Addendum
A change to the tender documents issued during the tender period, often days before close. ARK traces every addendum to the packages and estimate lines it touches.
Glossary
The terms a project runs on.
The words you use daily on a job. Here is what each one means, in plain language.
A
AECO
Architecture, engineering, construction and operations. The four groups that design, build and run the built world, and the industry ARK is built for.
Allowance
A sum carried in the estimate for work not yet fully defined. Also called a provisional sum.
As-built
A drawing or model showing what was actually built, as opposed to what was designed. ARK checks as-builts against the specifications and the asset before handover.
Asset register
The owner's list of every piece of equipment in the building: make, model, serial, location and warranty. Often required in COBie format. ARK builds it from approved submittals and startup records as scopes complete.
B
Ball-in-court
Whose turn it is to act on an open RFI or submittal. ARK names it for every open item.
Benchmark
A reference rate taken from comparable past projects. ARK benchmarks estimate rates from your own closed jobs.
Bid set
See tender set.
BIM
Building information modelling. A 3D model of the building carrying data about every element, used for coordination and handover.
Buyout
Placing the subcontracts after winning the job. The savings or losses made here decide much of the final margin. ARK tracks buyout against budget weekly.
C
CDE
Common data environment. The system where project documents live, such as Autodesk Construction Cloud, Aconex or Procore. ARK reads the CDE in place.
Certificate
A test or approval document for one specific product model. ARK checks that the certificate covers the exact model submitted.
Certificate for payment
The contract administrator's assessment of a pay application, stating what will be paid. Also called a payment certificate or progress certificate.
Certificate of insurance
Proof that an insurance policy is in force. Also called a certificate of currency. ARK checks parties, wording, limits and dates on receipt.
Change order
A change to the contracted scope, priced and approved. Also called a variation or, under NEC, a compensation event. ARK finds the change orders your correspondence has already created.
Claim
A formal request for more time or money under the contract. Most claims fail on notice and records, not on merit. ARK tests every claim against the notice rules before it is sent.
COBie
A standard format for handing over asset data to the owner.
Commissioning
Testing that the building's systems work as designed before handover. ARK checks that every prerequisite has signed evidence before a test is booked.
Compensation event
See change order.
Construction manager at risk
A contractor engaged early to manage the build and carry the cost risk. A lead contractor role.
Contract administrator
The person the owner appoints to run the contract: certifying payments, assessing claims and issuing instructions. See also owner's representative and superintendent.
Cost code
A budget category on the job, such as concrete or roofing. ARK compares bought against budget by cost code.
D
Daily diary
The site's record of each day: people, plant, work done, weather and delays. The evidence most claims depend on. ARK chases gaps in the diary while people still remember.
Dayworks
Work paid by time and materials rather than a fixed price, recorded on a signed ticket.
E
Employer
See owner.
ERP
The company's accounting and job cost system. ARK reads it in place.
Estimate
The detailed working behind the price, line by line. ARK checks it for unpriced, doubled and mistyped lines before the bid.
Exclusion
Something a quote explicitly does not cover. ARK captures exclusions word for word so a low quote is not carried as a saving.
Execution version
The final copy of the contract that gets signed. ARK compares it with the last version you reviewed and marks every change as agreed or new.
Extension of time
More time to finish the job without penalty, granted under the contract when a delay is not the contractor's fault.
F
Final account
The agreed final contract price at the end of the job, after every change order and adjustment. ARK tests every adjustment against the contract's approval rules before the final account is agreed.
Forecast
The monthly prediction of final cost and margin on a job. ARK shows the month a forecast first moved and the event that moved it.
Functional test
A witnessed test of a building system under real operating conditions, part of commissioning.
G
General contractor
The company holding the main contract with the owner and managing all the trades. Also called the main contractor or head contractor. The lead contractor ARK is built for.
H
Head contractor
See general contractor.
Hold point
A check where work cannot continue until a named inspector signs. Miss one and a slab is poured over uninspected steel. ARK alerts before work is covered without its hold point released.
I
Inspection and test plan
The list of checks each stage of work must pass, including hold points and witness points. Often shortened to ITP.
Interim application
See pay application.
ISO 19650
The international standard for managing information on a built asset across its life, including naming, status codes and information requirements. ARK checks the record against it on demand.
L
Lead contractor
The contractor who holds the main contract and carries the margin: a general contractor, main contractor, head contractor or construction manager at risk.
Liquidated damages
A fixed daily amount the owner deducts if the job finishes late. The LD cap is the most the owner can deduct in total.
Look-ahead
The next three weeks of the work plan. ARK reads it to find every pour, lining and close-up before it happens.
M
Main contractor
See general contractor.
Margin
The profit left after all costs. Margin is decided at tender and lost between systems.
Margin bridge
A step-by-step explanation, backed by records, of how margin moved from the bid figure to the final figure. ARK builds it as the job runs.
N
NCR
Non-conformance report. A record that work or a product failed its requirement. ARK ages every open NCR against your rule.
Notice
The formal written warning the contract requires, within a time limit, before a claim can be made. Most claims are lost here. ARK watches every notice deadline.
O
O&M manual
The operation and maintenance manual: how to run and look after the building's systems. ARK reads each one for content, not just receipt.
Owner
The client who commissions and pays for the building. Also called the employer or the principal.
Owner's representative
The person the owner appoints to administer the contract. See contract administrator.
P
Pay application
The contractor's monthly invoice for work done, assessed by the contract administrator. Also called an interim application or a progress claim.
Playbook
The firm's standard positions on contract terms, with fallbacks. ARK grades every clause in a draft contract against it.
Practical completion
See substantial completion.
Principal
See owner.
Progress claim
See pay application.
Project intelligence platform
Software that reads the whole project record across your systems, checks it against the contract and the specification, and warns you when something changes, with every answer cited to its source. ARK is the Project Intelligence Platform for AECO.
Project record
Everything written down on a project: drawings, specifications, models, contracts, RFIs, submittals, correspondence, inspection records and job cost data. ARK reads it as one record.
Provisional sum
See allowance.
Q
Quote leveling
Adjusting subcontractor quotes so they cover the same scope before comparing them. ARK names what a low quote left out.
R
Retention
Money held back from each payment as security until the work is complete.
Revision
A new version of a drawing or document, such as rev C or rev D. ARK pairs every revision with the one it replaces and states what changed.
RFI
Request for information. A formal question from the contractor to the design team. ARK answers RFIs from the current record and flags answers that quietly add scope.
S
Schedule
The plan of when each activity happens on the job. Also called the programme. ARK links every change to the activities it moves.
Scope sheet
The list of what a trade package includes and excludes. ARK marks boundary items on both scope sheets so nothing falls between two trades.
Site manager
The contractor's person running the site day to day. See also superintendent.
Specification
The written rules for materials and workmanship on the job. ARK checks every submittal against the specification revision that governs today.
Statutory declaration
A sworn statement that workers and subcontractors have been paid. A lien waiver serves the same purpose.
Subcontractor
A specialist company engaged by the lead contractor for one trade package.
Submittal
A supplier's proof that a product meets the specification: data sheets, drawings, certificates. ARK reviews each one clause by clause against the current revision.
Substantial completion
The point where the building can be used and the defects period starts. Also called practical completion.
Superintendent
Two meanings, and they clash. In some markets, the contractor's own site manager. In others, the owner's contract administrator who certifies payments and assesses claims. Check which the contract means.
Superseded
Replaced by a newer revision. Work built to a superseded drawing is the most expensive everyday mistake on a job. ARK warns when anyone cites an old revision.
T
TAB
Testing, adjusting and balancing: setting air and water flows in the building's systems to their design values before handover.
Takeoff
The quantities measured from the drawings to build the estimate.
Tender
The contractor's formal price offer for a job. Also called a bid.
Tender set
The drawings, specifications and forms issued for pricing. Also called the bid set. ARK registers every sheet and section and checks the set against its index.
Tolerance
The allowed margin either side of a target value in a test result. Within tolerance is a pass.
Trade package
The scope of work given to one subcontractor. ARK assigns every specification section to exactly one package.
V
Variation
See change order.
W
Witness point
An inspection the inspector must be invited to attend, but work may continue if they do not. See also hold point.
Working days
The days the contract counts for deadlines, excluding weekends and holidays. ARK ages every open RFI and submittal in working days.
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