Geotech, groundwater and neighbours: the three surveys that save more money than any value-engineering exercise.

What the field taught us

Every project starts with assumptions. The good ones survive contact with the site; the rest become change orders. Over three decades we have learned to test those assumptions early, with the people who will actually do the work, rather than in a meeting room six months later.

The practical takeaway

Write the method statement with the foreman, not for the foreman. Measure twice, pour once, and publish the results — good or bad — so the next crew starts a little further ahead.