Why good commercial support makes a difference to the people responsible for delivering construction projects.
A client can have a full project team, regular progress meetings and detailed commercial reports, yet still spend a surprising amount of time chasing answers.
Has the latest variation been assessed? Are the tender clarifications resolved? Why has the forecast changed? Who is dealing with the outstanding commercial queries?
These questions aren’t unusual on a construction project. But when the person responsible for the investment is also having to keep track of every answer, the demands on their time can quickly grow.
It's an important distinction in professional services. Appointing expertise should do more than provide access to specialist knowledge. It should give the client confidence that the work is being progressed, the important issues are being managed and they'll know when something needs their attention.
For an experienced cost consultant, that responsibility extends well beyond producing accurate figures. It means taking ownership of the commercial work and making the client's own responsibilities easier to fulfil.
Taking ownership means seeing the work through
There is a difference between completing an assigned task and taking responsibility for progressing the work.
Consider the commercial evaluation of tenders.
The technical work may involve comparing submissions, examining qualifications, clarifying exclusions, assessing commercial risks and preparing recommendations. Each element requires care, particularly where tender returns contain different assumptions or approaches.
The client needs a clear understanding of the options before making an appointment. What they shouldn't need to do is personally coordinate every clarification, chase outstanding information or work out how the findings affect the recommendation.
That is where experienced commercial support makes a practical difference.
A good cost consultant understands the purpose of the exercise, manages the relevant commercial work and keeps the process moving. They know when to involve other members of the project team, when further information is required and when an issue needs to be brought to the client's attention.
The client remains responsible for the appointment decision but the specialist work supporting it is being handled.
This approach matters throughout a project, not just during procurement.
Cost plans need updating as designs develop. Changes require assessment. Valuations and contractual matters need reviewing. Risks must be monitored and the forecast final cost kept under review.
For clients overseeing several projects, the cumulative demands of that work can be considerable.
One of the clearest signs of effective commercial support is that the client doesn't have to keep asking where things stand.
They know what is being progressed, what remains outstanding and when they'll need to become involved.
A report shouldn't create another problem to solve
Construction projects generate a great deal of commercial information. Producing it accurately is essential but the responsibility of the cost consultant doesn't end when the report is issued.
A client shouldn't have to read between the lines of a cost report to understand whether a decision is needed.
They need to know what has changed, why it has changed and what the implications are for the investment.
Take a project where the forecast final cost has increased.
The movement might reflect an agreed change in scope, an emerging risk, revised assumptions or a combination of factors. Each has different implications for the client's financial position and the decisions available to them.
Reporting the revised figure is necessary. Explaining what sits behind it, distinguishing confirmed costs from potential exposure and identifying the available responses is where commercial judgement becomes particularly valuable.
This is especially important for clients who must account for expenditure to boards, funders or other stakeholders. They need to be able to explain the financial position with confidence, including any uncertainties that remain.
Independent commercial advice helps establish that position through evidence, professional judgement and a clear assessment of the options.
It doesn't remove the possibility of difficult decisions or unexpected costs but it can prevent uncertainty from becoming an additional burden simply because the information hasn't been properly interpreted.
The aim is not to produce less detail. It's to make the detail useful to the people relying on it.
Giving clients room to concentrate on their own responsibilities
The people commissioning construction projects have responsibilities that extend well beyond commercial management.
A local authority capital projects manager may be coordinating service requirements, governance approvals and engagement with elected members. An NHS estates team may be balancing building improvements with the practical demands of maintaining operational facilities. A developer may be concentrating on funding, investment decisions and the commercial performance of a scheme.
These are substantial responsibilities and they cannot simply be handed to a cost consultant.
What can be delegated is the specialist commercial work required to support them.
That distinction is fundamental to a good advisory relationship.
Clients need to retain control of their investment and make the decisions for which they are accountable. But they should be able to rely on their appointed advisers to investigate commercial matters, progress agreed actions and provide recommendations without requiring constant direction.
It also means knowing when to raise an issue.
Not every financial movement warrants an urgent conversation. Others may require a prompt decision because they affect procurement, programme or the client's available options.
Recognising that difference takes experience. So does explaining a complex commercial issue clearly enough for someone to make a decision without having to become immersed in every technical detail.
At Shard Stone, we see this as an important part of providing independent cost and commercial advice.
Our responsibility is to understand the detail, apply sound commercial judgement and take ownership of the work within our remit. We work alongside clients and the wider project team to keep commercial matters progressing, with clear advice when decisions are required.
The result should be a client who remains informed and in control, without having to carry every aspect of the commercial workload themselves.
Making responsibility easier to carry
There will always be pressure associated with significant construction investment. Financial commitments need to be made, competing requirements balanced and difficult decisions sometimes taken.
Experienced commercial advisers cannot remove that responsibility and nor should they.
But there is a considerable difference between being accountable for a project and having to personally manage every commercial detail that sits beneath that accountability.
When clients know the work is being progressed, the financial position is understood and material issues will be brought to their attention, they have more capacity to focus on the responsibilities that genuinely require them.
Good commercial support doesn't take responsibility away from the client. It makes that responsibility easier to carry.
Sharp facts. Solid ground.
Shard Stone | Chartered construction cost consultancy
