Graham Bywater

Profile

Graham is a Quantity Surveyor and Commercial Manager at Rowfield Commercial and has almost 40 years’ experience in the UK construction industry.

Graham sector experience is infrastructure/civils/energy based. His most recent experience is using the New Engineering Contract (NEC4) Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) (Options A, B & E) and has an in-depth knowledge of NEC ECC procedures at both pre-contract and post-contract stage. Graham has worked on projects with contract sums more than £350m. Since joining Rowfield, Graham has worked on National Grid projects in the electricity transmission industry.

Graham became a trainee Quantity Surveyor upon leaving school and has since operated at every level of Quantity Surveying, whilst representing Subcontractors, Main Contractors and Clients. Graham has vast pre and post contract experience and has also been responsible for creating commercial departments and implementing commercial procedures for two Rail Civils clients. Whilst representing several QS consultants, Graham has been seconded to numerous clients, and in doing so, he has gained experience of various commercial management procedures, which has proved invaluable when advising clients of best practice.

In terms of notable projects, Graham was a Commercial Manager (representing Network Rail) on the £350M Trent Valley Four Tracking project in 2005 – 2006, where he was responsible for the commercial management of a section of that scheme, whilst also responsible for assessing Contractors claims and being a member of the tender evaluation team. In 2018, Graham Commercial Manager on the London to Corby Electrification & Capacity upgrade, where he was responsible for managing a team of SQS’s on the £390M scheme.

Whilst working more recently with NEC Contracts, Graham has strong practical knowledge of other forms of contract including FIDIC and JCT. Graham has a wealth of experience of preparation/verification of contract documentation and has been heavily involved in claims preparation, dispute resolution and dispute avoidance.

Graham has a proactive and pragmatic approach with the aim of achieving optimum commercial solutions while protecting the interests of his clients. Having represented some of the smallest subcontractors and the largest clients, Graham has an appreciation of all facets of the commercial function and a measured approach to maximising entitlement at the same time as avoiding disputes. Graham is driven by quality, integrity and motivated by achieving results and has a proven track record in this regard.

Academically, Graham holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Quantity Surveying, a Master’s Degree in Construction Law and a Bachelor’s Degree in Quantity Surveying.