Strategic Cost Management
Delivering transparency, certainty and value for money.
Traditional procurement and contract management approaches can create uncertainty, strain client-contractor relationships and make it difficult to demonstrate long-term value for money.
Our Strategic Cost Management team helps organisations gain a clear understanding of what services, projects and programmes genuinely cost to deliver. Through transparent commercial frameworks, independent cost assurance and collaborative procurement models, we help housing providers, local authorities and public sector organisations make more informed investment decisions and achieve better service outcomes.
Our approach replaces adversarial commercial relationships with evidence-based decision making, creating greater cost certainty, stronger governance and improved collaboration between clients, contractors and supply chain partners.
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What we do
Our (TCM provides a transparent and collaborative commercial framework for planned investment programmes, including:
- Kitchens and bathrooms
- Roofing works
- Planned maintenance programmes
- Compliance-related improvement works
- Capital investment programmes
At the start of the contract, clients and contractors jointly agree costs for labour, materials, overheads and profit based on market evidence and actual delivery data. Costs are reviewed regularly throughout the contract to ensure they remain fair and representative of current market conditions.
Where genuine cost increases occur and can be evidenced, prices can be adjusted accordingly. Equally, where costs reduce, savings are shared between client and contractor. This creates a fair commercial environment that rewards efficiency while maintaining quality and service standards.
Managing responsive repairs and maintenance services presents unique commercial challenges. Demand can fluctuate significantly, making it difficult to predict costs accurately using traditional procurement models.
Our CoSMo has been developed specifically to address this challenge. Using historic service data, actual costs, organisational priorities and operational requirements, we work collaboratively with clients and contractors to establish a bespoke commercial model that reflects the true cost of delivering responsive services.
The model is designed to provide flexibility while maintaining transparency, accountability and cost control. It also helps avoid excessive risk allowances being built into contracts, ensuring organisations only pay for the services they genuinely require.
This approach is particularly effective for:
- Responsive repairs contracts
- Void property services
- Cyclical maintenance programmes
- Integrated housing maintenance services
- Long-term partnering arrangements
Open-book commercial frameworks provide visibility of actual costs and create a foundation for genuine partnership working.
Our Strategic Cost Management specialists work alongside clients and contractors to develop transparent costing structures that improve trust, create accountability and support continuous improvement throughout the life of the contract.
By focusing on actual costs rather than assumptions, organisations can improve forecasting, strengthen governance and make more informed strategic decisions.
Our team combines extensive industry experience with specialist auditing expertise to provide independent commercial oversight and assurance.
Using our comprehensive cost database, benchmarking tools and analytical capabilities, we help clients understand whether contract costs remain competitive, appropriate and aligned with market conditions.
Our services include:
- Cost assurance reviews
- Actual cost auditing
- Market benchmarking
- Value for money assessments
- Commercial due diligence
- Risk management support
- Performance analysis
Effective procurement is about more than achieving the lowest price.
We help organisations develop procurement strategies that support long-term service quality, cost certainty and organisational objectives. Our Strategic Cost Management specialists understand the complex relationship between clients, contractors and supply chains, helping clients create commercial models that promote collaboration rather than conflict.
This results in stronger partnerships, improved performance and more sustainable outcomes over the life of the contract.
FAQs
From integrating sustainable solutions to specialist support, we’ve answered some of the most common questions around strategic cost management.
Contact usStrategic Cost Management is a structured approach to understanding, controlling and optimising the cost of delivering projects, services and programmes. It combines commercial analysis, cost assurance, governance and performance monitoring to help organisations achieve greater cost certainty, demonstrate value for money and improve service outcomes.
At Baily Garner, Strategic Cost Management supports housing providers, local authorities and public sector organisations by creating transparent commercial frameworks that align expenditure with business objectives.
An Open-Book TCM is a collaborative commercial framework that establishes agreed target costs using transparent cost information from both clients and contractors.
Unlike traditional procurement models that focus primarily on lowest-price tendering, a TCM is based on actual delivery costs. Any savings or overspend are shared through an agreed pain/gain mechanism, encouraging collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement throughout the contract.
Open-book costing improves transparency by providing visibility of the actual costs associated with delivering a service or project.
Key benefits include:
- Greater cost certainty and budget control
- Improved client-contractor relationships
- Demonstrable value for money
- Better commercial decision-making
- Reduced contractual disputes
- Shared accountability for outcomes
- Stronger governance and cost control
- Increased opportunities for innovation and efficiency
By focusing on actual costs rather than tender price alone, organisations can make more informed decisions and build sustainable delivery partnerships.
A CoSMo establishes the true cost of delivering a service by analysing all associated expenditure, including labour, materials, subcontractors, overheads and profit.
Using open-book principles, the model creates a transparent and evidence-based cost framework that helps organisations understand service costs, benchmark performance and achieve value for money.
CoSMos are particularly effective for repairs, maintenance and compliance contracts where understanding the real cost of delivery is critical to long-term service performance.
Baily Garner provides independent cost assurance by reviewing, validating and auditing cost information throughout the life of a contract or programme.
Our services can include:
- Actual cost auditing
- Cost verification
- Benchmarking
- Value for money assessments
- Commercial reviews
- Governance support
- Performance monitoring
This independent oversight helps clients gain assurance that costs are accurate, transparent and aligned with agreed outcomes.
A TCM is typically used for planned investment, capital works, regeneration projects and partnering contracts, where costs are agreed for specific programmes of work.
A CoSMo is primarily used for responsive repairs, maintenance and operational services, where the focus is on understanding and managing the ongoing cost of service delivery.
Both approaches use open-book costing principles and provide greater transparency, collaboration and cost certainty.
Strategic Cost Management helps organisations demonstrate value for money by providing clear evidence of how funds are being spent and what outcomes are being achieved.
Through open-book costing, independent cost assurance and performance monitoring, clients can identify efficiencies, benchmark costs against industry standards and make informed investment decisions based on robust commercial data.
Strategic Cost Management can support any organisation responsible for managing projects, assets or service contracts.
Our experience includes:
- Social housing
- Local government
- Public sector organisations
- Education
- Healthcare
- Asset management programmes
- Repairs and maintenance services
- Compliance and building safety programmes
- Regeneration and major works projects
Baily Garner combines commercial expertise, technical knowledge and independent oversight to help clients achieve transparency, value for money and better project outcomes.
Our collaborative approach focuses on creating sustainable commercial arrangements, reducing risk and improving performance across the entire contract lifecycle. By understanding the true cost of delivery, we help clients make confident decisions that support long-term organisational objectives.
Insights
Our insight highlights
How to Cope With Contractor Insolvency
This article advises surveyors on looking for indicators of insolvency and outlining recommended actions, so that they can be better prepared.
Loving Our Residents: Turning Engagement Into a Culture That Holds Under Pressure
Explore how our thought leadership event reframed resident engagement from an activity to a culture that drives trust, compliance and safer homes.
Reaching net zero by strategic asset management
Decarbonising UK social housing stock at the speed required to achieve net zero will only be possible with coherent strategies that engage occupants and planning departments fully from the start.
The Benefits of a Project Management Approach to Retrofit
Ben Lambon-Ralph, Associate Partner and Retrofit Lead at BG delves into the UK's Retrofitting puzzle when it comes to housing stock. Retrofitting at such a scale is a beast and if we are to meet the carbon emission targets we have a long way to go.
Embedding Retrofit Within Your Asset Management Strategy
Local Authorities are committed to net zero, but many still lack the data needed to embed retrofit into their asset strategies. Ben Nixon shares practical advice on making retrofit business as usual — starting with better stock insight.
Strategic cost management
Recent projects
Take a look at our projects to see how we’ve helped clients.
Explore projects
Clarion Housing Association
Multiple Sites
Baily Garner were appointed to assess 5,500 non-traditional homes and propose a strategic asset management strategy for phased decarbonisation.
Raven Housing Trust
Surrey
Baily Garner was appointed in multidisciplinary roles to design energy efficiency measures to various properties on behalf of Raven Housing Trust.
Our values
We bring our values into all that we do
At Baily Garner, we don’t just talk about values, we live them. They’re the threads running through our culture, our delivery, and our relationships. They help us do work that’s meaningful, not just measurable.
These values reflect who we are, who we want to be, and how we create a positive impact for our clients, our people, and the wider world.
Resilience
We rise to the challenge and stay agile with a clear, forward‑looking focus.
Adaptability
We revise our plans as new situations arise, enabling us to overcome challenges and seize opportunities.
Collaboration
We create open spaces where ideas are welcomed, trust is built, impact is amplified, and wins are celebrated as a team.
Competency
We embrace a continuous improvement mindset, strengthening our skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours.
Integrity
We act with transparency, ethics, and accountability – leading honestly and delivering high‑quality outcomes.
Meet our Strategic Cost Management team
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Our clients and partners
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the journey
At Baily Garner, we believe collaboration is at the heart of progress. We partner with our clients to build sustainable, future-ready spaces that create a positive impact for people and our planet.
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Combining innovation, sustainability, and decades of expertise, our multidisciplinary team are ready to work alongside you and create something exceptional. Together, we can make it happen.
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Whether you’re starting your career in construction or looking for a new challenge, at Baily Garner, you’ll find purposeful projects, expert mentors, and a supportive space to grow. Take the next step with us.
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