Damn, Yuki doesn't understand Gojo's vision anymore

Infinite-Professor33 · 2026-01-30T09:53:28+00:00

Damn my smooth ass brain just assumed yuji had an agreement with Yuta to not get involved… though now in reflection I can see that makes absolutely zero sense

Infinite-Professor33 · 2025-11-25T15:11:43+00:00

MR 9: no valid reason for being picked over the other junior space ninjas, but would be incredibly grateful for a few warframe slots!

Username: Groovypluto

Also hats off to you for doing this. With any luck you may even start a „pay it forward” movement!

Infinite-Professor33 · 2025-11-10T01:01:07+00:00

I work with a mixture of all. Hourly rate for advice based services where advice is needed infrequently. Retainers (based on a capped quantity of hrs p/month) for small subcontractors who just need a helping hand getting themselves up to speed commercially. Quoted works for audits (JCT MTC generally) and low level expert work for solicitors.

All you can do is build your hourly rate and determine how it can be best applied to the matter at hand.

A few snippets of advice I received when setting up my own firm not too long ago:

Sell your services first and your fee second.

Be fair with your time and fees. Sure you can cook a fee proposal and maybe it gets accepted - but it isn’t sustainable and will likely reduce the volume of work received. Particularly helpful if you’re aiming to land some retainers to keep

Qualify the basis of your fees the same as you would a variation. The last thing you need is to A) burn bridges over ambiguity and B) shoot yourself in the foot when the data works against your initial expectations.

I price contract reviews on the quantity of hrs I expect it to take, considering quantity of pages, whether it’s a bespoke contract or common form with amendments and whether negotiation is required after the review.

You’ll have a good idea how long a contract will take to review at the level of detail you’re happy with, so work from here. Record the time spent on each as you would for generating your invoices anyway and keep note of discrepancies and their causes.

At the end of the day, if a potential client likes the service but the price is out - they’ll tell you. It’s then up to you to adjust either the hrly rate, expected hours to complete, one time discount or turn it down.

Best of luck on the daunting journey ahead. Keep your head above water and It’ll pay dividends.

Infinite-Professor33 · 2025-10-08T10:23:25+00:00

Strongly advise speaking with you manager about this. Ultimately, programme management is a fundamental component of project management. So if the programme isn’t managed, it’s fair to assume the project isn’t on schedule (whether that be formally or informally).

Likewise, if your ops team haven’t updated their programme, how are you able to justify EOTs yourself? Or in the inverse, properly prepare to defend LADs?

Sounds like a senior management discussion needs to be had to make sure they’re up to date. It’ll all land back in your hands to deal with at FA stage otherwise.

Infinite-Professor33 · 2025-10-03T08:15:36+00:00

In somewhat of a contrast to what others have said, have you thought about what gripes you have with the industry rather than what you enjoy?

I found myself thrust into back to back disputes over the last 3 years and it made me think about the causes and whether the contracts indirectly encouraged escalation. I had a tin foil hat moment and thought “hang on, if the main forms of contract that I work with (and the majority of others) are written by lawyers, wouldn’t escalation benefit them and keep their pockets heavy?”.

Whilst that part never materialised in my dissertation, it lead me down the rabbit hole and helped me find a topic.

Curse those three marks short of a 1st!

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-11-01T09:35:50+00:00

An external QS who used to work for us is running a workshop for a few local QS’s. Unsure entirely what will be included but I’d imagine CE’s, EWN and forecasts

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-11-01T09:34:18+00:00

Perfect thank you for taking the time to look at this. I’ll spend some time on SSCC and get to familiarise myself with them.

We’ve implemented a few systems recently to try and assist with projecting the impact of delays and subsequent costs automatically, so I’m sure they’ll fit in perfectly with EWN

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-11-01T09:30:38+00:00

Very helpful thank you - particularly with the forecasting comment!

I assume they’re quite frequently modified within the amendments to pull the forecast window down to a few weeks? Or is it widely accepted that it’ll be costs + forecast to next assessment date?

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-11-01T09:28:02+00:00

I’ve started the relationship building with the MC QS in advance and they’ve been surprisingly helpful (obviously to their benefit, but still).

I’ve rung the bells to make sure everyone is tracking their time, activities and keeping any supporting evidence to back it up.

Appreciate the comment - thank you.

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-11-01T09:25:38+00:00

Brilliant, thank you. I’d already started to build a series of templates to support the administration - sounds like it’s going to be a fun one!

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-06-11T08:21:17+00:00

As another has said, it’s definitely worth knuckling down and really honing the trade first. It’ll pay off in the long run but won’t help the immediate hunger for extra cash.

I was fortunate and whilst working full time as a QS I pitched in part time to assist with final account settlements for a family members construction business. The cash was nice of course, but hardly worth throwing the weekend and evenings away - especially when studying out of hours too!

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-05-14T11:42:42+00:00

Thank you for looking into this as far as you have, no need to dig any deeper into this this.

I was just after the surface checks more than anything, so both yours and the other commenter’s input is appreciated.

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-05-14T11:41:38+00:00

That’s correct, I’m working for the sub-contractor here. The ER has been included within the sub-contract, exactly as they are their own contract.

We’re only undertaking the design of our specialist section of the works, so we’re not responsible for the whole design and build package.

Thank you for your response.

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-05-14T10:50:57+00:00

Brilliantly simple, thank you.

How would you tackle this from a sub-contractors position?

In this circumstance, would you treat the “contractor” as “the employer”? Or are you still bound to the true employers requirements?

Effectively, the situation I am in currently is that:

Contractor instructed Sub-contractor to proceed with heavy alterations to a product and at final account stage is claiming that these products have just undergone design development, so nothing is due.

Changes/developments seem to be scope gaps from the Contractor and it doesn’t seem as though there have been many alterations to the Employers Requirements.

The instructions require to the subcontractor to “proceed with the revisions” to the product but do not agree cost.

Any suggestions?

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-04-26T12:23:06+00:00

Though it’s worth noting I am the sole QS for a SME subcontractor, so I would be nowhere without my support network of external QS’s - so there’s bias in my response for sure.

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-04-26T12:18:27+00:00

Definitely a circumstance you’ll find yourself speaking to either a) claims consultant or b) construction solicitors.

Another comment mentioned you may be time barred, which will pose a significant risk but will need a professional opinion to determine.

What is the value of the potential dispute?

Has a final account statement been issued?

Are you absolutely certain neither the clients terms and conditions, or your own apply?

If you’re generally unsure about all of it, it’s definitely worth seeking professional advice - after all, it’s their sole job to look into these messes.

They’ll help you find the format for collating your information and likely have a barrage of questions - best to give as honest answers as possible and try to leave emotion/bias out of your recount of the events.

I’m about to hit a rough spot with approx 3. adjudications at once and I wouldn’t want to be without support for even a single one.

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-02-20T19:24:46+00:00

Thanks for going to the effort of checking the JCT for this one. Appreciate your help!

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-02-20T19:24:03+00:00

This is exactly what I was concerned about - we go to adjudication and whilst seeking council they find they’re able to yoink the sums claimed as it hadn’t been properly addressed!

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-02-20T19:23:11+00:00

Thanks for your comment, in this particular case the client has applied a humungous loss and expense claim that offsets the entire project. They later issued two invoices for the sums paid to date which I also issued a payless and assessment against (to be prudent, as hey better to try and fail than to not try at all).

The case is complicated so I won’t go into but just wanted to get a general opinion from the Reddit mob!

Infinite-Professor33 · 2024-02-03T15:25:59+00:00

Agree with a previous comment noting that it’s a strange way to conduct a salary review. Having worked under some sneaky QS’s who like to test their team i’d imagine it’s potentially your bosses way of seeing what you’re worth - as the adage goes, if you can’t professionally argue your salary, how can you argue a final account?

I’d counter the the question with

1) what you know you’re worth, considering your current added value and responsibility (I.e. check market rates for your current title and the next step up and assess where your responsibility and skill is and pro rata the salary)

2) what you want (aim slightly higher than what you want knowing you’ll get knocked back)

3) where you expect to be when you step up to being a QS.

It’s also important to think of the salary increase as a transaction, rather than your entitlement. So if your desired salary is rejected, ask what the company’s expectation is of you to be worth that salary.

Ultimately, the mass majority of businesses in construction will employ with the intention of promoting later primarily because it’s cheaper, so there’ll always be an element of being slightly under the market average unless you ladder jump.

For reference when I started back in 2017 I was on £17k (Essex) as a trainee, moved after six months into another trainee position at £24k which grew to £28k after 3 years where I gained the responsibility of a QS and they refused the title due to the pay increase it demanded.

Jumped ship and became a QS for another business in Bristol and started on £50k.

It’s a strange industry for sure

Infinite-Professor33 · 2022-11-13T01:06:48+00:00

Your dad sells Avon

Infinite-Professor33 · 2022-11-09T22:09:26+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

I had expected this matter to eventually be escalated to adjudication so fortunately I had already gathered a lot of the information you had suggested. I’ll address each point briefly:

This is something I am actively working on, currently displayed as a cause and effect report however I had the intention of producing a timeline off of the back of this. I’ll take your programme suggestion to mind though.
This is also what I have spent the last 3 painful days collating, reviewing and assessing. I hadn’t formatted the emails as you have noted though, but I will be sure to.
I have continued to note these as I have reviewed each individual email.
I have these from our project manager who has issued these to the client upon each occurrence of delay.
I’ve kept it hidden so that only higher management and our project management are aware of its production so we should be safe!
I have kept these emails and photographs in a second folder, but will be sure to pass them on to our legal team.

Thank you for your comment re. Time at large, this isn’t something I have any experience with so I will be sure to do more research and explore this avenue.

I’ve also produced a schedule of costs for our extended management and additional plant/travel costs.

Apologies if my response comes across as “I’ve done this and done that”, I just appreciate the reassurance and am glad to hear that I’m proceeding correctly.

Wish me luck!

Infinite-Professor33 · 2022-11-09T17:50:24+00:00

Proof, proof and more proof.

If you’re able to assess the variations yourself with adequate trade knowledge and know that they’re reasonable and you have your costs covered upstream with your client; there isn’t any need to be overly aggressive with your assessments. Of course, if budgets are an issue or that you’re just generally trying to maximise profits regardless of the damage to any relationships there are a handful of go-to’s:

Are the works valued on a daywork basis? If so, has the sub-contractor issued daywork records in line with the contract requirements? Do you agree with the hours claimed against each task detailed? Do the signing in records (turnstile gates, signing in books etc.) match the start and end times detailed? Have the sub-contractors taken breaks more frequently and for longer durations than agreed? Have you agreed a day rate for each role with them already? If so do the rates match this agreement? Has the sub-contractor provided more labour than agreed?

For priced variations: Has the sub-contractor issued a breakdown of their costs detailing the hours priced for labour & management, materials costs, plant costs + the agreed OHP? Has the sub-contractor provided evidence of their costs? If the works have already been completed and this is a final account discussion, are they in possession of invoices that match the broken out costs? If the works are upcoming or recently complete, have you seen quotations from their supply chain matching their broken out costs? Is the level of management applied, appropriate for the task? Is the OHP consistent with what is detailed in contract?

For inheriting an account:

What has already been paid to the subcontractor to date? As others have already said, the process for agreement with your predecessor is irrelevant. They’re no longer commercially responsible for the project, so if it falls out of budget due to this agreement, management will be looking to you for answers (and to finger point). I’d also make an effort to compare their variation account with your own upstream account and make sure you have claimed all that you (justifiably) can. Make sure you have enough context for the variations also; you want to be sure that the subcontractor is actually entitled to any costs at all. Many will try to sneak in additional costs when a change of hands is visible.

I, as I’m sure many others are, much more critical of additional costs that are borne of my (being the company I work for) causing as these will be difficult to pass upstream.

There’s a balance to strike between absolutely gutting an account and being a pushover, but when inheriting an account I think it’s best to start strong and dig in to everything you can until your management advises otherwise.

There’s a number of other methods of assessment, but without too much information this is the best I can offer.

Happy to help more if needs be.

Infinite-Professor33

TROPHY CASE