Starting with a budget which is too low might result in abortive design work in the future, when budgets are more realistic, or result in an incomplete project.On the other hand over budgeting the project could potentially render the project as not being feasible from the outset. At iAS we approach cost in a similar manner to other elements of management. We start off by creating a common understanding with the Client as to how the relevant dashboard is to be setup so that it provides information to the Client in the most suitable format. Based on this we design our Client interface with the same format to endure over the whole of the project life cycle.

Monitoring of cost plans is done through comparison with previous versions. The latest version of the cost plan forms the new baseline for the project. Maintaining the same format enables ease of comparison as the project progresses from one stage to the next. Internal systems have also been established to monitor and forecast costs in order to provide a useful tool for application of cost data on other projects. We strongly advocate in favour of value engineering through the project life cycle. This is particularly important in the initial stages of the project where the impact of any changes would have a minimal impact on the project compared to the execution of the same value engineering exercise during the latter stages of the project. We continuously discuss with the Client to consider the operations of the project in value engineering and not solely the original capital investment required to complete the project.