Project Financial Control and Reporting Flashcards
What is receivership in administration?
Receivership is a process in which a creditor assumes ownership of a debtor’s business operations
What is the position on insolvency in a JCT contract?
Section 8
8.5 - insolvency of contractor
Employer may at any time terminate the Contractor’s employment by notice
What’s CVA?
Company Voluntary Arrangement
Why would a contractor opt for CVA?
- Directors remain in control
- Costs involved are cheaper than going into administration/receivership
- No requirement to tell customers/to go public
- Creditors are prevented from threatening or taking legal action against the company as long as the agreed terms are adhered to
- A CVA avoids company liquidation and, therefore, requires no investigation of directors’ conduct leading up to insolvency.
- 75% of creditors have to agree to it
What would you do after a contractor goes into liquidation?
- Secure site
- Value works on site
- terminate contract
- invoke performance bond (if applicable) to cover losses
- KEEP SITE INSURED
- Use retention to cover losses
What EXTRA costs would the client have to cover if the contractor goes insolvent?
- Prelims for setting up site again
- site security
- costs associated with delays (loss of income)
- insuring vacant site
- professional fees
- make good any damages
What’s the difference between liquidation and administration?
Liquidation is the process of bringing a business to an end and distributing its assets to claimants
Administration is a very powerful process for gaining control, when a company is insolvent and facing serious threats from creditors. The Court may appoint a licensed insolvency practitioner as administrator. This places a moratorium around the company and stops all legal actions
How can you avoid a contractor going into liquidation?
Do financial due diligence before appointment to ensure they have the financial capacity/cashflow to run the project
Pay contractor on time
Keep on top of variations
Have a retention bond instead of holding retention
Is retention good?
- It does a job of protecting the client
- However it is bad for cash flow for the contractor and ultimately if they fall into liquidation that is an issue for the client
- Retention bond can replace retention however will come at a premium for the client
How did you negotiate your final account?
- Ran rolling FA anyway
- Late/outstanding variations negotiated as FA
- Prepared evidence/position on all outstanding variations, agreed them with contractor
- Statement of Final Account approved by client and signed by contractor
What is retention?
It’s a contractual mechanism that holds back a %age of interim payments to the contractor
This is used to protect the client in the case the contractor fails to fulfill his obligations
How do you decide on retention amount?
Project specific
Generally smaller/riskier project will have higher retention amount
What is the default retention &age in JCT DB 16?
3%
Same for DB 2011
What is a retention bond?
A performance bond that protects the client in the case the contractor fails to fulfill his obligations
How are retention bonds utilised in the case of non performance?
- On demand (not often used)
- Conditional
What was a change on the Dulwich project that the client was responsible for?
Extra scope, e.g. new rooms to be decorated, access control on doors where it was not specified within ERs
What was a change on the Dulwich project that the contractor was responsible for?
Design development e.g. anything that was in the ERs that they have just developed
Where in the JCT DB 2011 does it state who is responsible for what changes?
Section 5 Change
States changes are change to ERs or PSUMs
What is change control?
The administrative process that implements the contract mechanism for instructing change.
MUST adhere to contract requirements for notification & approval of change
What does effective cost control require?
Agree variations as they come out, rolling final accounts
Cost Reports to monitor progress
How do you control project costs pre contract?
- Between cost plans we run change trackers
- As design develops we review drawings/releases or pick up on things in meetings
- Prepare cost uplift/reduction estimate and add it to the tracker
- Present to the client every 2 weeks advising new likely outcome of costs or just flag the item and state info we require before cost can be allocated
- For new basement, I prepared an alternative basement estimate to the one being designed to advise alternate options
How would you structure a cost report?
- Introduction/exec summary
- Project Financial Summary showing Budget vs current position vs previous position
- EAIs
- AEAIs
- Early Warnings
- PSUM adjustments
- VE items
- Cashflow
What RICS guidance is there on cost reporting?
RICS Cost Reporting 1st Edition 2015 (guidance note)
RICS Valuing change 2010 (practice Standards)
Can you have JCT IC without quantities?
No - only SBC