Exposing The Liability Gap

THE MARIS METHODOLOGY:

EXPOSING THE LIABILITY GAP

At Maris Interiors we believe the traditional adversarial model is fundamentally broken because it actively breeds conflict and delay. When design and construction are separated the financial risk of design errors sits entirely with you as the client, not the builder. If an independent architect draws a bespoke detail that is physically impossible to construct the contractor will simply stop work and issue a Request for Information. While the builder waits for the architect to provide a solution the site grinds to a halt. The contractor will subsequently send you a bill for delay damages.

To manage this chaos, traditional contracts, rely on rigorous change control mechanisms. However, in a fragmented traditional setup every minor design clash triggers a formal change request that quietly inflates the final account. Furthermore, the traditional route heavily complicates the transition from a CAT A fit-out to a CAT B fit-out. Because the traditional contractor was not involved in the technical due diligence of the CAT A space, they frequently uncover hidden defects late in the build phase. We advise our clients to abandon this bifurcated approach entirely to protect their capital.

 

THE COMMERCIAL REALITY:

THE ANATOMY OF A FAILING TENDER

Financial leaders often select the cheapest traditional tender under the assumption they have secured a commercial victory. The reality of the legacy construction sector is far more ruthless. Low traditional tender prices often mask exceptionally high final costs.

According to the JLL 2024 UK Fit-Out Cost Guide, a medium specification CAT B fit-out in Central London ranges between £120 and £180 per square foot. However, this figure represents only the raw construction element. When managing a traditional contract, the total project cost frequently inflates by an additional 30% due to three systemic failures inherent in fragmented delivery:

1. The Design Gap (Omissions): Desperate contractors will bid precisely on the drawings provided. If the independent architect has inadvertently missed a critical acoustic detail or a fire-stopping barrier in their specification, the contractor will deliberately exclude it from their initial price. When the omission is inevitably discovered on site, the contractor charges a premium to fix it.

2. Variation Accumulation: Traditional contracts manage change through a rigid system of instructions and variations. Every minor design clash triggers a formal Request for Information. If the project team fails to log and value these instructions immediately, unconfirmed costs quietly accumulate in the background, resulting in a hostile final account dispute months after occupation.

3. Excluded Soft Costs: To make the initial figure appear attractive, traditional bids frequently exclude essential “soft costs” such as professional design fees, Principal Designer statutory duties and out-of-hours working premiums required by the building landlord.

You cannot manage a major business transformation relying on vague estimates and fragmented liability. To protect the corporate balance sheet, you require absolute cost certainty and a financially robust partner willing to share the delivery risk.

MARIS TOOLS:

THE LEGACY CONTRACT ‘RED FLAG’ SYSTEM

If your organisation is locked into a fragmented traditional tendering process, you must aggressively defend your budget. Ask your external consultants these questions:

• The RFI Interrogation: “Who is monitoring the Request for Information log?” You must track every RFI to identify exactly which independent design consultant is causing site delays through incomplete drawings.
• The Change Control Check: “Is this a genuine client variation or poor estimating?” Implement a strict auditing process to evaluate whether a contractor’s claim for extra money is justified, or simply a cover for a deliberate omission in their initial bid.
• The Blindspot Audit: “Are out-of-hours premiums included?” Ensure hidden costs like acoustic treatments, active IT equipment and landlord-mandated weekend labour rates are baked into the contract sum before the ink dries.