Development margin is set in the feasibility and lost in the execution. Feasibilities live in one person's spreadsheet and quietly diverge from reality as costs move. Consultant deliverables, authority approvals and construction claims each run on their own timeline with no single view across them. Cost-to-complete is recalculated only when the financier asks, and by then the variance is history rather than a decision.

What disciplined infrastructure looks like

A feasibility model held as a living document, updated as tenders land and variations are approved, so the projected return is always current. A project control board covering every active development: stage, critical approvals, upcoming milestones and the decisions waiting on the director. Claims and variation workflows that capture commitments the day they are made. Monthly cost-to-complete and cashflow reporting produced as routine, not assembled under pressure for the bank.

The test

If the current forecast return on the flagship project cannot be produced today without reopening a spreadsheet and re-keying numbers, the development is being managed by recollection, and the margin is exposed to whatever recollection misses.

Start with a free Minor Audit.