Audit · Independent review
Technical due diligence and project audit
Before you buy a building, fund a project or take over a stalled site, someone independent should establish what is actually there — as built, not as drawn.
When due diligence is needed
Acquisition of a completed or part-built asset. Investment or lending against a project under construction. Taking over a site from a contractor who has left. Board or promoter review where reported progress and site reality appear to have diverged.
In each case the requirement is the same: an independent technical view of what exists, what condition it is in, what remains to be spent and what liabilities come attached.
What we assess
- As-built condition survey against approved drawings
- Structural adequacy and proof-checking of design
- MEP systems condition and remaining service life
- Statutory approval status and compliance gaps
- Programme status: real percentage complete against reported
- Cost-to-complete assessment
- Quality defects, snags and remedial cost
- Environmental compliance where applicable
Percentage complete, honestly
Reported progress on a troubled project is almost always ahead of actual progress, and rarely through deliberate misstatement — it is easier to record an activity as started than to measure how much of it is done. The gap widens quietly.
We measure completion from the works themselves, priced against the bill of quantities, and report cost-to-complete on that basis rather than on the balance remaining in the contract.
Environmental and statutory review
Our environmental team includes a QCI-NABET accredited EIA expert, allowing us to assess environmental clearance status, monitoring obligations and pollution control compliance as part of the same exercise rather than as a separate appointment.
What the audit covers
A technical due diligence is a position statement, not an inspection report. It answers what the asset or the project is actually worth to the party acquiring or funding it: what has been built against what was approved, what remains to complete, what that will cost, and what liabilities transfer with it.
That means reading the approvals and the contract alongside the physical condition. A building in good condition with an unresolved statutory position is a worse acquisition than a building with defects and clean paperwork, because one is a cost and the other is an obstacle you may not be able to remove.
Common questions
Questions we are asked about this.
How long does a technical due diligence take?
For a single completed building, typically two to three weeks from site access to report. Part-built or multi-block projects take longer, largely because establishing genuine percentage complete requires measurement rather than inspection.
Do you provide a cost-to-complete figure?
Yes. It is usually the number clients most need, and we build it from measured remaining works priced at current rates, not from the unspent contract balance.
Can you review a project for a lender rather than an owner?
Yes. Lender-side monitoring — periodic independent verification of progress and expenditure before each drawdown — is a standard scope for us.
How long does a due diligence take?
Two to four weeks for a single asset, driven by how quickly documentation is made available rather than by the site work. Where the seller's records are incomplete, that is itself a finding.
Do you cover statutory and approval compliance?
Yes. Building permits, occupancy certification, fire and local authority approvals and their current status are part of the scope, because an unresolved approval is usually the finding with the largest consequence.