For operators

Your own eyes on the works, from award to commissioning

An operator commits capital against a programme it does not execute itself. What protects that commitment is not the contract alone, it is the evidence gathered while the works are being built, and the authority to stop them when the evidence is missing.

Risks

What an under supervised operation costs

Specification not converted into controls

A requirement written in the specification but absent from any inspection plan is a requirement nobody will check, and nobody will be able to prove at handover.

Progress claimed rather than measured

Without earned value, progress is the contractor's opinion. The gap surfaces at the moment when the remaining budget can no longer absorb it.

Interfaces left between packages

Every boundary between two trade contracts is a boundary where the programme can slip and where nobody has priced the waiting time.

Handover without a closed defect register

Defects stay uncleared, contractual guarantees lapse, and the operator inherits them.

Engagements

Three levels, one constant principle

Whichever level is chosen, the operator remains the decision maker. What varies is the share of day to day management entrusted to Place Maker. Engagements stack: a pre award review can continue into execution assurance and then into full representation on the same operation.

Pre award reviewbefore commitment

Establish what the works will really cost and what the tender does not yet cover, before any contract is signed.

Who leads: The operator, informed by the review.
Suited to: Operators about to award a package and wanting an independent reading of the estimate and of the tender documents.
Fee basis: Fixed fee
Indicative: On application

Independent estimate

Quantity take off from the issued drawings, rate build up from first principles, comparison against the budget and against the bids received.

Deliverables: Independent estimate, comparison table, list of quantities at risk.

Tender document review

Critical reading of the conditions and the specification, identification of requirements that carry no control, of interfaces left unbounded and of risks not allocated.

Deliverables: Review report, allocation of risk, questions to issue to bidders.

Execution assurancefrom award to handover

Convert the specification into controls, and progress into measured evidence.

Who leads: The operator, assisted by Place Maker.
Suited to: Operators with a project team who need an independent quality and progress function alongside it.
Fee basis: Monthly fee or percentage of works value
Indicative: On application

Quality plans and controls

Inspection and test plans built from the specification, hold points agreed with the contractor, non conformity registers maintained and closed, material and workmanship records collected as the works proceed.

Deliverables: Inspection and test plans, hold point records, non conformity register, quality dossier.

Progress and cost control

Progress measured by earned value rather than claimed, verification of payment applications, early warning on abnormal variations and on the programme.

Deliverables: Monthly progress report, earned value indicators, verified payment applications, variance alerts.

Commissioning and close out

Assistance through commissioning, defect lists raised and cleared, verification of the as built dossier, final account.

Deliverables: Commissioning records, defect register, verified as built dossier, final account.

Full owner representationcomplete delegation

Run the operation day to day on behalf of the operator.

Who leads: Place Maker, under the control of the operator, which approves every key stage.
Suited to: Operators without a project team on site, and operations complex enough to require a full time lead.
Fee basis: Monthly fee or percentage of works value
Indicative: On application

Full operational management

Selection and contracting of designers and contractors, project direction, administrative and financial management including instructions, variations and payment certificates, regular reporting to the operator.

Deliverables: Delegation agreement, monthly dashboard, management of instructions, financial progress report, commissioning records and as built dossier.

Fees are set according to the complexity of the operation, its duration, the level of presence required on site and the services included. A detailed quotation follows the analysis of each operation.

Management

Instrumented management

Every operation is equipped with a variance dashboard covering cost, time and quality, fed at each milestone. Drifts are flagged before they become critical, which leaves time to arbitrate. The operator decides upstream, with the data in hand.

Traditional management

Variances are noticed at the time of payment applications.
Decisions are taken in reaction, under time pressure.
Reporting is occasional, a view frozen at the date of the meeting.

Place Maker management

Variances are measured continuously, at each milestone.
Several trajectories are simulated from the real site data.
Alert thresholds trigger before a variance becomes critical.

Fields

Where it applies

Containment and water management

Leachate and acid water containment, geomembranes, retention basins, drainage and treatment structures.

Bulk earthworks and platforms

Site platforms, haul roads, cut and fill, slope stability works, rock armour.

Concrete structures

Foundations, retaining structures, culverts, crossings, industrial slabs.

Technical buildings

Multi trade buildings with civil works, air conditioning, high and low voltage systems and instrumentation.

Access and site infrastructure

Roads, drainage, utilities and the temporary works that carry a construction programme.

Handover and commissioning

Test records, defect clearance, as built documentation and transfer into operation.

Glossary

Terms used here

Inspection and test plan: The programme of quality controls for the works, listing what is checked, when, by whom and against which acceptance criterion.
Hold point: A stage the works cannot pass without the owner's written release.
Non conformity register: The record of work that departs from the specification, and of how each departure was resolved.
Earned value: Progress measured as the budgeted value of work actually completed, rather than as the time or money spent.
Commissioning: The sequence of tests that demonstrates the works perform as specified, before transfer into operation.
As built dossier: The file describing the works as executed, handed to the operator at completion.

Let us discuss the operation

A first conversation, a review of the scope, then a written proposal setting out the level of support and what it covers.

Have the file reviewed