Anyone who has spent years on construction projects knows the moment. A claim is being prepared, a final account is being argued, or the owner asks why the project is late. Everyone remembers what happened. Nobody can find the record that proves it.
The instruction was given on site and never confirmed in writing. The photo is on a phone that has since been replaced. The letter was sent, but the reply date was missed. The variation was carried out, but it was never priced. None of this is unusual. On most projects it is normal.
Quanto Management grew out of more than twenty years on construction projects in the UAE, on the contractor's side, as consultant and as the owner's representative, watching good work lose its value because the records behind it were scattered.
The idea itself is not new to us. The first project management software behind it was written in 2002: a BOQ and cost estimate at tender stage, then daily follow-up of the project, progress and delays, meetings, variations, liquidated damages and a document archive. Quanto Management is that idea, built again for the way projects are run today.
The problem was never effort
Site teams work hard. Quantity surveyors work late. Project managers answer calls at midnight. The problem is not effort. The problem is that every party keeps its own version of the project:
- the contractor in spreadsheets, email folders and WhatsApp groups;
- the consultant in its own registers and letters;
- the owner in reports that arrive once a month, already out of date.
When three parties keep three versions, every disagreement starts with an argument about the facts before anyone gets to the merits.
What we wanted instead
We wanted one record per project, shared by the people who run it, where each party sees what it should see and nothing else. The owner, the consultant and the contractor work on the same project, and subcontractors join for their own part. Contractor-only information, such as orders, costs and margins, stays with the contractor.
We also wanted the system to follow the contract, not a generic task list. When you set up a project in Quanto, you choose the form of contract (FIDIC, NEC, JCT, VOB/B or your own) and every period and time bar is counted on the project's calendar. A deadline is not something to remember; it is something the system shows you before it is too late.
The principles behind it
- Records are made by the work itself. When a letter is issued, an inspection requested or a payment certified, the project log records it automatically. Nobody has to keep a separate diary of what the system already knows.
- Nothing is silently deleted. Every change is logged with who and when. That is what makes a record worth trusting in a dispute.
- Money and time are linked to their evidence. A variation carries its instruction, its pricing and its approval trail. A claim carries its events, photos and letters.
- Arabic and English on every screen. Each user works in their own language on the same record.
- It works on site. Quanto runs in the browser on phones and tablets, so photos and events are recorded where they happen.
Who it is for
Quanto Management is for mid-size and large companies that run construction projects: contractors, consultants acting as the Engineer, and owners or developers. It works for buildings and for other types of construction projects.
What this blog is about
Over the next days we will go through what a shared project record changes in practice: saving time, saving money, saving effort, working together, never missing a deadline, controlling cost and keeping site records that hold up. After that, we will write about real problems on site and how they are handled, one problem at a time.
If you would rather see it than read about it, the live demo is open with sample data, and no registration is needed.
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