We work with people who carry the commercial risk
Not everyone needs independent commercial oversight. But if you are responsible for M&E spend, project margin, or contractor performance, and you suspect the numbers are not telling the full story. this is for you.
You are delivering the work. But is the value being recovered?
You know the project is profitable on paper. The tender margin was healthy. But somewhere between mobilisation and final account, the numbers have moved and nobody can explain exactly where.
Variations were instructed verbally and never confirmed. Labour costs crept up because sequencing was wrong and return visits became normal. The QS is buried in the next tender, not chasing the last final account. The MD asks why the margin report looks different to what was forecast, and nobody has a clean answer.
This is not failure. This is what happens on every M&E project when commercial scrutiny is stretched too thin across too many jobs.
What Arnhem does for you
We review your project records independently: valuations, variations, daywork, subcontract accounts, procurement. We identify exactly where value has been lost and what is still recoverable. You get a schedule of line items you can act on, not a report that tells you what you already know.
Typical recoverable value on a £2m–£5m M&E project: £60,000–£200,000.
Check Your Exposure: Free DiagnosticCommon triggers
Forecast margin is tightening but nobody can identify the cause
Final account is approaching and the variation record is incomplete
Labour cost has exceeded budget and the explanation is "the job was harder than expected"
The MD suspects the project is losing money but the commercial team says it is on track
A dispute is emerging and the evidential position is weak
You are spending public money on M&E. Can you prove you got value?
Local authorities, NHS Trusts, housing associations and MOD estates spend billions on mechanical and electrical works through frameworks, term contracts and capital programmes. The contractors delivering this work submit valuations, claim variations and negotiate final accounts. In most cases, there is no independent commercial scrutiny of whether those claims are proportionate.
You have a fiduciary duty to demonstrate value. Not just at procurement stage, but throughout delivery. If your M&E contractors are over-claiming, under-delivering, or exploiting weak contract administration, the cost falls on the public purse and the risk falls on you.
What Arnhem does for you
We provide independent assurance that your M&E contractors are delivering what they are being paid for. We review contractor valuations, variation claims and final account submissions against actual delivery, and identify where you are paying more than the work is worth.
This is not an audit. It is a commercial governance exercise that gives you evidence your contractors are performing, or evidence they are not.
Check Your Exposure: Free DiagnosticSectors we support
Local authorities with in-house DLOs or outsourced M&E maintenance
NHS Trusts and healthcare estates teams managing M&E frameworks
Housing associations running planned works, decent homes and retrofit programmes
MOD estates and defence infrastructure organisations
Education estates: universities, academy trusts, FE colleges
Your M&E subcontractor is claiming more than the work is worth. Can you prove it?
You main-contracted the job. The M&E package went to a specialist sub. Now you are in final account and they are claiming variations you do not recognise, labour costs you cannot verify, and a scope that has apparently grown since tender, but the documentary trail is thin on both sides.
Your commercial team is stretched across multiple packages. The M&E sub knows the technical detail better than your QS. The power dynamic in the final account negotiation is not in your favour.
What Arnhem does for you
We independently review your M&E subcontractor's claims against the contract, the actual scope delivered, and the available evidence. We identify where claims are inflated, unsupported or outside entitlement, and give you a defensible position to negotiate from.
Same skillset as our margin recovery work, applied from the other side of the table.
Discuss a Subcontract ReviewWhat you get
Independent M&E claim assessment: each variation and cost claim reviewed against contractual entitlement
Technical verification: was the work actually done, and does it match what is being claimed?
Negotiation position: a clear, evidence-backed position on what is payable and what is not
Evidential strength assessment: how defensible is your position if this escalates to adjudication?
Not sure how exposed you are?
Our free margin exposure diagnostic takes five minutes. Answer ten questions about your project and we will estimate your recoverable position. No obligation. Results delivered to your inbox.
Take the Free Diagnostic