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Cost planning forms a vital part of design Timely, accurate cost planning and smart consulting
development and relies on both professional around cost factors should be considered not just
judgement and, perhaps more importantly, the as a process stage, but as strategic activity that
ability to draw on cost data. Indeed, the value holds vast potential to add value to client thinking,
of the service provided by many of today’s cost deepen client understanding of the challenge,
consultants may often be compromised through inform client decision-making and improve client
the lack of cost data. visibility of their project in its critical planning stages.
The broad impact of good cost planning has Unfortunately, it often isn’t always recognised as
extended the boundaries of the traditional Quantity such. Nor are all cost planning service providers
Surveyor (QS) role. Most Professional Quantity and consultants fully aware or equipped to take
Surveyors (PQS) working in consulting today would advantage of the opportunity that exists in their
agree that cost planning is a tipping point around business to add maximum value to clients. They
which projects succeed or fail. It is the point at are not just missing out on potential new profit
which the theory of a design is transformed into the opportunities, but may be accepting unseen
reality of a feasible delivery plan. It adds vital cost risk and wasting significant time and money by
insights that educate the client, influence further managing cost data in unfit systems.
design development and force important early
Many cost consultants are turning their back on
decisions about the overall approach.
the huge hidden asset that is their historic cost
data and previous project experience that is lying
dormant in forgotten files and folders.
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Construction
is changing
Time is running out for construction sector
businesses that fail to recognise the importance of
grasping the digital opportunity – and those that do
not will find themselves falling further behind in an
increasingly tough economy. The pressure is on for
all construction businesses.
Spreadsheets such as MS Excel remain a standard Spreadsheets were also never designed to
go-to tool for professionals who deal with any be used as databases. They were designed to
aspect of financial information. Cost planners hold numbers and calculations, but not for data
are no exception, and many have become adept extraction other than via standard exports. They are
at creating and maintaining highly complex virtually impossible to query from the outside, other
workbooks, manipulating formulae and creating than via clunky Windows searches. This means that
macros to manage their jobs. work is effectively invisible, un-auditable, and the
cost implications of changes are hard to track.
Excel’s availability on the MS Office desktop
makes it seem free – but it isn’t. The easy and ubiquitous accessibility of
spreadsheets is a problem in disguise.
Holding data in documents enables rampant Just because you can create complex, linked
duplication. The cost of using it is steeper than networks of sheets doesn’t make them a good
you think. The fact that data is held in documents solution for complex, linked cost data. It is too easy
without calling on a central cost database to amend, edit, add and delete content, columns,
drives inevitable and rampant duplication and and calculations such as sub-totals. Errors are
undisciplined storage spread around your IT estate. common, which means time-consuming comp-
Your data is not just on your server, but on laptops, checks. Plus, their flexibility works directly against
USB drives, personal cloud storage accounts and consistency: even when company templates are
attached to emails on numerous accounts – and agreed, they rarely stay standardised in practice.
even in some cases within dusty hardcopy files.
Documents such as spreadsheets are highly
Every element and price must be looked up insecure repositories for valuable data.
individually and manually entered. This is highly Documents created by desktop software such as
inefficient and time consuming, requiring the user MS Word or Excel are too easy to attach to emails,
to switch between Excel and reference sources send to personal cloud storage or download to USB
including pricing databases and libraries, and can drives. This creates risk if valuable company data
be prone to user error. and insight become visible to competitors or in the
public domain.
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You can re-use, re-base,
re-normalise and re-purpose data,
then benchmark against a growing
body of trusted data.
The ability to re-use, re-purpose and benchmark effortless access to previous project data.
against a growing body of carefully measured,
accurately priced and highly trusted information
l Improve costing accuracy as estimates and
can be turned to your advantage to: cost plans are based on actual experience and
benchmarked against re-based, re-normalised
l Deliver faster and more accurate order of cost data, for validation with external benchmarks.
estimates and projections based on historic cost
data mapped to industry standard figures and l Close information gaps when creating cost
client specific classifications, accurately plans for early-stage projects when data is
informed by your real experience of risk often insufficient. Instead, benchmark with
and challenges. your own accessible, standardised historic data
instead of relying on educated estimation and
l Focus the investment of QS time where it external benchmarks.
can add maximum value in terms of value
engineering and value-based consulting advice. l Build a trusted, and marketable, benchmark
database focused on your area(s) of specialism,
l Enable a QS to spend less time on sourcing or such as high-end residential or commercial
searching databases – or, worse, dusty files – construction, around which you can create a
for pricing information, and more time using it proprietary knowledgebase and services.
and levying their expert judgement.
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Overcoming barriers
The pressured and competitive world of independent consultancy will
often mean your team is busy – and keeping them that way always feels
important!
There is often concern about the delay, pain and The time and cost of change may be far less than
cost of change, and the discomfort of losing you assume – and the payback far greater. It simply
familiar ways of working. takes a leap of faith, for the future of your business.
Yet the historic cost information that you have Capturing your cost data as part of the process also
gathered and reported via all your past projects removes the pain often associated with lifting the
represents an irreplaceable and valuable information required from each completed project.
knowledgebase. You have already spent significant
Moving to a digital cost planning platform may
time and money building it, even if you didn’t
seem daunting, but it is likely to be far simpler than
recognise it at the time.
you think. While setting standards for capturing
With margins always tight, maximising the value future data in a consistent and defined way may be
of your existing investments, as well as building on easier, historic cost data does require normalising
them, is the smart thing to do. Leaving that data to to be usable – but with modern platforms, much of
age instead of putting it to work is a huge waste. that process can be automated too.
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7 steps to unlock
your future
1 First, find your data – one of the main challenges
we see among our new customers is that the
first task is to work out where valuable historic
5 Transition your data – good solutions will allow
you to import data direct from spreadsheets,
to minimise the time and effort of transitioning.
cost data is buried. It is often not just held in Choose the right partner, and they can help you
spreadsheets but filed in hard copy, stored to expedite and complete your data transfers
on USBs and left on laptops. Remember that faster than you imagine is possible.
6
once you have created your initial library of
legacy cost data, adding to it is simple and Train your team – make it easy for your team
often seamless! to do things differently by planning early training
around how the software will support core
3
cost data, plus software to increase the speed and
Choose the right platform – you need one efficiency of your cost planning capabilities, you
that has been developed for your needs. Look can enhance services and explore opportunities.
for a platform that not only gives you full cost Consider the potential of design engineering, cost
planning functionality and easy take-off tools modelling and dynamic analytics to increase your
but has seamless integration with essential service value and scope, increase margins and
databases and measurement libraries. You need drive increased profitability.
the efficiencies of a custom platform alongside
an intuitive user interface and easy-to-use tools.
Time to transform
Every business leader is realising that digital change With more information at your fingertips, you can
is an inevitability, and those within the construction create new services that truly showcase your
business are under particular pressure to update expertise in your specialism or target sector and
ways of working and managing information, to differentiate your firm from the competition. With
operate in a sector that is poised for disruption better and more accurate information, you can
and change via adoption of digital technologies. create more complete, robust and highly defensible
Turning your valuable body of work into a true costings that will stand out from the crowd and
business asset by surfacing all of its hidden data is keep clients coming back.
a strategic move that complements this perfectly.
By failing to act to unlock the value of your historic
Unlocking the value of accessible, usable, data, you risk falling behind in a competitive
benchmarked, structured historic cost data can marketplace in which clients are increasingly
transform cost consulting businesses to deliver looking for maximum possible value in every
more value at any stage of the construction process. engagement. That could mean reduced market
share, potential client loss, and missing out on
Whether you are delivering pre-contract consulting new opportunities. However, building a reputation
services or supporting your client throughout for service excellence, a body of delighted client
the design and build, the assurance of having testimonials, and a track record of accuracy in every
your own firm foundation of data on which to cost activity you undertake, can push your business
build and communicate new value should not be out in front and win you all the clients you could
underestimated. hope for.
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Unlock your
hidden assets Essential, Professional and
H I D D E N A S S E T S : C O S T D ATA | 9
Ready to unleash your data?
Tim Cook
07342 884546
tim.cook@causeway.com
Darren Stringfellow
01628 552088
darren.stringfellow@causeway.com
www.causeway.com