- Match the engagement to the decisions that are actually resolved.
- Compare responsibilities and price rules, not only the name of a delivery method.
- Ask what happens when scope, timing or assumptions change.
Begin with design maturity
Before discussing a contract structure, describe what is known. Is there a ranked brief, a tested site concept, coordinated drawings, a specification and an approvals strategy? List the decisions still open and who has authority to make them.
Early uncertainty is useful information. It tells you what investigation or design work should come next. Ask the team what they need to turn an assumption into a documented scope and what each additional commitment will buy you.
Understand the different conversations
Capex Construction’s service descriptions distinguish early technical advice, construction management and a lump-sum approach around scope definition and flexibility. These are useful prompts for comparing engagements; its services and capabilities belong to Capex.
In an early advisory engagement, ask what will be delivered: a feasibility memo, cost-plan assumptions, coordination review, sequencing study or another defined output. Clarify the fee, evidence to be gathered and the decision that follows. An initial conversation and a commissioned study are different commitments.
Ask how responsibilities and costs work
For a management-style engagement, ask who contracts with trades, who holds the construction contracts, how procurement is documented and how fees are calculated. Request a clear explanation of reporting, approvals, records and responsibility for changes.
For a defined-scope price, ask which drawings and specifications establish the scope, what allowances and exclusions remain, and how proposed changes are priced. A fixed figure does not answer every question about quantities, concealed conditions or work outside the agreement.
Test the delivery arrangement against your priorities
If you need room to refine the design, ask how decisions can evolve and what that means for price and programme. If you are preparing a coordinated pricing package, ask whether unresolved choices could undermine a comparison between proposals.
Where occupation, access or completion sequencing matters, discuss the actual dependencies. Do not assume a delivery label guarantees a date, a total project cost or an approval. Ask the people responsible to explain those commitments in the context of the proposed agreement.
Create a one-page engagement brief
Record the project outcome, design status, site information, open approvals questions, cost-plan status, decision-makers and desired deliverables. Then list who leads design, who coordinates consultants, who procures work and who supervises construction.
Bring this brief to the engagement discussion and have your advisers review the proposed terms. Confirm which arrangements Modstone can offer for your scope. This comparison is educational; it does not establish that a particular contracting model is available for every project.
A better first conversation.
- What work do we need before we can define the construction scope?
- Who holds each contract and who authorizes commitments?
- How are fees, allowances, changes and reporting handled?
- Which deliverables will let us decide whether to proceed?
References & further reading
Source pages checked 21 October 2026. Requirements may change; confirm the rules for your property and scope.
Use these guides to prepare your questions. Confirm property-specific requirements, scope and pricing with your project team.