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Construction Software

Products and Services

Cost Planning

Prophesy provides a facility for creating a cost plan for the various components of the construction contract. Our application provides a seamless link between tender data and contract budgets. All of the components of the tender are fed into the prophesy database and each is allocated to a sub-budget.

The user allocates each sub-budget a target and it is the combined value of these targets which sets out the contractor's budget for the contract works. The cost plan facility neatly deals with fixed and time related costs and ultimately provides a framework for dealing with expenditure and change. Our unique "transfer" facility permits amounts to be reallocated between sub-budgets thus providing maximum flexibility to suit the contractors preferred procurement routes.

Profit forecasting

Prophesy allows the user to manage and predict profit expectations at a micro and macro level. At a micro level, Prophesy permits prediction of profit in the context of procurement margins and deficits, variation income, delays and loss and expense entitlement on any given project. At a macro level, Prophesy allows prediction, collation and management of profit expectations across a whole range of projects.

Procurement management

Prophesy facilitates the effective management of the procurement process. Our bespoke and unique application has been developed from our principal consultant's extensive practical experience (which includes the active procurement of hundreds of sub-contracts on behalf of one of the foremost international construction companies).

Cash flow management

The Prophesy management facility permits the user to predict and update cash flow management throughout the construction process. Most employers will insist upon a cash flow prediction at the outset of the project and our facility satisfies this requirement as well as providing a useful tool for monitoring actual compared to anticipated cash received.

Cost value reconciliations

As well as its core profit forecasting facility, Prophesy facilitates the periodic completion of cost value reconciliations and thus allows the user to arrive at the interim profitability at intervals to suit its monthly accounts.

Employee performance facility

The unique Prophesy matrix permits senior management to effectively monitor their employee's performance against a range of criteria over a period of time. Should he choose, the employer can for example, compare and contrast the profitability of the regions/companies quantity surveyors over a period of time. Trends can be isolated and used in the decision making process. Risks can be identified and eradicated. Training needs can be identified. Such trend analysis can help ensure that particular quantity surveyors are allocated to types of projects which best match their skills.

This tool will also help identify company wide failings on particular types of project. In short this unique facility promotes control and helps minimises risk.

Construction Act facility

The Prophesy "Construction Act" facility provides a tool for monitoring the issue of Section 110 and 111 notices. This essential feature provides a control mechanism for helping to ensure that the contractor does not fall foul of the potential financial penalties which may result from a failure to issue such notices timeously. Our application calculates latest dates for issue of notices and monitors whether the quantity surveyor has dealt with these requirements within the permitted duration.

Loss and expense monitoring

Prophesy includes a facility for helping to ensure that the notice requirements, which often preclude entitlement to loss and expense, are issued in a timely fashion. Prophesy also provides a facility for ensuring that loss and expense claims which are submitted by sub-contractors have been incorporated into the profit equation.

Cause and effect analysis

Our Principal consultants' extensive and ongoing global experience (at associate director level of one the world's foremost dispute management companies) with multi million pounds construction disputes has provided us with the experience and knowledge to incorporate a unique facility for dealing with a key issue which lies at the heart of success or failure in pursuing claims. In order to succeed in pursuing loss and expense entitlement before a tribunal, the contractor must demonstrate a breach by the claimant which resulted in loss by the contractor which is recoverable under the terms of the parties' agreement. The key issue is often one of causation or demonstrating cause and effect; for example the contractor may have to prove that a particular event caused a reduction in productivity or a specific delay. Our facility helps ensure that the user is provided with an appropriate contemporaneous framework for inputting details of the causal nexus. Should the contractor later wish to pursue loss and expense, it can use this framework of data as evidence in its attempt to satisfy the burden of proof in the proceedings.

In short, it the user identifies that a particular project is likely to result in a loss and expense entitlement, he can input relevant data in this framework which will later help satisfy this key legal requirement.

Financing costs

We have introduced a unique facility in the Prophesy matrix for dealing with the effect of late client payments and client under payments. Our financing tool allows the user to calculate entitlement pursuant to such payment failures and effectively calculates the amount of interest which is consequently due to the contractor.

KPI's

Our KPI facility facilitates periodic scoring of consultants, sub-contractors and other components of the supply chain and thus provides an early warning and control mechanism across a whole host of issues. Components of the supply chain can be monitored in respect of quality, finance, safety, submissions and programme. This integrated facility helps minimise risk and provides a benchmark for choosing entrants to the contractors supply chain. Performance trends can be monitored company wide and consistent failure dealt with sufficiently early to help avoid later problems.

Design and Build facility

Prophesy can be effectively used to deal with the unique attributes of design and build contractors. Our Principal Consultant has extensive practical experience of dealing with the unique variables which are inherent in this type of contract. In particular, Prophesy includes a facility for introducing and managing design consultants into the financial and KPI equation and provides a mechanism for dealing with design contingencies and drawing preparation and issue. The Prophesy innovation facility is particularly pertinent to this form of contract in order to ensure that all inputted alternative design issues are available for consideration.

Data management

Prophesy facilitates the effective management of the inevitable extensive data which is issued from the supply chain during the construction process. Our tool allows the user to input, monitor and manage the issue of:

Collateral warranties tracking facility

The Contract (Rights of Third Parties Act) 1999 introduced a default facility for third parties to a contract to enforce express rights bestowed upon then under that contract. However, not withstanding this facility, many employers still insist upon the issue of collateral warranties between itself and the third parties (consultants, design sub-contractors, local authorities etc).The management of collateral warranties can be a time consuming and arduous process. Changes to the wording of the warranties are not unusual and the process of final warranty issue often lapses and can thus result in late payment to the contractor and the issue of financial penalties by the Employer.

The Prophesy warranty tracking facility facilitates the management and control of this process and helps ensure the smooth transition from warranty issue through to engrossments and execution.

Early warning system

Prophesy provides an early warning system for impending problems. Our application flags up key failings sufficiently early to allow management to be aware of issues which affect the control or profitability of the project and thus to take appropriate measures to deal with or eradicate the risk.

Directory facility

At the outset of installation of the prophesy facility on the contractors server(s), we will incorporate the contractor's sub-contractor database into the Prophesy system. If a Quantity Surveyor subsequently wished to input details of a particular sub-contract package, he can draw down the relevant details from the Prophesy directory. This facility helps minimise subsequent input time.

Sub-contractor procurement schedule

This facility promotes awareness and control of the time constraints for procurement of sub-contractors. The schedule incorporates latest enquiry and procurement dates. We have also incorporated an early warning indicator such that lapsed procurement can be immediately identified and dealt with.

Variation management

Prophesy permits the user to manage the effect of variations; both domestic and contract. Our budget and cost transfer facility permits variation income and anticipated cost to be allocated to appropriate budgets and controlled from instruction through until compromise and agreement. Our variation facility also allows the user to highlight particular variations which may cause a delay to the contract completion and thus provides an early warning indicator to senior management. Profitability of changes can also be effectively monitored.

Management of time related costs

Our unique preliminaries analysis facility promotes control of time related costs and provides a mechanism for dealing with modifications to resource costs and durations. This facility incorporates the inputting and control of salary fluctuations and subsistence expenditure together with a whole host of other time related issues.

Future potential gains and losses

Prophesy includes a facility to allow the user to incorporate the assessed margin or deficit which may result from potential future risks. Such cost alterations can accordingly be incorporated into the profit equation. Prophesy also incorporates a facility to deal with the effects of provisional sums and contingencies.

Contra charges

Our application also includes a contra charge facility. This application permits the user to effectively monitor and allocate contra charges to the responsible party and provides a facility for incorporating such items into the profit equation.

Measurement fluctuations

Measurement fluctuations can be a key cause of concern on many projects. The contractor will be eager to ensure that he does not suffer loss as a consequence of the vagaries or errors in the Employer's Bill of Quantities whilst also including provision in his forecasts for such movements. Prophesy provides a facility for dealing with such fluctuations and for ensuring that user is aware of the combined implications of the various measurement deviations.

Payment management

Prophesy provides an effective mechanism for monitoring and logging incoming and outgoing payments. This facility is neatly linked to our cash flow facility, sub-budgets and Construction Act notices facility to ensure that the user acquired added control of the payment process.

Opportunities

Our Principal consultants' practical and extensive experience of construction cost planning recognises that it is essential to incorporate a facility for dealing with potential opportunities which have been identified at the outset of the project but which cannot at that time be guaranteed to yield a profit. Such opportunities are inputted into the system and provide an agenda for negotiation with consultants or client as the project design develops.

Innovations

The construction industry is constantly evolving. New ideas and innovations are offered almost on a weekly basis. From the benefits of soil stabilisation through to pre constructed accommodation pods, there is a constant plethora of ideas and innovations which can often have a profound effect on the construction duration and profitability. The question is how can a contractor provide a company wide facility for logging such ideas and ensuring that a particular QS on a particular project has access to and awareness of such ideas.

Prophesy provides a solution to this problem. Our innovation register provides a framework and coding system which permits the user to log on to a relevant specific database which lists relevant details.

Employee turnover analysis

Prophesy provides a unique tool for calculating the turnover generated by employees allocated to a particular project. This facility allows senior management to monitor individual's contribution to turnover and retrospectively allows the contractor to target categories of project which are likely to promote above average employee turnover.

Retention management

Not withstanding the industry movement towards eradication of the retention facility from interim payments (as suggested by Sir Michael Latham), such temporary offsets remain common place in construction. Our retention management facility permits awareness and control of micro and macro retention funds. Effective use of this tool will allow management to be fully au fait with its entitlement to retention release and thus assist the cash flow process.

Reports

Prophesy allows the user to prepare extensive reports in soft and hard format. The reports can instantly be converted to Microsoft Excel and thus easily stored and issued to all relevant individuals. The standard report formats can be modified to suit the particular requirements of our customers. The report facility includes: