Claim Quantum Build
RemedialHourlyFor Claims Consultants & Consultancies
I build the loss and expense quantum for your claim from the cost records: the heads, the build-ups and the schedules behind every figure. You keep the client, the strategy and the narrative; I make the numbers carry them.
The problem
Most claims practices are stronger on entitlement than on valuation. The events are established and the narrative is persuasive, then the quantum arrives as a single spreadsheet of round numbers with no build-up, because the person who wrote the referral was never going to have three clear weeks to measure anything. The other side's quantum surveyor goes straight past the narrative to the figures, and every number without a build-up behind it invites a discount on the whole claim. A strong case on liability with weak quantum settles like a weak case.
The solution
You send me the records and the heads you intend to run, and I build the loss and expense underneath them: each head built from the cost records against a period adopted in writing from you or your programmer, prolongation and time-related costs built up line by line, everything already recovered elsewhere deducted and shown, every figure traceable to a document the other side can be shown. It is drafted to sit inside your submission in your house style, working papers behind it ready for scrutiny. Where the records will not support a head at the value hoped for, I say so early, with what would close the gap.
What you receive
A quantum built to be scrutinised: every figure built from the cost records and sourced, its assumptions stated, delivered in your format under your brand with the working papers behind it. The report alongside explains how each head was built, the records it rests on and where the soft spots are.
The Handover Pack accompanies the work with its dates and sources, likely outcomes and responses, scope boundaries and ready-to-send correspondence where needed.
Turnaround: the timetable is agreed in writing at scoping and then kept.
The working days start when the agreed scope and required inputs are available. Optional items do not hold the start unless the agreed scope says otherwise.
Illustrative worked example
Every instruction closes with a written report. This is the format, on a worked example: See a worked example (PDF)
How it works
I clear conflicts and scope the work
I check parties and projects against my other engagements before I open a file, then confirm the heads, records and format with you in a short written scope that sets out exactly what I am building.
You send me the paperwork
You send everything below in one handover.
- A
The entitlement position, and the time award or stated period, with its author
EssentialWithout it: There is no period to calculate the quantum against, so the build cannot start
Where to find it: Whoever is running the claim, you or your representatives, will have the current version
Why I need it: Quantum is calculated against an entitlement position, never in place of one
- B
Cost records: the job cost ledger for the whole project
EssentialWithout it: There is no primary evidence of what was spent, so nothing in the build can be costed
Where to find it: The accounts system's exports and the site's returns
Why I need it: The primary evidence of what was spent
- C
Allocation sheets, timesheets and plant returns
ImportantWithout it: Cost that cannot be tied to the affected work is left out of the claim rather than estimated
Where to find it: The accounts system's exports and the site's returns
Why I need it: What proves the resource was on the affected work
- D
Invoices and payroll records
EssentialWithout it: There is nothing to prove the cost was actually incurred, so it cannot be included
Where to find it: The accounts system's exports and the site's returns
Why I need it: What proves the cost was actually incurred
- E
The prelims build-up from the tender
ImportantWithout it: The prolongation figures rest on the resource level you state rather than on what was actually priced
Where to find it: Your estimator's tender file, or wherever the pricing that won the job is kept
Why I need it: The basis for anything prolongation related
- F
The executed contract and every amendment
EssentialWithout it: There is no way to know what heads are even recoverable, so the build cannot start
Where to find it: The job's commercial folder or the original order email
Why I need it: What the recoverable heads actually are
- G
The programme, as-planned and as-built or updated
OptionalWithout it: There is nothing independent to fix the affected period against, so the build relies on the stated period alone
Where to find it: Your planner's programme files, both the tender version and whatever has been updated since
Why I need it: The period the money is calculated against
- H
The variation account and any loss and expense already certified
EssentialWithout it: Money already recovered cannot be deducted, so the claim risks double counting what has already been paid
Where to find it: The valuations and variation account your QS maintains, or whatever payment record shows what has already been certified
Why I need it: What has already been recovered
Copies are fine. Send what you have and I'll tell you what's missing. Download the client request PDF or editable Word version to pass to whoever holds the files.
- A
You keep the client and the strategy
The client relationship, the entitlement case and the tactics stay entirely yours.
I build each head from the cost records
Prolongation, thickening, head office overhead and disruption are built from the ledger, the invoices and the payroll records, with the source stated against each figure. The period the money is priced over is adopted in writing from you or your programmer and attributed on the face of the working; I never assess it. Anything already recovered elsewhere is deducted and the deduction shown.
Period Adopted in Writing
Any period the money is priced over is adopted from a written, named source before costs are built on it, so no figure rests on an assumption nobody owns.
I flag the weak heads early
I name any figure the records cannot support at the value hoped for before the other side does, so the decision on what runs is made before the schedules are final.
No Double Counting
No resource or week is claimed under two heads at once; the overlap test is run and recorded before the heads go forward.
You decide what runs
Where I flag a head the records cannot carry, whether it runs, waits or drops is your call.
I build the schedules
I structure the valuation schedules, build-ups and appendices to drop into your submission.
Every Figure Traced
No figure is stated to anyone until it traces to its build-up and a filed record, so nothing in the claim invites a discount on the rest.
I hand over a quantum built to be scrutinised
Free Service Pack
A step-by-step Handbook, with the templates and working documents you need to carry out the work it covers yourself. You supply your own project information and records.
Follow the Handbook's scope and stopping points, and obtain independent advice where required. The pack is not project-specific advice or independent sign-off.
