The relationship between the operational staff and those dealing with the cash should be a special one but unfortunately that is not always the case. Some operational staff can be obsessed with “pleasing the customer”, “quality” or “getting the job done”, at any expense. In these instances, the QS’s and accountants see cash flowing out of a project and it heading for a loss. Obviously, a loss-making situation is not desirable and leads to strained relations.
If relations are strained, then promoting a better understanding of the records the operational staff should produce and why, should start to build bridges. If projects don’t make a profit, then people end up out of work, regardless of how good it was.
Ultimately, the QS’s need to produce a cost value reconciliation. They should do it with the support of the operational site staff and records from the accounts department. The operational staff therefore need to furnish the QS’s and the accounts staff with certain information. This list provides a basis and the reasons why the information needs to be passed.
Direct staff and labour
Time sheets of presence on site, to the accounts department for payment and cost allocation to the project.
Allocation sheets of what the labour has been doing to the QS so they can reconcile the costs against the activities in the estimate. Some of these costs might be preliminary, others measured works.
Plant
A record of on and off hire should be maintained, ideally weekly. It should be sent to the accounts department so invoices can be paid when they come in and it should be sent to the QS so they can include the appropriate costs in the reconciliation. The weekly plant hire return is a good reminder to off hire equipment that is no longer needed.
Materials
A record of goods received should be maintained. It should be sent to the accounts department and QS’s. The accounts department so the invoices can be paid on time and the QS’s to include the cost in the reconciliation. The goods on site should be checked for quality and amount at the point of delivery to avoid disputes later.
Subcontractors
Record of works handed over in accordance with the contract specifications should go to the QS’s for payment. The timing of when is also important which will be dealt with later
Any daywork records for payment, should go to the QS for payment. These can be contentious so clarity on what is to be recorded should be agreed at a pre-start meeting.
A measure of progress should be maintained. This can be done several ways, and because of this is often done poorly. Means to do it are, via the signing in register, program updates or site diary. The most robust is usually against the program and if necessary, look at the signing in register to determine why there has been a delay. Diaries tend to be poorly kept.
Change management.
Whilst the contract is clear on how change instructions should be issued, the reality is they can come in many formats, official, verbal, email, meeting minutes and other means. A means of keeping track of them should be devised and the operational staff advise the QS’s so they can pick up the costs.
Once a change is occurring the associated impact on the program should also be captured in the progress reports, mentioned above. Some instructions may impact upon the completion date which will require changing to avoid any “penalties”.
Delay and Disruption
Projects are complex. There are many people involved, and things do not always go to plan. So far, the records which have been suggested to be kept are factual ones looking back. For a project to be successful they need to be carefully planned and all parties communicating effectively. The operational team need to be on top of what is coming up. A series of blogs about potential issues which can throw a project off course can be found here. https://www.profitablecontractor.co.uk/blog/categories/pva
If these sorts of issues are impacting upon your projects, then there is potential to recover the costs. The operational staff should be aware of these issues and be able to pull from their records information to enable the QS’s to recover those costs. Being aware what costs can be recovered should be discussed between the operational staff and the QS’s when compiling the CVR, so the records can be established.
If you are a contracting business owner and would like help improving the record keeping of your operational staff then get in touch. Peter.Searle@ba4cs.co.uk for more information.
Comentarios