London · Commercial Fit-Out · Private Clients

The Digital Plan of Work. Installed.

Design management, done for you.

Design management for fit-out contractors. Running in week one.

I run the design information on your project - programme, TIDP, consultant chase, weekly Monday report - on a fixed project fee or a weekly retainer, with the live Datum portal your client can open from day one. Twenty years across Skanska, Mace and McLaren packages; nothing on your payroll, one week's notice to stop.

Week one. Operational

Fixed fee. Clear cost upfront

No creep. Scope stays scope

Start a Conversation Fixed-Price Project See Datum live

For one project

Fixed-Price Project.

A defined design management package for live projects that need control fast.

TIDP ownership, release dates, consultant chase, and weekly reporting.
Clear start, clear scope, clear stop. No vague day-rate drift.

View the fixed-price project

For your whole pipeline

Fractional Head of Design Management.

Senior design leadership without the full-time hire, notice period, or recruitment delay.

Standards, governance, design process, team structure, and director-level reporting.
For contractors who need the function built, not just another designer.

Explore fractional support

The Datum live project portal on a laptop

Fixed fee · Fractional head · Live portal

Week one · No warm-up period

Watch week one happen.

The first five days of every engagement. The register builds, the consultants align, and your first Monday report lands before the second weekly meeting.

Day 1

Project intake and stress test

Live status, programme commitments, missing information, consultant structure.

Day 2

Programme lock built properly

Design activities tied to construction, approvals, lead times and release dates.

Day 3

Information matrix goes live

Packages, deliverables, ownership and deadlines mapped visibly.

Day 4

Consultants aligned to one route

Meeting structure, reporting logic, issue routing and escalation made clear.

Day 5

Weekly reporting starts

Risks, late items and release blockers visible to the people who act.

Document register · Meridian Gate, EC2Live

MCG-DPA-DR-A-2001Joinery setting out · Level 3P02In draft

MCG-DPA-DR-A-2002Reception desk detailsP01In draft

MCG-DPA-DR-A-2101Washroom GAs · L2 to L4P03In draft

MCG-DPA-DR-A-2110Reflected ceiling plan · L2P01In draft

MCG-DPA-DR-M-3001Sprinkler modifications · Zone BP02In draft

MCG-DPA-DR-A-2201Door schedule · all levelsP04In draft

MCG-DPA-DR-A-2305Wall types WT-01 to WT-12P01In draft

MCG-DPA-DR-A-2410Feature stair balustradeP02In draft

MCG-DPA-RFI-014Ceiling void clash · L2–Open

MCG-DPA-WDR-001Weekly design report–Building

Weekly output · WDR-001

Your first Monday report.

Issued 08:00 Monday. 26 documents registered, 14 approved, 3 chased to director level, zero surprises. Same format every week, live in your Datum portal.

Why this matters now

Design is not the deliverable. Control is.

The drawing register is not the problem. The problem is the gap between design, procurement, construction, approval, handover, and commercial pressure.

That gap is where RFIs multiply, dates slip, client confidence drops, and packages reach site half-ready.

dpow.agent closes that gap by installing the management layer most projects assume they have, but rarely do.

You already have drawings.

What you usually do not have is a controlled route from drawing intent to buildable release, approval, procurement, and handover.

Hiring takes too long.

By the time you advertise, interview, appoint, onboard, and discover whether they can really run the job, the damage may already be in the programme.

The risk still lands with you.

If design is uncontrolled, the cost does not stay in design. It moves into site delay, rework, missed procurement, late approvals, and difficult conversations.

The difference

This is what control looks like.
Live.

Every engagement includes a live project portal. Programme progress, document register, open RFIs, TIDP status, critical issues, and weekly reports in one place.

This is not decoration. It is the proof layer. Your team, client, directors, and consultants can see what is late, what is blocking release, who owns it, and what happens next.

✓Live programme status, updated weekly

✓Document register with revision tracking

✓Critical issues flagged with assignee and days overdue

✓TIDP submittal and approval status per discipline

✓Included on every fixed-price and production engagement

✓Exportable. Printable. Board-ready.

See a live demo report →

Opens a real example. Same format you receive each week.

The Datum live project portal shown on a laptop and phone

The Datum live project portal on a phone

Click to open the live Datum portal →

What gets installed

The Design Function

Six controls. One operating rhythm. A working management layer tied to procurement, construction, approvals, reporting, and handover. Every card opens a real example document.

Programme Lock

Before anything moves, the design programme is built properly. Not a gantt for show. A real sequence tied to procurement, construction dates, approvals, lead times, and release points.

Real design sequence, not generic dates Links design to site reality Exposes risk early

View example document

Information Control

Every package. Every deliverable. Every date. Tracked, owned, visible. No blind chasing. No mystery gaps. No pretending someone else is dealing with it.

TIDP logic and live ownership Package-by-package visibility Clear accountability

View example document

Consultant Control

Architects, M&E, specialists, subcontractors. Aligned to one programme and held to it. Meetings become useful when someone is actually running them.

Cross-discipline alignment Chase where drift starts One controlled direction

View example document

Package Readiness

Nothing goes to site half-designed. If it is released, it is buildable. If it is not buildable, it does not move. That sounds simple. It is rare.

Release discipline Buildability before issue Fewer expensive surprises

View example document

Reporting & Escalation

Weekly visibility. What is late. What is drifting. What is about to break. Problems do not sit in meeting notes. They get pushed, tracked, and closed.

Live risk visibility Weekly reporting cadence Issues handled before site pain

View example document

Handover Closure

O&Ms, records, audit trail, completion information. Complete before it is needed, not chased after practical completion when everyone has already mentally left the job.

Cleaner close-out Better audit trail No scramble at the end

View example document

CAD · Drafting & Coordination

Drawing packages, drafted and coordinated.

Freelance CAD draughting and design coordination across London and Essex. Joinery setting-out, fit-out, washrooms, wall types, doors, fire strategy, stairs and GA packages, drawn to ISO 19650 and turned around on programme. Twenty years on the tools behind every sheet.

Fire Strategy CAD drawing — Fire Strategy

Feature Walls CAD drawing — Feature Walls

Featured Projects CAD drawing — Featured Projects

CAD drafting service and design co-ordination →

Selected projects

Proof it is not theory.

High-end interiors, heritage work, retail, commercial packages, and live environments. The brief changes. The control principles do not.

Drylining · City of London

21 Moorfields

Sir Robert McAlpine for Landsec

£18M drylining package across a major City development. Full design coordination and management through the construction programme.

£18M · 2020-2021

Heritage · Shoreditch EC2

Blossom Street

Skanska

£17M heritage shopfronts, windows, washrooms, and joinery. A complex programme with long visibility, technical detail, and multiple moving parts.

£17M · 2021-2024

Washrooms · London W1

180 Piccadilly

Mace

£12M washrooms, joinery, doors, and reception fit-out package on one of London's most prominent commercial addresses.

£12M · 2025

MEP & Washrooms · E16

ExCel Phase 3

McLaren for ExCel London

£9M package spanning washrooms and MEP coordination, with live programme demands across specialist interfaces.

£9M · 2024

Heritage Windows · Westminster

7 Millbank

Skanska for Baola Properties

£7M heritage window programme balancing conservation expectations with technical performance and delivery deadlines.

£7M · 2025

Luxury Retail · Knightsbridge

Jo Malone at Harrods

Harrods

High-spec live trading environment with no room for slippage. Bespoke joinery, retail detail, and exacting finish standards.

£1M · 2020

Retail · Strand WC2

Twinings 216 Strand

Dalziel & Pow

Retail and office fit-out on one of London's oldest trading sites, blending heritage constraint with contemporary delivery expectations.

£1.5M · 2021

Private Client · Mediterranean

Le Grand Bleu

Private superyacht interior fit-out

Bespoke luxury environment with specialist materials, complex stakeholder coordination, and an exceptionally high standard of finish.

£1M · 2019

Your project

Add yours to the list.

A limited number of live engagements at one time.

If the project matters, start before it becomes a recovery exercise. The function is most valuable when it goes in early.

Start a conversation

Pete Connolly Founder, dpow.agent

About

I learned design management from the consequences.

I started making the things the drawings described. Joinery. Fit-out. Site work. Workshops. Real materials. Real tolerances. Real consequences when something was wrong.

That changes the way you manage information.

Consultants are held to their dates. Subcontractors build from coordinated information, not assumptions. Problems do not sit in meetings and age quietly. They get solved early, before they cost time, before they cost money, and before they become someone else's emergency.

Over twenty years that work scaled from high-end interiors and retail to major London commercial packages, heritage programmes, specialist fit-out, and private clients.

I do not sell bodies. I take on a small number of projects, install the system, and run the pressure until the job is under control.

2008 First project

£250M+ Value managed

15+ Years London fit-out

180+ Projects delivered

⭐ Fixed-Price Project

One project.
One fixed design control fee.

You buy a controlled design function, not a person on a day rate. The scope is defined, the rhythm is installed, the reporting is visible, and the cost is known before the job starts.

£14,500 + VAT · fixed project fee

Scope-defined. Rev 1 included. Extra scope controlled before it becomes creep.

Pricing shown is indicative. Your fee is fixed at proposal stage, before any work begins, and does not change after that.

One project slot at a time. Currently accepting enquiries.

What the fee covers

👱

Dedicated Design Manager Named senior DM across your project. One point of contact, present from week one, accountable throughout.

📁

Full Document Control ISO 19650-compliant CDE, naming conventions, transmittals, and complete audit trail maintained without prompting.

📅

Programme and TIDP Ownership Design programme owned end-to-end. Every deliverable tracked, chased, and reported against dates week by week.

📊

Weekly and Monthly Reports Progress report issued regularly. Design status, risks, open RFIs, decisions, and next steps. Ready to share with your board.

📄

Your Live Project Portal You see programme status, document register, RFI log, and reports in real time. No chasing. No lag. See a demo →

Pricing

Choose the level of control.

Most projects fit the fixed-price model. Larger, multi-phase or compliance-heavy programmes get scoped separately. Either way, the rule is the same: clear outputs, clear reporting, no open-ended drift.

Structured Monday report and live Datum portal within two weeks - or that fortnight is at no charge.

Pricing shown is indicative. Your fee is fixed at proposal stage, before any work begins, and does not change after that.

VALUE ANALYSIS

The real cost of the alternative.

£70K IN-HOUSE HIRE

DPOW.AGENT

Annual cost to business

£90,000+ (salary + NI + pension + recruitment fee)

Scope-based. No PAYE. No overhead.

Time to operational

10-14 weeks to hire + 1 month onboarding

Week one

When the project ends

Redundancy, notice period, difficult conversation

Retainer stops. Clean.

HR, PAYE, pension, sick pay

Your responsibility

Not applicable

Built things before managing them

Unlikely

20 years on the tools

Employee take-home pay (£70k)

~£4,264/month after tax and NI

Your cost, not theirs

Not sure if this is the right fit? Eight common questions answered honestly.

Start before it breaks

Start before the project starts.
Or bring control to the one already moving.

If you have a live job, a tender that needs design management baked in, or a project team that is already stretched, start the conversation now.

Start a Conversation crane@dpow.co.uk

Questions, answered

What is dpow.agent?

dpow.agent installs a complete design management function and a live client portal for UK fit-out and commercial construction contractors - fixed-fee per project, or fractional for as long as you need it. No headcount added, no lock-in.

How much does it cost?

Two ways. A Fixed-Price Project is £14,500 + VAT per project, scope agreed before we start. The Fractional Head of Design retainer is £1,400 + VAT per week, billed weekly with one week’s notice to cancel. Pricing shown is indicative: your fee is fixed at proposal stage, before any work begins, and does not change after that.

Who is dpow.agent for?

Fit-out and commercial construction contractors, specialist subcontractors and developers who have consultants to manage, deliverables to track and a programme to hit - but no dedicated design management function.

What is included in every engagement?

A live Datum client portal active before the first consultant meeting, a programme framework, a document register and consultant governance from week one, and a structured report every Monday. The portal and Monday report are live within two weeks or that fortnight is free.

Do I have to add headcount or sign a long contract?

No. Nothing goes on your payroll and there is no lock-in - the Fractional retainer needs only one week’s notice. Everything is built in your own systems, so you own all the data from day one.

What is Datum?

Datum is the live client project portal included with every engagement - real-time documents, programme, RFIs and weekly reporting at a single URL. There is a live demo at demo.dpow.co.uk.

The Digital Plan of Work. Installed.

Fixed-Price Project.

Fractional Head of Design Management.

Watch week one happen.

Design is not the deliverable. Control is.

You already have drawings.

Hiring takes too long.

The risk still lands with you.

This is what control looks like.Live.

The Design Function

Programme Lock

Information Control

Consultant Control

Package Readiness

Reporting & Escalation

Handover Closure

Drawing packages, drafted and coordinated.

Proof it is not theory.

21 Moorfields

Blossom Street

180 Piccadilly

ExCel Phase 3

7 Millbank

Jo Malone at Harrods

Twinings 216 Strand

Le Grand Bleu

Add yours to the list.

I learned design management from the consequences.

One project.One fixed design control fee.

Choose the level of control.

Fixed-Price Project - £14,500 + VAT

Fractional Head of Design - £1,400 / week

The real cost of the alternative.

Start before the project starts.Or bring control to the one already moving.

Questions, answered

This is what control looks like.
Live.

One project.
One fixed design control fee.

Start before the project starts.
Or bring control to the one already moving.