DRS Mechanical Case Study: Scaling Cash Flow Control with BuildQS

DRS Mechanical is a fast-growing mechanical installation contractor based in Manchester, operating across Yorkshire and the North West. To raise the standard of delivery, DRS prioritises modern technology alongside its proven mechanical expertise, and uses BuildQS to streamline its applications for payment and improve financial visibility.

Daitan Jackson, Managing Director at DRS Mechanical, was impressed from the outset. "I was very impressed when I saw BuildQS for the first time," he says. "Importantly, BuildQS brings much-needed visibility to my cash flow."

Centralising project information

BuildQS gives DRS the tools to manage and track onsite progress against the original valuation of a project, while site teams add details of any variations as they arise. That means information is always centrally available, a significant improvement on the spreadsheets DRS used to rely on.

Quantity surveyors at DRS move between offices and site, so a project spreadsheet could sit on someone's desktop for a month without the wider team having visibility of it. With everyone working in BuildQS, Daitan no longer worries whether he has the most up-to-date information. "With BuildQS, the visibility is there," he says.

Empowering site teams to create applications for payment

Previously, a DRS quantity surveyor created every application for payment because they are trained in the commercial management and associated calculations. BuildQS enables people who are trained in construction, but not in commercial management, to produce the same outcome a quantity surveyor would, with applications that tick all the compliance boxes.

Instead of waiting for month end to update the quantity surveyor, site managers now log progress and variations immediately as they happen. When it is time to apply for payment, BuildQS supports the site team to create the application themselves. As Daitan explains, the admin of applying for money is all based on progress, and that progress information comes from the site team.

Freeing quantity surveyors to scale with the same team

By moving the application work to site teams, DRS frees up time for its quantity surveyors so they can manage more projects. For the surveyors, it is one less conversation and one less meeting, letting them focus their time where it is needed most.

"Quantity surveyors are highly trained, high-value people," says Daitan. "Now, with BuildQS they can do more. We can get more projects. BuildQS gives us the ability to scale with the same team."

An immediate return on investment

DRS estimates that BuildQS saves at least two to three hours per month per project by enabling site teams to record updates and create applications for payment, removing admin from the quantity surveyors. "If I save one hour of my quantity surveyor's time in a month, I'm getting my money back," says Daitan. "But the reality is we're saving a lot more than an hour per month."

With eight to ten projects typically running in parallel, DRS estimates total savings of 16 to 30 hours each month, which it values at around £800 per month, a minimum of roughly 16 times its investment. As Daitan notes, the bigger benefit is what that reclaimed time is used for: the time saved by avoiding admin can now be spent managing project risks and opportunities, which is what supports the business financially.

A more proactive approach to risk and cash flow

A mid-project change of design can be a risk or an opportunity. Managed badly, it costs money instead of adding value, but talking about it early enough can mitigate it. With more time freed up, DRS can manage these changes proactively, which also helps clients make the case for design changes and get paid for them.

Predictable cash flow visibility is critical to business survival in construction, where every project requires investment and jobs can run for two years. The real-time information and predictive cash flow metrics in BuildQS give DRS greater certainty when making decisions, and remove the need to maintain a separate, constantly changing cash flow spreadsheet.

Tight integration with Xero

One of the key benefits for DRS is the tight integration between BuildQS and its existing Xero accounting software. "The acute connectivity to Xero is tighter than other solutions," says Daitan. "We don't need to go into Xero and edit against the contracts. BuildQS is completely streamlined and connected to the job."

That connection gives DRS clearer visibility of the costs through the month versus the value going in. In construction, Daitan stresses, a business that does not manage its cash flow tightly can fail even when the work is going really well.

Faster, more focused leadership meetings

DRS's monthly meetings used to be spent working through spreadsheets to surface application values, invoice values and costs for the month. Now that information is visible in BuildQS before the meeting and at any time throughout the month, so the team can use the time to be far more proactive.

With six people in four-hour meetings, all on substantial salaries, halving that meeting time is a substantial saving on its own. More valuable still is what the regained time delivers. "If the team saves time, that time can be spent winning a job," says Daitan. "That job could be worth £1.5m to the business. And with BuildQS we have the capacity to take it on, plus the ability to control the cash flow, risk and opportunities effectively."

The confidence to grow

As a subcontractor, DRS would historically hit a ceiling on the revenue and number of projects it could run. The clean visibility BuildQS provides has changed that. "BuildQS really enables us to take on as many projects as we can win," says Daitan. "We can centralise the process to head office and nationalise the business with confidence."

DRS Mechanical is now opening a new location in Leeds. "We have the confidence to double the size of the revenue without doubling the size of the team," Daitan says.

Easy to adopt, recommended for contractors

DRS has already started to restructure its team around BuildQS, and Daitan reports it is easy to pick up: if you have used a spreadsheet before, you can use BuildQS. In one training session he set up a £1.3m job in about ten minutes. Unlike client-led systems where DRS had to duplicate data into its own spreadsheets, BuildQS keeps the contractor in control of the information.

Daitan sees the value of BuildQS for all contractors and subcontractors. "Construction is becoming slowly digitalised. Everyone will be going this route because it makes sense," he says. "BuildQS gives us more capacity and more control. Everyone can grow a business out of control and fail, but having control really improves profit. With BuildQS, we can control our growth."

About DRS Mechanical

DRS Mechanical is a fast-growing mechanical installation contractor headquartered in Manchester, operating across Yorkshire and the North West. Its expert team delivers specialist plumbing, heating and ventilation systems, especially in tall buildings, combining proven mechanical expertise with modern technology to raise the standard of delivery.

See more: https://www.drsmechanical.com/