Overview

For our roofing and cladding contractor client, extensive changes to a government-funded project posed a major commercial risk. The project underwent rigorous value engineering due to funding challenges, resulting in significant variations. 

Fortunately, GCM was on hand to support our client with structured commercial management. Acting as the contractor’s representative, we ensured each variation was accurately tracked, priced and communicated with the main contractor. 

Ultimately, our client received payment for 100% of the variations submitted, securing an additional 13% on top of the original £3.31m contract sum.

The client

Our client is a fully accredited roofing and cladding contractor operating across Scotland. The company works on large-scale commercial developments, collaborating with well-known main contractors.

The challenge

Our client was appointed by the main contractor to deliver roofing works at a new college development in Dunfermline.

The government-funded project was subject to strict scrutiny, with value engineering initiatives creating a significant risk of profit erosion. 

Without accurate tracking, there was a real risk that variations would go underpaid or even unpaid – a common outcome when there are discrepancies between contractor and main contractor final account positions. This often results in disputes, delayed payments and reduced cash flow. 

To protect the company’s commercial position, GCM was appointed to manage and track all variations, ensuring fair and timely compensation for the additional works carried out.

Our approach

When projects require significant variations, communication and transparency are vital. GCM’s role was to clearly demonstrate the value of each change – not just from our client’s perspective, but from the main contractor’s too. This way, we could ensure fair payment for contract variations. 

We took a structured, transparent approach that removed any ambiguity. Steps included: 

• Meeting with the main contractor’s commercial team on a fortnightly basis 

• Creating a change tracker showing valuations for each variation from both our client and the main contractor 

• Helping the main contractor understand their own commercial recovery for each change 

• Issuing a final account tracker with every variation, giving full visibility of our client’s account position 

The result

Thanks to GCM’s involvement, there were no discrepancies between our client and the main contractor’s final account valuations.  

Real-time updates and robust documentation kept both parties aligned throughout, with final accounts settled without delay or disagreement. 

Ultimately, 100% of the variations were approved and paid in full. An additional £430,000 was agreed, representing 13% above the original contract value. An extra £10,000 was secured for snagging works and minor repairs for damage caused by other trades.