Commercial firefighting is IMH's name for the urgent work. Something on a project has gone wrong, now, and the business needs to know where it stands and what to do next.
IMH's job at that point is to analyse the problem, review the options and devise an exit. Ian Heavey MRICS, chartered since 1993, leads it himself.
Notice periods may already be running. Payment dates fall due whether anyone is ready or not. The records that would prove your position are easiest to secure now, while people still remember what happened.
It is all too easy to be pressured into a commercial decision based on an incorrect understanding of your contractual entitlements. A quick review is cost effective wherever the effect on margin could be material. IMH starts by:
The first letter after a serious problem often shapes everything that follows. IMH keeps correspondence factual and specific while still pressing the contractor's entitlement. Protecting a contract right does not have to wreck the relationship the rest of the job depends on.
Where negotiation will not settle it, adjudication may be the route, and IMH has advised a client through an adjudication before.
Not every fire is a single event. Late applications, variations nobody has valued and no clear view of the margin can leave a director unsure how to proceed, which is a worry in itself. Clients put it simply: "I don't know the margin being achieved; can you tell me?" IMH puts the applications, the variations and the cost value reconciliation back in order so the figures can be trusted again.
A principal contractor running several fast-paced fire safety remediation schemes at once had inconsistent cash flow and no clear view of profit. Applications went in late, without the detail to support a full valuation, and instructed variations were not being captured. IMH introduced a disciplined monthly application cycle, valued every instructed variation and set up an internal cost value reconciliation with a rolling forecast of the final contract value. Certified values rose significantly, cash flow improved and payment disputes dropped. Read the full case study on restoring payment certainty.
IMH successfully defended a main contractor in a dispute with the employer over the value of completed works.
IMH's retainer clients have 24/7 access, and once that agreement is in place IMH can respond to an emergency within the hour. For everyone else the office hours are 09:00 to 17:00 on weekdays, and the first consultation is free and confidential.
If a project has gone wrong, call Ian Heavey on +44 (0)7747 866758 or contact IMH with the details.
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