Wastewater Treatment Works Upgrade: Scope and Delivery Transformation

The Challenge

A major wastewater treatment works required a significant upgrade to meet new environmental standards. The original scheme had been developed through a traditional delivery route using a large managing contractor under an NEC Option C (target cost) contract. The budget stood at over £36 million with a planned programme duration of 21 months.

Critically, the programme duration exceeded the regulatory compliance deadline by six months, meaning the works would not be operational in time.

Our Approach

Cingula conducted a fundamental review of the entire scheme. Rather than accepting the original design and delivery assumptions, we challenged the scope of works from first principles.

The design was simplified and the outputs reduced to focus on what was actually needed to meet the regulatory requirement, stripping out over-specification that had accumulated through the traditional design process. The procurement route was restructured, moving from a single large managing contractor to competitive tendering with specialist delivery partners. The contract form was changed from NEC Option C to NEC Option A (priced contract with activity schedule), transferring cost risk more effectively and creating sharper commercial incentives.

New process plant, equipment, and installation techniques were introduced to accelerate delivery and reduce the construction footprint.

The Result

The revised target price was reduced by £9.3 million against the original budget. Programme duration was cut from 21 months to 13 months, a saving of 8 months — meaning the works could now be delivered ahead of the regulatory compliance deadline.

The scheme was transformed from a programme that was over budget and behind schedule before it had even started, into one that was affordable, deliverable, and compliant.