Framing the project
Brief, site constraints, feasibility study, target budget and master programme. The framework is set before the first line is drawn.
Client-side advisory — Geneva
Client-side advisory (AMO)
You are a private owner, a developer, a managing agent or an institution, and you are embarking on a construction or renovation project. You have neither the time nor the trade to arbitrate every technical question, check every invoice and deal with the contractors. That is the role of the client-side adviser: a building professional who represents and supports you.
Definition
What is a client-side advisory appointment?
The building owner is the person who commissions and pays for the works. Facing them, the consultants — architect, engineers — and the contractors each have their own objectives and constraints. Client-side advisory, known in French as assistance à maîtrise d’ouvrage (AMO), consists in representing your interests throughout the project: framing the brief, setting the budget, arbitrating choices, checking what is committed and invoiced, and taking over the completed works.
The client-side adviser replaces neither the architect, who designs the project and files the building permit, nor the construction manager, who runs the execution. He gives you the means to decide with full knowledge of the facts. At BRAMAH Construction, the advisory appointment can be combined with construction management or carried out on its own, as an independent check on the existing set-up.
Scope
What our client-side advisory covers
The scope is agreed with you before the appointment begins: a single phase, or the whole project from the first idea to the end of the warranty period.
Selecting and monitoring the consultants
Consulting architects and engineering firms, analysing fee proposals, checking the services actually delivered at each phase.
Arbitration and sign-off
Every technical or financial choice is put to you with its consequences on cost, time and quality. You decide; we prepare the decision.
Financial control
Checking contractors’ interim applications and invoices, tracking variations, regular cost report: committed, invoiced, still to commit.
Handover and warranties
Taking over the works with a schedule of defects, follow-up until every one is cleared, reminders of warranty deadlines.
Taking over a project in difficulty
A condition report of what has been built, committed and paid, drawn up with all parties present, then a recovery plan.
Who it is for
A client-side adviser for every type of building owner
Private owners
You build or renovate once in your life, facing professionals who do this every day. The adviser redresses that imbalance: he explains the technical issues, checks and arbitrates, and puts you in a position to decide.
Managing agents and institutional owners
Works in occupied buildings, phasing around tenants, reporting to a board or a committee: you expect written, regular and verifiable reporting.
Developers and investors
Construction cost and completion date determine your return. Both are tracked continuously, and any drift is reported as soon as it begins.
Architects and engineers
We do not compete with your design. We make sure it is built as intended, and we take the day-to-day site coordination off your hands when you wish.
Frequently asked
Client-side advisory: your questions
When should a client-side adviser be appointed?
From the very first idea of the project, before the architect is chosen: that is when the brief and the budget are decided, and when arbitration costs the least. An appointment can nonetheless start at any phase, including while the site is already under way.