Especially valuable on high value and time crucial projects is to commission us to provide an impartial view on proposed contract documents, amendments to the contract and ensure documents provided throughout the works are legally binding, especially changes to the programme of works.

Our experience monitoring projects requiring a narrow tolerance and high quality finish has developed a specialism in the firm that is beneficial to identifying quality issues in the physical construction or competence of individuals, prior to completion and handover which might be incorrectly accepted by those administering the project.

The normality of developed self interested parties within a standard or bespoke contract is almost impossible to avoid and to have an independent view of a monitor significantly reduces the risks associated with the traditional roles within a contract.
Unless strict and unambiguous directions from the employer or robust requests by the contractor are forthcoming at all stages throughout a project the risks of delays or workmanship issues are significantly increased and to achieve expectations it is beneficial to have an impartial monitor as opposed to a project manager or administrator of the whole team who might themselves fail in their duties.

It has often been identified following post contract forensic examination that the causes of delays and additional costs incurred during the works and in resolving a dispute were caused primarily by a few basic failures.
We find that even on discovery by those concerned issues are not corrected in a timely manner due in part to a polarised view developed by the terms of their appointment that in-turn created an immediate defensive stance of not wanting to correct the error. To monitor and have reporting of any such occurrences will benefit the client immensely.
Contractor representation functions in a similar way to employer representation and although less common has been found to be a useful impartial guide to a commercially driven contractor in order to promptly raise awareness of site issues and avoid disputes arising.

Our primary goal in a monitoring role is to assess the standard across many aspects of a project and report findings to a client, with a solution stated to any issues, so as to achieve and maintain expectations.

Employer representative

We provide an objective and multi-disciplinary approach to monitoring projects to ensure there is a consistency in quality across the team of individuals and physical works on site.

Our services can be utilised at any stage of a project, at inception or when a potential issue is identified.

One significant benefit to employing us from inception of the project is to ensure, amongst other factors, that the correct mix of design team skills are present, the brief and terms of appointment are clearly defined, types of standard form contract suit the scope and value of works or bespoke clauses are accurately drafted.

We find that if a dispute arises, for example over an issue of time delays, it is extremely beneficial to have evidence, not only of contractually obliged programmes, Notices and Certificates, but also site diaries and photographs which record the progress and it would be that detail we would ensure is always available whilst we monitor the works.

During the project it also would be beneficial to contact us to obtain our view of the risks and probability of success in a dispute or an opinion in isolation that enables rapid decisions on how to handle a certain issue.

The frequency of attendance at design team meetings, contractor progress meetings may vary, dependant on the complexity and progress of the construction, and can be agreed on completion of an initial briefing.

We often find that our skills monitoring projects are applicable to any value or nature of building or engineering work and so if in doubt please contact us to discuss how we might be able to assist.

Our experience working for Central Government Office of Government and Commerce project review teams has provided a further aspect on which to provide monitoring reports.

Contractor representative

The service we provide for a building contractor is similar to that of an employer, but it is usual for it to focus on additional risks for a main contractor, that would be the risk whilst employing a sub-contractor, and in turn the risks faced by sub-contractors.