Managing the position, not the paperwork
Most commercial losses on major projects are not caused by poor negotiation. They are caused by sound contracts managed without strategy — where the position is administered day to day but never directed toward an outcome.
Managing toward a position
Every project arrives at a final account. The question is whether that account reflects a position built deliberately across the life of the works, or an assembly of whatever happened to be recorded along the way.
Strategic contract management means knowing at any point what the commercial position is, where it is heading, and what must be done now to protect where it needs to be in twelve months. Which entitlements are being accrued and whether they are being preserved. Which matters should be resolved while the relationship permits it, and which are better consolidated and run once.
How we approach it
Commercial strategy across delivery
We establish and maintain the commercial strategy for a project — the entitlement position being built, the exposure being managed, the matters to be resolved in sequence, and the outcome the account is being directed toward. That strategy is reviewed as the project moves, reported to leadership in terms that support a decision, and adjusted when the programme, the design or the relationship changes.
Head contract management
We manage the commercial relationship with the principal: the identification and pursuit of entitlement, the timing and framing of positions put to the client, the maintenance of the contemporaneous record, and the correspondence through which a position is built or conceded. The judgement is as much about sequence and timing as substance — a position put early may be resolved commercially, and the same position put late becomes a dispute.
Subcontract and supply chain management
The same discipline applied downstream, in the opposite direction. Assessment of subcontractor claims, variation and extension of time applications, and the defence of those not supported. Where a subcontractor’s entitlement is genuine, it is frequently recoverable upstream — provided the two positions are managed together rather than in isolation, which is where most contractors lose margin.
Variation and change management
Change is identified as it occurs rather than as it is instructed, priced against the contract and the pricing basis established at tender, and pursued to instruction and agreement before the work is executed wherever the programme permits. Change agreed as it arises is settled commercially rather than at final account. Change is captured and reported through processes connecting the commercial, programme and design functions, so that a design development is priced, a variation is programmed, and both appear in the forecast.
Cost management, budgets and forecasting
Cost control across the project — commitment and expenditure against budget, value of work done, and cost at completion forecasting that reflects known change, anticipated exposure and the entitlement position. Budget management through delivery, including transfer, reallocation and the reporting of movement against the approved position. A forecast that omits contested entitlement is not conservative; it is inaccurate in both directions, and removes the basis on which leadership can act.
Records and evidence frameworks
We establish the record on the assumption that it may one day be tested — progress and productivity data, correspondence, and the substantiation supporting each entitlement. The standard is that a position can be established from the contemporaneous record without reliance on recollection.
Final account and close-out
Preparation, negotiation and settlement of final accounts, including measurement of varied work, reconciliation against the contract price and the record of change, release of securities and retentions, and closure of outstanding entitlement and defect obligations.
Who we act for
Principals managing a head contract. Contractors and joint ventures running upstream and downstream positions simultaneously. Subcontractors preserving an entitlement position within a contract they did not write.
Discuss an engagement
An initial conversation carries no obligation. Where StratMonk is not the appropriate fit, we will say so.
Start a conversation
Describe the circumstances and we will advise on the appropriate approach.