1001 Questions Flashcards
What is the difference between a profit and loss statement and balance sheet?
Profit and loss statement shows the incomes and expenditures of a company and the resulting profit or loss. Balance sheet shows what the company owns (its assets) and what it owes (its liabilities) at a given point in time.
What is an S curve?
S curve means standard and refers to the shape of expenditure when shown in graphical form. Expenditure is typically low at the start of a project, then increases as the scheme progresses, then slows down at the end.
How do you analyse a company’s accounts?
- Clients accountant will carry out detailed analysis, but I can look at warning signs by calculating liquidity ratios, gearing ratios etc.
- Can look at Credit rating and on Companies House as well.
Why would you not recommend a Contractor with a low credit rating?
Increased risk of not performing satisfactorily, Contractor insolvency or not deploying enough resources and materials to the project.
What measures would you recommend if your client wanted to appoint a contractor with a low credit rating?
- Performance bond or parent company guarantee
- Ensure interim valuations are not over claimed and thoroughly assess them
- Project bank account could be considered
- Enough tender submission not excessively front loaded
What is the difference between debtors and creditors?
Debtors are companies who owe money to another company.
Creditors are businesses who are owed money from another company.
How do companies write a Business Plan?
- Analyse the market and identify business opportunities and critical success factors.
- Companies should focus their resource in developing their competencies in critical success factors.
- This leads to development of goals and objectives with their associated strategies and actions.
What is a Business Plan?
Formal statement of the businesses goals with reasons why they are thought to be attainable and the plan for reaching them.
What is contained within an appointment document?
- Fee proposal
- Terms and conditions
- Scope of services
- Any amendments to the terms of business
- Contact details
What is included in your companies Terms and Conditions?
- Duty of care
- Insurances
- Copyright
- Fees and Payments
- Termination and Suspension
- Dispute Resolution
- Limit of liability
- Collateral Warranties
- Contracts Act
- Governing Law and Jurisdiction
What is client care?
Looking after the Clients best interests and providing a good service to the Client
What is a Clients brief?
- Provides a firm foundation for the initiation of the project
- Formal statement of the objectives and functional and operational requirements of the finished project
- Should be in sufficient detail to allow the project team to develop the spec and detailed design
Provide an example of your client care
- I will always make sure the Client feels that there project is priority and complete tasks thoroughly but quickly to meet their needs and timescales
- I ensure I drop onto Client requests when asked and prioritise timescales correctly
What makes up a Fee Proposal?
- Clients requirements
- Summary of the project/ project issues
- Conditions of engagement
- The proposed fees
- The proposed personnel including any CVs
- Reference to the project programme
- Can be other things included
How would you calculate a fee proposal?
- Review the work involved based on the level of information available
- Work out who would work on the project, the required number of hours and multiply by the hourly rates for the individuals, adding a suitable allowance for OH&P
- Can also work out based on a percentage of the agreed Contract Sum/ Cost Plan
What are the two stages of complaints handling?
1 - dealt with by Senior Member of the firm
2 - if not resolved, can refer to independent redress mechanism
What are the barriers to effective communication?
- Disruptions
- Poor call quality
- Complex language
- Language barriers
- Monotone voice
- Emotionally charged and heated conversations
Provide an example of when you had to handle difficult negotiations
- Novated civil engineer on a project introduced an increased spec for the highways, to meet the requirements of the Council, which the Contractor had not included for as it was not in the tender drawings/ spec
- The variation for this item was over £300k
- I asked for all drawings/ substantiation and reviewed and got the number down to around £100k, which the Client was willing to pay.
Name some forms of ADR
- Mediation
- Adjudication
- Negotiation
What would your considerations be prior to selecting a form of dispute resolution?
- Cost of dispute resolution in proportion to the claim being sought
- Timescales involved
- Impact on business relationships and reputation
What is concilliation?
- Similar to mediation
- Independent third party aids reaching an agreement
- Conciliator has no authority to seek evidence or call witnesses
- Conciliators not able to make binding decisions
- Primary role to act as a messenger
What is mediation?
- Impartial third party helps mediate and guide a decision
- Tries to encourage coming together of parties to reach a decision as opposed to conciliation where the conciliator only acts as a messenger
What is your most successful negotiation?
Granary Final Account
What could indicate the success of a negotiation on a final account?
- Both parties satisfied with the outcome
- Business relationships can continue
What is adjudication?
- Statutory form of dispute resolution in the UK
- Independent third party considers both parties claims
- Binding decision - can be appealed through litigation or arbitration
- Time sensitive - adjudicator has 28 days to resolve the dispute
What is arbitration?
- Under the control of the parties
- Must be a genuine dispute or difference between the parties
- Proceedings undertaken in a private setting
- Decision is final and binding
What is the difference between arbitration and ligitation?
Arbitration
- Private process
- Must be an agreement to arbitrate by both parties
- Procedures similar to litigation with formal submissions by both parties, expert evidence, hearings and a decision
Litigation
- Public process heard in court
- Deals with multi-party disputes and civil procedure rules
What are the benefits of cloud based storage systems?
- Backed up regularly
- Multiple people can access same documents
- Convenient to share files online
- Don’t need to keep physical copies - cheaper and more environmentally friendly
- Accessibility can be managed via online settings
What is the Data Protection Act?
UK legislation for the implementation of EU General Data Protection Regulations
What are the key principles of the Data Protection Act?
- Data only used for purposes intended
- Only stored for the required amount of time
- Used fairly, lawfully and transparently
- Processed securely
What are a persons rights under the Data Protection Act?
- Right to access their data at any time
- Right to have their data destroyed
- Right to know how their data is being used/ stored
- Right to have incorrect data updated
What are CDM 2015 Regs?
- Construction, design and management regulations
- Intended to ensure health and safety issues are properly considered during a projects developments so the risk of harm is reduced
- Apply to all construction and building work
- Different dutyholders such as Clients, Principal Designer, Principal Contractor
What are the implications of CDM Regs?
More focus on clients to put in place arrangements to ensure health and safety
What would you expect to find in pre-construction information?
- Project description
- Environmental restrictions and existing on site risks
- Significant design and construction hazards
- Health and Safety File requirements
What would you find in a Construction Phase Plan?
- Project description
- Processes for management of works including inductions, training, site rules, emergency procedures
- Arrangements for controlling site risks such as deliveries, working at height, preventing falls, reducing noise, removing asbestos etc
What would you find in the H&S file?
- As built drawings
- Residual hazards and how they have been dealt with
- Nature and location of services
- Hazardous materials used
- O&M manuals
What is an F10?
- Notifies HSE of the project
- Includes address of site, Contractor details, name of local authority, brief description, start on site and completion date, number of people on site at any one time
What does Riddor stand for?
Reporting of injuries diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations
What does COSHH stand for?
Control of substances hazardous to health
What does CSCS stand for?
Construction skills certification scheme
What is your companies Health and Safety policy?
- Each individual responsible for own health and safety
- Report any incidents and ensure they are recorded
- Inform Line Manager when attending site alone
- Have regular training updates on CDM Regs, First Aid, Mental Health Training
- CSCS cards mandatory
What is the RICS Surveying Safely publication?
RICS guidance on personal safety at work
What is the Health and Safety at Work Act
- Primary piece of legislation that governs H&S in the UK
- Places statutory duty on employers towards their employees i.e., providing and maintaining equipment etc
What was agreed at COP 26?
Accelerate the transition towards Net Zero Carbon emissions
What are key pieces of legislation that affect sustainability in construction?
- Building Act - conservation of fuel and power
- Climate Climate Act
- Clean Air Act
- Agricultural Land Act
What are the different codes of practice for measuring sustainability?
-BREEAM - Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method
-LEED
-SKA ratings - RICS method
What is BREEAM?
Sets best practice standards for environmental performance of buildings through specification, design, construction and operation
What is an EPC?
- Introduced in 2007
- Legal requirement for buildings to be sold, let or constructed
- Most efficient assets are in Band A
- Scale of A-G
What is workplace diversity?
- Acceptance and inclusion of employees of all backgrounds
- Acknowledging the individual strengths of each employee and what they bring
What are advantages of a diverse team?
- More productivity
- More creativity
- Positive reputation
- Improved cultural awareness
What are inclusive environments?
- Requires mutual respect, effective relationships, clear communication, understanding of expectations and critical self-reflection
- People of all cultural orientations can freely express who they are
What legislation or regulations relate to inclusive environments?
- Equality Act
- The Human Rights Act
What is meant by unconscious bias?
Assumptions or associations that a person may have about someone solely because of their race, gender or disability
What is a wall to floor ratio?
Shows relationship between wall and floor area, the lower it is, the more cost effective it is to construct the building
What is a S.106 agreement?
Agreement between local authorities and developers that are negotiated in the context of getting planning consent
What is construction to ‘shell and core’?
- Basic structure, services and envelope of a building
- Base services are terminated at entry points to each floor plate, however life safety infrastructure usually provided
- Landlord and common areas usually fitted out including toilets, lifts/ stair cores, reception
What is a CAT A fit out?
- Known as a developers fit out
- Usually includes suspended ceilings, raised access floors, carpets, basic fittings, lighting and power distribution to floor plates
What is a CAT B fit out?
- More specific to the end user to enable them to occupy the scape
- Overlays the CAT A fit out
- Usually includes partitions, bespoke furniture, artwork, floor boxes, upgrading CAT A Finishes
What information do you need to carry out an order of cost estimate?
- Location
- Type of building
- Floor area/ number of functional units
- Storey height
- Any initial floor plans
- Site conditions
- Indication of spec/ quality
- Indication of programme
What are the principal components of a Cost Plan?
- Construction cost
- Prelims
- OH&P
- Risk
- Inflation
- Exclusions
- Assumptions
- Drawing list
- Area schedule
What is usually excluded from a cost estimate?
- Professional Fees
- VAT
- Inflation
- Loose furniture
- Site acquisition costs
- S.106 agreement
How is contingency assessed?
- In early stages, can be included as a percentage of cost estimate
- As design develops, can compile a risk register and assign a cost impact against each risk which can form the contingency
- Can also use NRM
What time period would Tender Price Inflation be included for?
From the base date (date which rates and prices contained within the cost estimate are based on) to tender return date
What do TPIs show?
They reflect changes in the level of tender prices over a period of time, they take into account inflation and market conditions at the time
What is the difference between Value Management and Value Engineering?
VM focuses on providing value for the Client, whereas VE is a process to achieve the most cost effective solutions whilst still delivering a quality product