Services · Systems · BC & Alberta
The process around the project, set up before it's needed.
Two kinds of system. The one outside the firm: permits, approvals, the authorities having jurisdiction. And the one inside it: how cost, schedule and progress get reported so the numbers arrive before the problems do.
Reading the bylaw before the land deal closes.
Permit strategy, AHJ engagement, bylaw review and submissions, from application to approval. Structuring a submission so it moves, and standing in the room with the planners when it doesn't.
The numbers arrive before the problems do.
On most projects I've been inside, the surprise was a reporting failure: the cost was known on site weeks before it reached the owner. Operating systems work sets up the routine, what gets measured, by whom, how often, in what format, so the people who can act see it in time.
What you get is the routine documented and running, a monthly report pack designed for its reader, and a handoff agreed in writing before work starts.
Reporting routine
Monthly cost, schedule and progress reporting designed for the reader: board, lender, or owner.
Cost control
Budget structure, change management, draw and claim review, forecast at completion. One set of numbers across the firm.
Earned value
Baseline, progress rules and the monthly read, set up so progress is measured rather than estimated.
Standing up a team
For developers bringing construction in-house: roles, systems and the first projects through the door. I helped stand up two: an in-house construction arm at DFI that self-performed and acted as GC, and Valor at Lorval, the GC for the firm's own projects.
Firms that have outgrown the spreadsheet.
- Developers moving from one project to a portfolio
- Owner-operators bringing construction in-house
- Construction firms whose reporting lags their volume
- Owners buying land in BC and Alberta
Fixed fee or monthly retainer, set in writing before work starts. Systems work is often the first month of an owner's representation engagement; it can also stand alone.
Send the brief.
Where the process is breaking: the approval that won't move, or the report that arrives too late. Scope and fee come back in writing before any work starts.
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