BRCKS for commercial fit-out and MEP contractors

Built for fit-out problems

• Six trades, six WhatsApp groups — decisions made and forgotten the same afternoon.
• Variations agreed verbally become £12k arguments at final account.
• Site diary written at 9pm from memory, full of gaps.

What you get

• WhatsApp capture into a structured project record
• Automatic site diary
• Variations with e-signature
• RFIs with deadline chasing
• Client portal
• 360° site tours

Example

"Holborn fit-out — client wants the partition moved 600mm east in meeting room 2." BRCKS logs the variation, drafts the VO, sends it to the QS and client for sign-off, and raises the RFI with the M&E consultant — all from one WhatsApp thread.

Coordinating six trades without six group chats

Fit-out programmes fail in the handover between trades: partitions not ready for the electrician, ceiling grid closed before the M&E first fix is signed off, a fire-stopping detail nobody chased. BRCKS gives every trade the same WhatsApp number and files what they send against the right floor, room and plot, so the PM sees one ordered feed instead of six unread badges. Ask BRCKS "what's outstanding on Holborn?" and get the list rather than a scroll.

Evidence for the final account

On a £500k fit-out, the difference between a 4% and a 12% margin is usually variations that were built but never priced. BRCKS holds every change as an unpriced variation until someone costs it, then routes it to the client for dated written approval. Combined with the automatic site diary — labour, weather, deliveries, delays — you arrive at final account with a schedule instead of an argument.

Handover and defects

Snags found on the QS walk are captured with photos from WhatsApp, assigned to the responsible trade, and closed with proof-of-fix images. The exported PDF is the handover pack. Retentions get released faster because the record shows exactly when each defect was raised, who fixed it and when it was signed off. See the snagging app.

A week on a fit-out, in BRCKS

Monday: the site manager photographs the partition line and asks whether the door swing has changed. That becomes an RFI against the consultant with a deadline. Tuesday: the client asks on site for the meeting room to be reconfigured — the message is captured as an unpriced variation before anyone starts moving studs. Wednesday: first fix M&E is signed off in photographs before the ceiling grid closes. Thursday: the QS walks the floor and raises eleven snags from photos, each one routed to the right trade. Friday: the diary for the week already exists, and the client portal shows progress without a single email.

None of that required anybody to open a new app. The site team sent the same messages they always send; the structure came from BRCKS.

Programme pressure and access

Fit-out programmes are short and access-dependent — building management windows, lift bookings, out-of-hours working, other tenants. Delays that cost money are almost always access or predecessor delays, and they are also the ones hardest to prove later. Because the diary records who attended, what was ready and what stopped work, a delay claim or an extension of time request is supported by contemporaneous notes rather than a reconstruction.

What it means for the QS

The commercial team gets a live variation register instead of a shoebox of chat screenshots, a labour record they did not have to request, and a snag close-out position per floor. That shortens the gap between practical completion and getting paid, which on a fit-out is usually where the margin actually goes missing.

Getting started on your next fit-out

Most fit-out contractors start on one floor of one live job rather than migrating a whole portfolio, and judge it on the record they get after a fortnight. Set up takes an afternoon: create the project, add floors and rooms in bulk, and point the site WhatsApp at your BRCKS number. Subcontractors and clients cost nothing, so put everyone on it from day one. See pricing, watch the demo, read the case studies or talk to us.