• Up to £250K In such cases no written CAAS report should normally be required. Commercial staff may be able to get broad advice on hours quoted for the requirement from CAAS in order to ascertain whether the contractor's claim is of the right order.
• £250K to £1M A simplified approach should suffice for changes of this value. If necessary a simplified CAAS report will normally be sufficient, perhaps in the form of an examination of the prime cost by CAAS cost engineers and of overheads by CAAS accountants, and preferably in a spreadsheet format to assist recalculation. In some cases it may be appropriate for CAAS to agree with contractors the prime costs (i.e. direct labour, materials, bought-out items and sub-contracts) and overheads on which the price will be based.
4. Unless CAAS are used, commercial staff will require a statement from the project officer responsible that the hours and materials are fair and reasonable for the task.