Commercial certainty on firm ground.

Estimating, quantity surveying and commercial management for transport, water, energy and digital infrastructure. Chartered expertise from tender price to final account.

Estimating support when you need it.

First principles tender estimates, cost plans and cashflow forecasts for transport, water, energy and digital infrastructure. We estimate in RIB Candy, RIB Unify, Expert Estimation and Benchmark, and measure in Bluebeam and PlanSwift, with support available at short notice.

Explore estimating services
  • Overflow estimating

    Extra estimating capacity during tender peaks, working in your system and to your bid standards.

  • Full tender estimates

    Tenders priced end to end, from documents to submission.

  • Estimate reviews

    A review before submission, or an independent check of an estimate you need to rely on.

Services

Six services. One commercial function.

From the first estimate to the final account. Engage a single service for a specific need, or combine them for complete commercial support across the contract lifecycle.

01Estimating, Cost Planning and Cashflow

First principles estimates, cost plans and cashflow forecasts you can make decisions on.

  • Tender estimates across transport, water, energy and digital infrastructure
  • Cost planning and cashflow forecasting
  • Estimate reviews and independent estimate reviews
Explore Estimating, Cost Planning and Cashflow

02Quantity Surveying

Accurate measurement and valuation from tender to final account.

  • Bill of quantities
  • Interim valuations and payment assessments
  • Settlement of final accounts
Explore Quantity Surveying

03Commercial Management

Protecting margin and position across the contract lifecycle.

  • Contract negotiation and repricing of long running contracts
  • Variations, claims and extensions of time
  • Dispute avoidance and resolution
Explore Commercial Management

04Cost Control

Systems that show where the money is going, in real time.

  • Work breakdown structures and cost code libraries
  • Digital site diaries linked to live cost reporting
  • Monthly cost reports with forecasts and variances
Explore Cost Control

05Contract Administration

Day to day management of the contract and its obligations.

  • Notices, progress claims and correspondence
  • Compliance with obligations, deliverables and time bars
  • Variations and change control
Explore Contract Administration

06Procurement and Governance

Supply chain and commercial frameworks that keep projects controlled and accountable.

  • Subcontract tendering, quote review and levelling
  • Supplier and subcontractor management platforms, such as Felix, from setup to rollout
  • Commercial setup, reporting structures and approval delegations
Explore Procurement and Governance

Faster, checked, connected.

Modern tools let us turn work around quickly and check it more thoroughly, with every output reviewed and signed off by a chartered professional.

Estimate checking

Systematic checks for errors, omissions and inconsistencies before an estimate is submitted or relied on.

Productivity library

A structured library of productivity rates for fast, benchmarked high level estimates and checks.

Time and cost linked

Resource histograms and cashflow forecasts generated from the programme and the estimate together.

Live dashboards

Cost and performance data connected from your systems into real time reporting.

Live dashboards

Sample project · week 14

Work hours performance

Illustrative example with sample data
Hours used4,820
Earned hours5,140
Variance+320 hrs
Productivity factor1.07
0 9,600 4,820 hrs used Target 5,140 · Budget 9,600

This week, earned against used hours

Retaining walls, formwork
Earned62Used55
+7
Bridge deck, reinforcement
Earned48Used52
−4
Culvert headwalls
Earned36Used30
+6
Pile caps, concrete
Earned28Used31
−3
Pavement slab
Earned40Used34
+6
Crew hours gained this week +12

Time and cost linked

Start Completion
Resource histogram Cumulative cost (S curve)

Resources and cashflow generated from the programme and estimate together.

We use AI tools to check work and connect data, never to replace professional judgement. We follow the RICS standard on the responsible use of AI.

Our experience

Our people bring 50+ years of combined commercial experience gained with tier 1 contractors and joint ventures across Australia and the United Kingdom, on every major form of infrastructure contract and across transport, water, energy and digital infrastructure.

Public Private Partnerships (PPP)

  • Estimating and commercial strategy on major transport PPP tenders
  • Lifecycle, construction and operational cost modelling
  • Estimate reviews and pricing risk assessment

Operate and Maintain (O&M) Contracts

  • Pricing and commercial management of long term asset maintenance contracts
  • Renegotiation and repricing of multi year works programs
  • Performance based payment and term contract administration

Design and Construct (D&C) Contracts

  • Tender estimates across transport, water, energy and digital infrastructure
  • Variations, claims and extension of time management
  • Subcontract procurement and administration

Construct Only (Hard Dollar) Contracts

  • Competitive tender estimates across transport, water, energy and digital infrastructure
  • First principles pricing against client issued designs and bill of quantities
  • Methodology, programming and risk adjusted pricing for lump sum and schedule of rates tenders

Cost Reimbursable and Target Cost Contracts

  • Cost capture against agreed work breakdown structures
  • Conversion of target cost and cost plus scopes to fixed price
  • NEC4 and bespoke contract administration

Sectors

Transport

  • Roads
  • Bridges
  • Tunnels
  • Airports
  • Marine and ports

Water

  • Dams
  • Sewage treatment plants
  • Desalination plants

Energy

  • Wind farms
  • Solar farms
  • Battery energy storage systems

Digital

  • Data centres

About Groundation

Groundation provides senior estimating, quantity surveying and commercial expertise to the transport, water, energy and digital infrastructure sectors. Every engagement is led by a chartered principal and resourced from our network of specialist associates, so each project gets the right expertise at the right scale.

How we work

  • First principles: estimates and advice built from the ground up, so you can trust them and defend them
  • Defensible: commercial positions that stand up to client, consultant and board review
  • Practical: commercial advice shaped by delivery experience on site
  • Technology enabled: systematic checking and connected data, with every output reviewed and signed off by a chartered professional

Our people

AJAshley Johnson

Ashley Johnson

Principal

  • Chartered Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS)
  • Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng), Civil and Cost Engineering, Engineers Australia
  • Registered on the National Engineering Register
  • 20 years in civil and infrastructure across Australia and the United Kingdom

Specialist associates

A network of experienced professionals engaged to match the scope and pace of each project.

  • Estimators
  • Quantity surveyors
  • Planners
  • Contract administrators
  • Commercial managers
  • Procurement leads
  • Engineers
  • Project managers

Join us

We're growing. Commercial professionals interested in working with Groundation can contact info@groundation.com.au.

Start on firm ground.

Tell us about your tender, contract or commercial challenge. We'll respond within one business day.