge from different aspects of the entire construction industry (be it financial, technical or construction). This enables superior control and management of costs, improving certainty and confidence in cashflow/expenditure forecasting whilst highlighting potential savings that can be generated by clever use of the contract.
Concerns
Common concerns:
- Inconsistent forecasting of final costs to completion.
- Late agreement of costs relating to variation instruction e.g when the Contractor is late on submitting costs.
- Insufficient funds within an organisations risk pot.
- Little control on Contractor completion date.
- Minimal knowledge of forms of contracts / terms and conditions of a contract.
Mitigations
Mitigation measures:
- Good forecasting is essential to identify cost issues early, so measures can be implemented to reduce these costs e.g. de-scoping the works, reducing specifications.
- Change control system implemented and late agreement highlighted by a traffic light system. Aqua to evaluate costs in accordance with the Contract.
- Manage an organisations risks. Update the risk register and mitigate future costs by monthly reviews with contractor and organisation.
- Administer the Contract making sure monthly programmes are issued and agreed e.g. manage EOT claims and contractor acceleration due to his own delay.
- Utilise the contract to the benefit of all stakeholders.
Aqua can provide specialist support in the following areas:
- Post contract administration including change control and evaluation of these changes, expenditure forecasting, valuations and final accounting;
- Specialist knowledge of accounting software to audit Contractor and Supplier accounts;
- Manage and update an organisation risk register to mitigate future costs.
- Identify risks earlier and instigate measures to reduce potential costs;
- Offer contractual advice based upon experience and knowledge. This serves to mitigate and resolve issues in a none confrontational manner.
