This plumbing and drainage contractor delivers larger commercial and industrial projects. The contracts are usually fixed price with a high number of variations and subject to a bank guarantee or cash retention. The project delivery team comprises of a Project Manager, Contracts Administrator and Site Supervisors and a mix of Tradesmen and apprentices.

The majority of the work is undertaken by themselves and they have a complex industry based enterprise agreement which complicates their payroll process. They also have a small fleet of equipment comprising Excacators, Trucks, Backhoes and Bobcats. 

Estimating is undertaken by a dedicated team of estimators using a specialist estimating tool.

There is a formal accounting and administration function which is responsible for the production of monthly management accounts and project profit reporting. But becuase of the detailed nature of the projects the project team is typically doing their own things in spreadsheets. Often there will be disagreement between what the project team reports on a job versus what finance reports.

This business delivers larger commercial projects but also has a miantenance division.

The commercial projects are typically larger fixed price projects with lots of variations and typically the work will be subject to retentions.

The maintenance division performs a range of functions from fixing defects for the commercial division to delvering preventative and reactive maintenance services to a number of customers.

Having smart integrated systems to streamline payroll, communicate with technicians in the field, track progress against budget and forecast savings or overruns are all key to this business.