Construction process analysis and optimization
Independent technical consulting and client representation for individuals, and construction process data analysis and optimization for companies.
- years of experience in construction
- 0+
- years of experience in construction
- completed projects
- 0+
- completed projects
- independent perspective
- 0%
- independent perspective
For Individuals
An independent eye on your build
Why this offer exists
Having worked with construction clients for several years now, I keep running into the same picture again and again – clients who don't fully understand the process, the costs, or how the work is actually progressing. The result: stress over unexpected extra expenses, and a final result that doesn't match what was promised.
That's why I want to help people better understand the construction process of their new or existing home – to find those "hidden rocks" that are already undermining the build today, and that will keep harming both the house and its owner for years to come.
Your view VS reality
- —You see a finished, attractive house in a listing or render — you don't see what's underneath the finish, or whether the structure was calculated correctly
- —The estimate looks complete, but often contains vaguely described or entirely missing line items
- —Every "one more improvement" during design quietly drives up the total — often by thousands of euros
- —The builder claims everything is going as planned — but without an independent expert's eye, you have no way to verify it
I offer several ways I can help you!
The first step is simple – send me your construction estimate or project that you'd like to know more about. In response, you'll get my initial assessment – which problem areas and "hidden rocks" are already visible in it.
Based on that response, you decide for yourself whether you want to continue – by ordering a detailed, paid assessment that you can then confidently take to your designer or builder.
Estimate / project execution review
from €50reply within 24h · PDF/Excel
- Cost logic and quantities
- Hidden line items
- Cost check against current market prices
- Material compliance against the project
- Project quality assessment
- Construction progress review against the approved estimate
On-site inspection
from €150up to 2h
- Inspection of construction, building-services, and finishing quality
- Comparison of the builder's completed work and payments against what's actually built
- Comparison of installed materials against what was specified and estimated
- An independent report file with attached photos and comments
- If needed, technical equipment can be used for measurements (thermal camera, wood moisture, etc.)
- Additional advice for improving project quality
Client representation on the construction project
Depends on the projectthroughout the entire build
- Evaluating subcontractor offers
- Recommending and sourcing trustworthy contractors
- Checking build quality in real time
- Providing recommendations to improve project quality
- Keeping the construction schedule under control
- Professionally resolving any conflict situations that arise
Estimate audit examples
Progress by work type
Summary by section
Overpayment vs. market prices
Examples of project mistakes
Roof covering — recommendation to switch to PVC membrane
Parapet thermal insulation was not designed in
Incorrectly designed ventilated façade
Choose from the offers above and submit your request!
Zero Loss Analysis
ZERLOS — Construction management system
Most construction firms only find out that a project lost money once it has been handed over. ZERLOS shows it every day, while there is still something you can change.
What does one hour of work actually cost you?
Not the wage — the full cost, with taxes, premises, transport and everything else. ZERLOS works it out from your own data and shows whether the rate in your estimate covers those costs at all.
Where does the money go on a site?
Plan against actual on every line of the estimate. You see which item is running over while the work is still going on, not once it is finished.
Is your money frozen in a project?
If a site has already cost €50,000 but only €30,000 has been invoiced to the client, the system tells you. Not your bank account three months later.
Or see what the system shows first ↓
What you'll see every day
Revenue
Revenue against costs
- Revenue
- €248,400.00▲ 8.5%
- Costs
- €214,880.00▲ 6.9%
- Profit
- €33,520.00▲ 19.7%
- Profit margin
- 13.5%▲ 1.3%
Cost summary
€214,880▲ 6.9%
- Labour€118,40055.1%
- Building materials€61,20028.5%
- Machinery€17,8008.3%
- Company overheads€17,4808.1%
Revenue summary
€248,400▲ 8.5%
- Sigulda family house€34,00013.7%
- Jelgava warehouse€28,00011.3%
- Ķekava production annexe€100,00040.3%
- Ādaži apartment building€86,40034.8%
Profit
Company profit
€33,520.00▲ 19.7%
Profit summary
€33,520▲ 19.7%Profit margin 13.5%
- Sigulda family house€4,08012%
- Jelgava warehouse−€1,680-6%
- Ķekava production annexe€16,00016%
- Ādaži apartment building€15,12017.5%
Company profitability index
(income − expenditure) / income × 100%
Financial forecast
Forecast revenue
- Forecast
- €312,000▲ 25.6%
Forecast profit
- Forecast
- €45,000▲ 34.2%
Forecast profitability
Actual: 13.5%
The forecast is based on signed contracts and registered projects.
Project control
Hours against estimate
- Estimate
- 7,400 h
- Actual
- 7,100 h
96% of estimate
Labour cost against estimate
- Estimate
- €122,000
- Actual
- €118,400
97% of estimate
Materials + machinery against estimate
- Estimate
- €76,000
- Actual
- €79,000
104% of estimate
Forecast costs and profit
Sigulda family house
◯ Oct — Costs closing on the ceiling: €29,500 / €34,000
Company operations
Overtime
620 h▼ 40%Overtime
- Regular hours6,480 h
- Overtime620 h
Company cost per hour
€19.14/h
€16.68 labour + €2.46 overheads▲ 0.4%
Calculated from 7,100 productive hours a year.
Actual hours
7,100 h▲ 4.4%
Capacity
Warehouse
Stock by depot
€119,200
€46,300
38.8%
€38,400
32.2%
€21,900
18.4%
€12,600
10.6%
Central warehouse
Riga depot
Sigulda site
Jelgava site
- Central warehouse€46,30038.8%
- Riga depot€38,40032.2%
- Sigulda site€21,90018.4%
- Jelgava site€12,60010.6%
Stock by person
€40,000
€14,800
€11,200
€8,600
€5,400
A. Bērziņš
M. Ozoliņš
R. Kalniņš
I. Liepa
- A. Bērziņš€14,800
- M. Ozoliņš€11,200
- R. Kalniņš€8,600
- I. Liepa€5,400
Illustration of the system. Figures are examples.
What the system will include
Estimates and budget
Estimates with standard hours and labour intensity, budgets by phase, plan against actual on every line item. You see at once which item is running over.
An estimate from your own file
Attach your estimate as an Excel file — AI reads it and fills in the system's form. All you have to do is check it. Right there, the system shows what the rates in your estimate mean against your real costs.
Company cost per hour
Wages, taxes, premises, transport and every other expense are spread across your productive hours. The result is a single number — what one hour costs you. That is the foundation you build an estimate on.
Time tracking
Workers log their hours from their phone on site. The manager approves them. Overtime, absences, travel and the work calendar in a single system.
AI-powered expenses
Photograph a delivery note — the system reads the supplier, the amount and the VAT, and prepares the expense. One invoice can be split across several sites.
Outgoing invoices and cash flow
Records what has been invoiced and paid on every site. Overdue invoices show how many days late they are. If a site's costs run ahead of what has been invoiced, the system warns you.
Warehouse and inventory
Material stock by site and in the central warehouse. A register of tools, machinery and vehicles, showing who currently has them.
Personnel
Employees, contracts, wages and permits. Everyone sees only what they are entitled to — a worker never sees the money.
Analytics and reports
Site profit, costs by category, plan against actual for completed sites. Reports in PDF format, ready to print or send.
Who it is for
Construction companies, subcontractors and production facilities employing anywhere from a handful to more than a hundred people. The system is built from a site manager's point of view — 15 years of experience on site, not the logic of accounting software.
The system is in the final stage of development. It will launch at a seminar — the date will be announced.
If a system like this is of interest to you, sign up now. Everyone who has signed up will get an invitation from me to the launch seminar, with the exact time and place.
Signing up commits you to nothing.
Independent control of construction costs and progress
We check whether what has been paid for has actually been built, and whether the material installed is the one in the cost estimate. The result is a single figure you can base a decision on.
Three places where a private-house loan runs into trouble
Payments outrun the building work.
The payment schedule in a construction contract is usually tied to calendar dates rather than to accepted volumes of work. As a result, what has been paid to the builder can exceed what has been built by 10–20 % of the contract price, and it only comes to light once the work stops.
Materials do not match the estimate.
One solution is written into the estimate, a different and cheaper one is installed on site. The valuer does not notice, because they look at value, not at the specification.
The client does not know what to ask for.
The owner of a private house is not a construction professional. When a dispute with the builder arises, the next place they turn to is you.
For lenders
Services for mortgage-financed projects in the private-house segment. Each of them ends in a document with a specific sum and a specific recommendation.
Pre-review of the estimate and the contract
from €300Before the loan is issued · 5 working days · €300–600
We check the construction contract's estimate against market levels in €/m², find the missing volumes and assess the risk in the payment schedule. The main finding is usually one: how much money the schedule pays out before the corresponding work is built.
You receive: a 5–14 page report with a cost comparison, the shortcomings found and the recommended correction to the contract.
Progress and cost conformity report
€150–250Before each loan disbursement · 3 working days after the site visit · per visit
We survey the site, establish the volume built by estimate line item and compare the value built against what has been paid out so far. We check that the materials installed on site match the specification in the estimate.
You receive: a report with the percentage completed by stage, photographic records carrying date and coordinate metadata, the difference in euros and a recommendation on the next disbursement with a specific threshold.
Assessment of a stalled project
from €800When construction has stopped · 7–10 working days · €800–1500
We establish what has been built on site, what remains and what completion really costs at current prices. The calculation makes it possible to choose between financing completion and selling the property.
You receive: a record of the volume built, a completion estimate by line item and a realistic assessment of the time required.
For insurers
Technical calculations for claims and before a policy is issued. We calculate the volume and the sum — the decision on the claim is yours.
Reinstatement cost calculation
€300–800For claims · 5 working days after the site visit
We measure the extent of the damage, draw up a reinstatement estimate by line item and apply a depreciation adjustment according to the published methodology. Damage that does not match the time of the event is excluded from the calculation, and we say so.
You receive: a calculation with the sum at reinstatement value and after depreciation, excluding and including VAT, photographic records and the course of the depreciation calculation at line-item level.
Sum insured adequacy calculation
from €250Before the policy is issued · 5 working days
We establish what reinstating the building would really cost at current prices. Underinsurance usually comes to light only at the moment of a claim.
You receive: a reinstatement cost calculation by structural group with a total.
A procedure, not an opinion
The task and the documents
We receive the construction contract, the estimate, the acts of work completed and the payment orders.
Survey on site
We measure volumes, identify materials from their markings and delivery notes, and record them in photographs carrying date and coordinate metadata.
Calculation against a published scale
The degree of completion for each stage is determined against a fixed scale published in our working methodology. It means the result does not depend on who produces it, and you can check it yourself.
A report with a recommendation
The result is a document with a specific sum and a specific recommendation that can be acted on without our involvement.
What our work rests on
- Published methodology.
- The calculation procedure is public and includes a fixed scale of completion levels for 8 construction stages and a service-life table for calculating depreciation. You can check every step.
- 15 years on the building site.
- Construction management at SIA EVERA, production management in the modular housing industry, construction management in Sweden on the PRIMEKSS project, with 4 site managers and around 80 people reporting in.
- Education in construction.
- Qualification as a building works manager and a second degree in BIM coordination, Riga Construction College.
- Professional indemnity insurance.
- The policy is taken out before performance of the contract begins, and its number and liability limit are stated in every report.
- Independence.
- We have no contractual relationship with the contractor, the material supplier or the designer working on the site, and we receive no payment from them. If such a circumstance arises, we do not take the assignment.
Work samples
Before we talk, you can look through real working samples. The data in them is invented; the structure and the course of the calculation are the same as in real work.
Request a call
If your portfolio includes projects where independent cost control would help, fill in the form and I will get in touch to discuss the specific situation and agree on the scope of work.
Jānis Zvaigzne · SIA JZ Advisory, reg. no. 40203760797 · +371 22026423
SIA JZ Advisory provides construction cost and volume calculations under a private-law contract. The documents produced are not construction supervision opinions, technical inspection opinions or construction expert examination conclusions within the meaning of the Construction Law of Latvia, and do not replace any of them. The conformity of materials and solutions is assessed against the construction contract and the estimate, not against building regulations. All prices are stated without value added tax.
About me
More than 10 years in construction — from the job site to production management.
2014–2018
Construction worker → Site manager's assistant
2018–2024
Site manager
7 years of experience across various projects in Riga – timber-frame, reinforced-concrete, and block houses, as well as a range of high-end building restorations.
2024–2025
Site manager/Planner in Sweden
Greensteel Boden, Europe's largest project
2025–today
Production manager
timber-frame modular homes – around 25 completed projects
Education
- Riga Construction College – Construction Technician (Level 3 qualification)
- Riga Construction College – Building Site Manager (Level 4 qualification)
- Riga Construction College – Building Information Modeling (BIM) Coordinator (Level 4 qualification)
Skills
Let me introduce myself:
I've been working in construction for over ten years now — from a job site in Latvia, to managing Europe's largest construction project in Sweden, to running a modern, efficient production facility today. This path has let me see the process the way few people ever do — from the inside.
I like putting things in order — whether that's construction technology, people's work, or the data behind it. And it's exactly this experience that made me realize: many people and companies are missing someone they can trust, someone standing on their side — not on the side of the contractor or the seller.
That's why I'm here.
Jānis Zvaigzne
Get in touch
Contact details
Company details
SIA «JZ Advisory»
Registration number: 40203760797
Registered address: Cēsu novads, Drabešu pagasts, Amata, "Jaunjūgas 1" - 1, LV-4101