Construction Management

Oculis Construction’s primary offering is a bespoke Construction Management (CM) service to Clients, an alternative to the alleged “risk free” Design & Build (D&B) procurement route.

Recent combinations of COVID, Brexit, inflation, material availability and price volatility, energy costs, international hostilities, increased insolvencies, and a hard insurance and bond market have proven that D&B is not always risk free, cost effective and efficient.

D&B is only ever as good as the main contractor’s cash flow and notable administrations and liquidations show the fragility of household names in today’s market.

Programme Benefits:

Acceleration of Programme:

Allows overlapping of design and construction phases. Trade Contractors can start before design completion, resolving issues without affecting the

critical path, saving time and money, and reducing delays.

Early Trade Contractor Involvement:

Promotes better quality and innovation through their expertise and feedback, enhancing performance and efficiency.

Client Flexibility and Control:

Allows design changes without renegotiating with a single contractor.

Elements can be delayed without affecting the overall programme, adapting to market conditions or user requirements, improving quality and functionality.

Collaborative Culture:

Encourages teamwork among the Client, Construction Manager, and Trade Contractors, reducing disputes, enhancing communication, boosting morale, and improving programme efficiency.

Design Benefits:

Flexible Procurement:

Unlike Design & Build or Traditional procurement, CM enables piecemeal procurement on a trade-by-trade basis, complying with the Building Safety Act for higher-risk buildings.

Early Trade Contractor Involvement:

Promotes better quality and innovation through their expertise and feedback, enhancing performance and efficiency.

Client Flexibility and Control:

Allows design changes without renegotiating with a single contractor.

Elements can be delayed without affecting the overall programme, adapting to market conditions or user requirements, improving quality and functionality.

Collaborative Culture:

Encourages teamwork among the Client, Construction Manager, and Trade Contractors, reducing disputes, enhancing communication, boosting morale, and improving programme efficiency.

Client Cost Transparency:

CM allows Clients to see a detailed breakdown of all project costs. Every penny spent can be tracked, which is often not possible in other procurement methods where a lump sum may cover various items.

The Construction Manager can be engaged early in the design and cost planning stages. This enables the Client to influence decisions that affect the final cost. In traditional or single stage design and build contracts, costs are often fixed before the design is complete.

Each work package can be competitively tendered, meaning that the Client only pays the market rate with no main contractor markup. There is a much-reduced risk of overpayment as Clients can verify actual cost against the market rate.

Clients can engage direct with Trade Contractors in value engineering. Such value engineering is fully transparent with savings not diluted by a main contractor.

Cost transparency leads to better stakeholder engagement and trust. All relevant parties can see the true financial aspects of the project.

Improved Quality:

Enhanced Quality Control:

Ensures the final product meets or exceeds standards, minimizing defects, reducing costs, and ensuring timely completion.

Compliance with Regulations:

Adheres to the Building Safety Act and Building Regulations through strict monitoring and systematic quality checks.

Client-Focused Team:

Construction Managers work directly for the Client, ensuring dedicated quality oversight without interference from a main contractor.

Transparency and Early Issue Resolution:

Provides full access to QA procedures, inspections, and audits, identifying and addressing quality issues early to prevent rework.

Continuous Quality Control:

Ensures consistent quality oversight from project start to finish, relying on the Construction Manager's expertise.

Eliminating the Main Contractor’s Slice of the Pie via Construction Management:

Cost Savings:

Eliminates the main contractor's 5-10% profit margin, leading to lower overall project costs.

Direct trade contractor appointments foster competitive bidding, reducing costs further.

Transparency:

Provides a clear view of actual costs through open-book expenses, helping Clients make informed decisions without hidden costs or markups.

Greater Control and Flexibility: