Contract Management

At MSK Design, we do not force our Project Management services upon our clients, but we do offer Project Management services to all of our clients.

Our Project Management services include:

1. Contractor selection and vetting.
2. Contract drafting and administration under the JCT format.
3. CDM – Health and safety matters.
4. Preparation of project programmes and client delivery programme.
5. Preparation of schedules.
6. Valuations.
7. Weekly monitoring and reporting.
8. Management of flow of information between contractor and client.
9. First stage dispute resolution and mediation (prior to formal action under the JCT route).
10. Certification of practical completion (under the JCT route).
11. Project handover.
12. Management of defects period matters.
13. Certificate of Completion (under the JCT route).

If you choose not to use our Project Management services, we are still retained to provide technical assistance in delivering the content of our drawings and address regulatory and building control matters.

Many small projects still operation this way however please note that:

1. 1. 1. Their will be no management and checks in place over the selection of the right contractor, with the correct insurances and reputation.
      2. Their will be no management of the tender process, and drafting of contracts between client and contractor though we would be happy to comment if asked.
      3. Their will not be regular monitoring of the works in place, and checks for compliance with any agreement in place.
      4. In the event of a variation or dispute over agreed works, their will not be a representative in place to check and validate, leaving the relationship between contractor and client unaided professionally.
      5. We will not be in control over the quality of work, time it has taken to complete and how much the entire development is going to really cost.

Can I afford Project Management Services?If you are a professional developer or have had a bad experience with a project or builder going bad, you would already know this answer to this…

The short answer to this is YES.

Speak to anyone who has faced the actual cost of a badly managed project and ask them:

1. 1. • How much more money did you spend over what was originally ‘agreed’?
      • Did the development take longer, if yes why, and did this add to the overall cost?
      • Was the quality of the work delivered as expected or worse? Do you think the quality of work paid for is what was received?

Incorporating proper Project Management services into your development in our opinion is a necessity over delivery, not an option over affordability. The cost of such a service should be factored into your overall budget, as the manner in which your development is delivered is just as important as what is being delivered.

We hear too often that people cannot afford Project Management services, and that they would rather manage the project themselves to save money. Such a task is not for the feint-hearted. Without Project Management, we believe that you risk:

1. 1. • More money being spent, on variations being made to an agreement, that are often too difficult to justify whether they are part of an development as agreed or not.
      • More time being taken, with timelines being moved because either the contractor or client is not meeting critical milestones across the development.
      • Substandard work being delivered, because nobody is vetting contractors or checking the quality of work being delivered, often until it is too late.
      • Or in many cases, all of the above.

We have found that projects lacking real Project Management are often developments valued up to £250k. This is the market for homeowners, small and first-time developers.