Turnkey Solutions: Are you ready to turn the key?

If you're set to embark on a complicated construction, engineering or technical project, you may be considering a turnkey approach. Turnkey project management aims to minimise the time and expense you spend planning, coordinating and monitoring your project by making the contractor responsible for coordinating these tasks, and managing the many parties involved in bringing the project to fruition. In short, under a turnkey approach your contractor presents you with a complete project, one in which you need only "turn the key".

Turnkey projects are best suited to people who know what they want to achieve, but don't want to get bogged down in the details. If you're wondering whether a turnkey approach might be right for your project, here are a few pointers to help you decide.

• First, is your project a complex undertaking? Turnkey projects are best suited to jobs that are complicated or challenging. They may begin in the early stages of design or development or may commence later and concern only the production and delivery of a project.

• Is defining your project's scope and deliverable outcomes important to you? Turnkey project management empowers you to set the precise parameters of your project, while leaving the details of how this will be achieved to your contractor.

• Do you prefer to avoid handling the intricate details of your project? Using a turnkey approach, once you have defined your project you can sit back and allow your contractor to take care of the rest.

• Is your timeframe important? Because turnkey engineering solutions utilise a coordinated approach, design errors, problems with voting and many of the other factors responsible for delays and errors are negated.

• Would your project benefit from local knowledge? A turnkey approach also benefits from the knowledge of your project manager on intricate and site-specific matters such as local tendering requirements, saving you time and money.

• How firm is your budget? Turnkey solutions also allow your contractor to capitalise on their extensive networks of architects and engineers, while passing the benefits of strategic purchasing and procurement to you. Best, because the contractor in a turnkey project is responsible for every deliverable, including completion dates and final costs, you don't bear the risk of any unforeseen bumps in the road.

If your dream is ambitious, if you have the vision but are short on time to expend over the details, and if your timeframe and budget are important to you, a turnkey solution is the answer to your prayers.