The topographical survey arrived. Did we ever invoice the client for it?
Your practice leads the civil and structural design on a housing scheme and has brought in a topographical surveyor, a ground investigation contractor and a drainage CCTV specialist. Each was arranged by a different engineer, by email, with quotes attached to messages. The survey arrived; the GI factual report is late; the CCTV contractor has sent an invoice that is higher than their quote. Nobody is sure whether the survey cost is recharged to the client or included in your fee.
When the project director asks for a list of sub-consultants on the job, with fees and status, someone has to search three inboxes to produce it.
Why sub-consultant work is hard to keep hold of
- Appointments are made by email, with no single record of scope and fee.
- Deliverable dates are agreed informally and not tracked.
- Invoices arrive at accounts with no easy way to check them against the quote.
- Recharge arrangements with your client are in the appointment and forgotten by the time the invoice lands.
- Insurance certificates and terms for each sub-consultant are filed, if at all, somewhere else.
Most practices also lack a view across projects. The same topographical surveyor may be working on six of your jobs, with different quotes and different engineers managing them. Nobody can see the total committed with that firm, or whether their deliverables are running late across the board.
What the gaps cost
| Gap | Consequence |
|---|---|
| No record of agreed fee | Overcharges paid without challenge |
| Recharge not raised | Cost absorbed by the practice |
| Deliverable dates not tracked | Your design held up waiting for data |
| No insurance record | Uncertainty if something goes wrong |
Sub-consultant costs are often a meaningful share of a civil or geotechnical project's spend. Small leaks on each add up across a year.
How we build a sub-consultant register
- A register lists every sub-consultant appointment by project: firm, scope, quote, agreed fee, and how it is paid for, whether within your fee or recharged.
- Appointments are raised from a short form that generates your standard appointment letter or order, so the record and the paperwork match.
- Deliverables and dates are recorded, and the responsible engineer is reminded ahead of each date.
- When a sub-consultant's invoice arrives, it is read and matched to the appointment, with differences from the agreed fee flagged before approval.
- Recharged costs create a draft recharge on your client's next invoice, so they cannot be forgotten.
- Each firm's insurance certificates and expiry dates are held against their record, with reminders before expiry.
- A project view lists all sub-consultants, fees committed and paid, and outstanding deliverables.
We connect to Xero, Sage or your accounts system for invoices and recharges, and to your project mailbox for the documents.
We normally start from a list of the sub-consultants you use most and a handful of recent appointments, so the register reflects how you actually work. Existing appointments on live projects can be loaded, which means the first invoices to arrive after launch can already be checked against an agreed fee.
Life with a register
Engineers appoint sub-consultants in a couple of minutes through the form and never have to wonder where the quote went. Accounts can approve invoices with the agreed fee in front of them. Recharges happen automatically.
Directors can see, for any project, what has been committed to others and what remains in the budget.
Recognise this?
- Sub-consultant quotes live in individual inboxes.
- Invoices are approved without checking against the quote.
- Recharges to clients are sometimes missed.
- Nobody tracks when surveys and reports are due.
- Insurance certificates for sub-consultants are not monitored.