Photo: "London Waste Ecopark" by Ibn Musa, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
Project overview
NNODI Group’s Managing Director provided cost and commercial management services to the North London Waste Authority through a long-term secondment from Rider Levett Bucknall. The commission formed part of the North London Heat and Power Project, a major waste-management and infrastructure programme delivered on behalf of seven north London boroughs.
The programme is intended to provide modern facilities for the collection, management, treatment and disposal of waste generated by more than two million London residents, while supporting safer and more environmentally responsible waste management.
Key work packages
- Northern Area Clearance
- Western Road Utilities Corridor
- DNO main services
- Minor Civils Framework
- Demolition and decommissioning of the existing energy-from-waste facility
- Supporting infrastructure, enabling works and utility diversions
The challenge
The programme involved the coordinated delivery of multiple enabling, demolition, utility and civil-engineering work packages within a complex operational environment, all of which had to integrate with the wider programme while maintaining access, operational continuity and coordination between contractors, consultants, operators and statutory stakeholders. Key commercial challenges included:
- Developing reliable pre-tender estimates for evolving and technically complex scopes
- Coordinating procurement across multiple interdependent work packages
- Managing interfaces between demolition, utilities, highways, civil engineering and future construction
- Maintaining cost control while design information and site conditions continued to develop
- Assessing the commercial effect of changes, constraints and unforeseen conditions
- Providing clear commercial advice to support timely client decisions
The role
Acting as Commercial Manager and Quantity Surveyor, NNODI Group’s Managing Director provided client-side cost and commercial management across several critical workstreams, covering the full commercial lifecycle from early cost planning and procurement through to contract administration, change control, forecasting and account management. Responsibilities included:
- Preparing and reviewing cost plans, estimates and pre-tender budgets
- Developing procurement strategies for civil engineering, demolition and utility works
- Preparing tender documentation and supporting evaluations, clarifications and commercial recommendations
- Advising on appropriate forms of contract and procurement routes
- Assessing compensation events, variations and changes in scope under NEC contracts
- Monitoring commitments, expenditure, risk allowances and forecast final costs
- Supporting monthly cost reporting and programme-level financial governance
- Providing commercial input into the Stage 1 report for the demolition and decommissioning of the existing energy-from-waste facility
Commercial approach
Detailed cost estimates and pre-tender estimates were developed to establish appropriate budgets before contractual commitments were made, taking account of scope maturity, design development, construction methodology, site constraints, programme requirements, market conditions, utility and operational interfaces and risk allowances.
Commercial support covered tender documentation, pricing structures and procurement strategies across multiple work packages, using framework procurement and competitive tendering. Submissions were reviewed for price, scope compliance, qualifications, exclusions, programme implications, risk allocation and value for money, supporting transparent and defensible contractor-selection decisions.
A structured change-control approach was applied to compensation events, instructions, scope development and unforeseen conditions, with each potential change reviewed for contractual entitlement, causation, cost impact, programme implications and effect on forecast final cost. Regular cost reports gave the client visibility of approved budgets, awarded contracts, committed expenditure, pending procurement, assessed changes, commercial risks, contingency requirements and forecast outturn costs, alongside value-engineering reviews and commercial risk assessment throughout procurement and delivery.
Value delivered
- Robust pre-tender budgets established for complex infrastructure work packages
- Improved quality and consistency of procurement documentation
- Competitive and transparent tendering processes
- Greater visibility of commitments, risks and forecast costs
- Stronger assessment and management of compensation events
- Earlier identification of emerging commercial risks and a clearer commercial audit trail supporting client decisions
The secondment concluded in January 2026 after more than three and a half years of commercial support. The experience demonstrates the ability of NNODI Group’s leadership to operate within major, multidisciplinary infrastructure programmes and provide effective client-side commercial management from procurement through delivery.