Baseline overrun
The difference that matters is $50K against $5M. An overrun on a civil job almost never arrives as one bad week; it arrives as a cost code a few thousand over, then a few more, each one small enough that the project manager carries it in their head until the monthly cost report. Their incentive is reasonable: the next progress claim might recover it, and raising a small overrun early invites a conversation nobody wants. By the time the report makes it a number on paper, the drift has compounded across every code it touched. Demiton reconciles budget against actual every night, by cost code, against the tender you priced, so the drift is a number while it is still $50K.
At a glance
Section titled “At a glance”- What it is
- Cost and programme drift against the tender.
- Also called
- Cost drift, on demiton.io and in sales material.
- The protection
- Drift against the price you quoted is flagged at $50K, not $5M.
- Running today
- Budget and actual are reconciled every night, by cost code, against the tender you priced - so drift shows up as a number you can query, not a surprise at the next progress claim.
Where it starts
Section titled “Where it starts”Every overrun verdict is filed under one of five causes: where the money went that the tender did not price.
| Cause | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Tender pricing | The estimate or schedule of rates was short from the start. |
| Quantity growth | More was built than the schedule priced. |
| Labour productivity and overstaffing | More hours than the work needed. |
| Plant and fuel | Plant hours and fuel above what was priced. |
| Input price rises | Materials and subcontract prices rising on a fixed price. |
What the daily check needs
Section titled “What the daily check needs”The overrun check runs once the organisation holds:
- Data on the job budget register
- Data on either the cost element or purchase line registers
The tolerance is yours to set. Demiton compares committed and actual cost on each cost code with its budget plus that tolerance.
Registers that feed it
Section titled “Registers that feed it”These registers add evidence to an overrun verdict. Each linked name is a published register contract.
- Budget vs actual
budget_vs_actual - Job progress
job_progress - Cost element
cost_element - Sor verification tendered
sor_verification_tendered - Overstaffing verdict
overstaffing_verdict - Margin driver contribution
margin_driver_contribution - Progress claim
progress_claim - Tendered budget
tendered_budget - Tender baseline
tender_baseline - Sor outturn comparison
sor_outturn_comparison - Claim line observation
claim_line_observation - Attendance record
attendance_record - Plant fuel usage
plant_fuel_usage - Fuel transaction
fuel_transaction - Project performance record
project_performance_record - Contract terms
contract_terms
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”- The five diseases - the other four, and why they are one problem
- Why the diseases are in this order - why the overrun sits second
- Register catalog - the financial registers
- Business Central - the most common source of budget and actual cost
Talk to the team
Tell us what you run - your ERP, field, payroll and document systems - and we will show you the registers Demiton would fill from them, on your data, in a 30-minute call.