The hidden cost of a poor project handover

By John Kenney, Cotney Consulting Group.  

One of the most expensive mistakes a roofing contractor can make often happens before the project even reaches site. It happens during the handover. 

A project may have been estimated carefully, priced competitively and secured on acceptable terms. Still, if the information gathered during the tendering process is not transferred properly to the delivery team, much of that work is lost. The project manager starts reading the documents again, the site team asks questions the estimator has already answered, procurement discovers long-lead materials too late, access requirements are reviewed after the programme has been agreed and commercial qualifications are overlooked. 

The company effectively begins the project twice. The first time is during estimating, and the second time is after the contract is awarded. That duplication creates delay, confusion and unnecessary cost. More importantly, it increases the risk that the project will be delivered differently from the way it was priced. 

A proper handover is not an administrative meeting. It is the point where the business converts a successful tender into an executable project. 

The estimator holds more than the price 

The estimator is often the first person in the business to examine the project in detail. During the tendering process, the estimator reviews drawings, specifications, schedules, access conditions, material requirements, labour assumptions, exclusions, qualifications and commercial risks. They may speak with suppliers, subcontractors, manufacturers and members of the client’s team, and they may identify missing information, conflicting documents or areas where the roofing contractor has made a specific assumption. 

That knowledge has value, but much of it is often stored in the estimator’s memory, handwritten notes, emails or tender worksheets that are never fully explained to the delivery team. 

The project manager may receive the final estimate and contract documents without receiving the reasoning behind them. That creates a serious gap because a price tells the project manager what the company expects the work to cost, but it does not always explain why. 

It may not show that the labour allowance depended on a particular access route, that one material was priced as an alternative, that temporary protection was excluded or that the programme assumed continuous access to specific roof areas. Those details can determine whether the project succeeds financially. 

A good handover must therefore transfer both the numbers and the thinking behind the numbers. 

The cost of missing information appears gradually 

A poor handover rarely creates one immediate and obvious loss. Instead, the cost appears in smaller amounts throughout the project. 

A material order is delayed because no one realised approval was still required. An access platform is hired twice because the original plan was not communicated. Operatives arrive before the work area is ready. A delivery is refused because storage space was not coordinated in advance. The site manager discovers that the tender included fewer working visits than the client now expects. The team completes additional work but fails to record it as a variation. The estimator’s labour allowance is exceeded because the installation sequence has changed. 

Individually, these issues may appear manageable. Together, they consume margin. 

This is one reason roofing contractors sometimes complete a project and struggle to explain why the final profit is lower than expected. There may not have been one major failure. Instead, the project experienced dozens of small operational losses that began with incomplete information. 

The original estimate may have been accurate. The project may not have been delivered according to the estimate. 

Handover must happen early enough to matter 

Some companies hold a handover meeting only a few days before the site team is due to begin. By then, many important decisions have already been made. The programme may already be agreed; material selections may be expected; plant and access may need to be booked; subcontractors may need notice; and approvals may be required before manufacturing or delivery. A late handover becomes a review of what has already happened rather than an opportunity to shape the project. 

The handover should take place as soon as the contract is sufficiently secure and the delivery team can begin meaningful planning. That does not mean every detail must be resolved. It means the project manager must understand which details are complete, which remain outstanding and which could affect cost or programme. 

Early involvement also allows the project manager to challenge assumptions before they become commitments. Is the proposed labour level realistic? Can the roof areas be completed in the tendered sequence? Is the storage plan workable? Are the planned lifting arrangements suitable? Does the proposed programme reflect curing times, weather exposure and coordination with other trades? Have the client’s access restrictions been included? 

A strong handover creates time to answer these questions. A weak one leaves the site team to answer them under pressure. 

The contract and the estimate must be compared 

One of the most important parts of the handover is comparing the final contract requirements with the tender submission. 

Projects often change between the initial invitation to tender and contract award. Drawings are revised, specifications are updated, programmes are revised, clarifications are issued, tender qualifications are accepted or rejected and the final order may contain terms that were not included in the contractor’s original submission. 

The business should never assume that the awarded contract is identical to the tender. The handover must identify what changed. 

If the roofing contractor priced one insulation thickness but the final specification requires another, that difference matters. If the tender allowed for phased access but the contract programme expects multiple areas to be worked simultaneously, that matters. If the contractor excluded out-of-hours working but the final order includes weekend access, that matters. If a qualification has disappeared from the contract documents, that matters. 

The commercial team, estimator and project manager should understand these differences before procurement begins and before labour is committed. Otherwise, the company may start work under requirements it never properly priced. 

Procurement depends on a complete handover 

Roofing projects are particularly sensitive to procurement timing. Materials may require technical approval, colour selection, design calculations, fabrication or scheduled manufacturing. Insulation, metal components, rooflights, edge details and specialist accessories may all have different lead times. 

If those requirements are not identified during handover, the procurement team works reactively. 

Reactive procurement usually costs more. The company may pay additional carriage, accept less favourable purchasing terms or split orders that should have been coordinated. Materials may arrive out of sequence, creating additional handling and storage. The contractor may also be forced to use alternative products or installation methods to protect the programme. 

A strong handover should identify what needs to be ordered, who is responsible, what information is required before release and when each item must arrive. It should also separate standard materials from critical materials because not every item requires the same level of attention. 

The project manager needs to know which delayed component could stop the entire roofing programme. That item should be managed differently from materials that can be obtained locally with short notice. 

Labour planning begins with tender assumptions 

Labour is often the highest controllable cost on a roofing project, yet the delivery team may not receive a clear explanation of how the labour allowance was built. 

The estimate may assume a particular number of operatives, a planned output rate, standard working hours and uninterrupted access. The project manager may then develop a completely different approach by sending a larger team to site, changing the sequence, moving operatives between areas, adding supervision or introducing weekend working. 

None of these decisions is automatically wrong. The problem occurs when the business changes the delivery plan without understanding the cost assumptions behind the tender. 

The handover should explain how the estimator expected the work to be completed. How many labour hours were included? What productivity level was assumed? Did the estimate allow for material distribution? Was protection included? Were difficult details or restricted areas treated separately? Was supervision included in the labour rate, or was it carried elsewhere? 

The project manager can then decide whether the tendered plan is practical and make controlled adjustments where necessary. Without that discussion, labour overruns may begin before work starts. 

Variations are easier to manage when the baseline is clear 

A roofing contractor cannot manage variations properly unless the original scope is understood. 

When the site team does not know what was included in the tender, additional work can easily be absorbed into the project. The client may request a revised detail, the main contractor may change the sequence, existing conditions may require additional preparation, temporary protection may be extended, access may be restricted or a small area may need to be completed out of hours. 

The site team may recognise that the work is different, but if the original scope was never explained, they may not know whether it represents a variation. 

A proper handover establishes the baseline. It explains what the contractor priced, what was excluded, what was assumed and what information was relied upon. That gives the project manager and site team a clearer basis for identifying change.  It also improves the quality of records. Instead of reporting that the project was more difficult than expected, the team can document exactly what changed and how it affected labour, materials, plant or programme. 

That is essential for protecting entitlement and recovering additional cost. 

The handover should create ownership 

A project handover should not become an estimator reading through a checklist while everyone else listens. The delivery team must participate. 

The project manager should question the programme, procurement plan and labour assumptions. The site manager should raise concerns about access, storage, sequencing and temporary works. The commercial team should explain contract risks, notice requirements and valuation procedures. Procurement should identify lead times and approval requirements, while health and safety responsibilities should be understood before mobilisation. 

By the end of the meeting, responsibilities should be clear. Someone should own the outstanding information, material approvals, access arrangements, programme, design responsibilities, contract review and long-lead items. A handover that produces no actions, owners or deadlines is only a conversation. A good handover creates a controlled transition. 

Standardisation improves the process 

Every project is different, but the handover process should not be invented each time. 

A standard handover structure helps the business review the same critical areas on every project. That structure might include the tender summary, scope of works, exclusions, qualifications, contract review, programme, procurement, labour, access, plant, design, health and safety, quality requirements, commercial procedures and outstanding information. 

The purpose is not to create paperwork for its own sake. The purpose is to reduce reliance on memory. Experienced people may believe they already know what to discuss, and they probably do. The value of a standard process is that it makes that knowledge available to everyone else. 

It also creates consistency as the business grows. A project managed by one person should not receive a detailed handover while another begins with little more than a forwarded email. The company should establish one operating standard. 

A strong start protects the entire project 

A poor handover places the project team in a reactive position from the beginning. They spend the early stages searching for information, correcting assumptions and resolving issues that should already be understood. 

A strong handover gives them a different starting point. They know how the project was priced, they understand the contractual requirements, they can identify procurement priorities, they can plan labour and access more accurately, they know what remains outstanding and they have a clear basis for recognising variations. 

Most importantly, they begin with shared expectations. The hidden cost of a poor project handover is not the time spent in one ineffective meeting. It is the cost of every avoidable problem that follows. 

Roofing contractors work hard to secure profitable projects. The handover is where they begin protecting that profit. 

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About the author 

John Kenney has more than 45 years of experience in the roofing industry. His career has included every level of roofing operations, from field installation and estimating through executive leadership. He is CEO of Cotney Consulting Group, a partner member of the International Federation for the Roofing Trades and earned the MIoR designation from the former Institute of Roofing in the United Kingdom. He works with roofing contractors to improve estimating, project management, operational performance, leadership and profitability.