Đường sắt đô thịHotline: 0825092007
Choose language▾

Where this comes from, and what it is not

This library is compiled from professional experience and publicly available material. It is general reference. Nothing in it is drawn from the file of any particular entity, and no item describes any actual project. Read it as a list of things worth testing — not as an allegation about anyone.

The eight groups (33)

Legal file (4)

01

The investment sequence is out of order or a step is missing

What the signal looks like. A contract signed before the project approval decision; work started before the construction permit.

How to test it. Compare the signing date of every document along a timeline — not merely whether the document exists.

Attention: High

02

Approval given at the wrong level

What the signal looks like. The person signing the decision does not hold authority for that project class or that value band.

How to test it. Match the signatory’s position against the delegation rules in force on the signing date.

Attention: High

03

The special mechanism applied outside its scope

What the signal looks like. Shortened procedures used for a project or a locality that is not within the pilot scope.

How to test it. Ask the investor to produce the document showing the project falls within the scope.

Attention: High

04

Documents drawn up later and back-dated

What the signal looks like. Records and decisions prepared late but bearing the date they ought to have carried.

How to test it. Compare paper stock and layout across the same file; cross-check against the site diary and payment vouchers of the same period.

Attention: Medium

Funding and payment (4)

05

The investor’s ledger differs from the paying authority

What the signal looks like. Capital paid per the accounting records differs from the figure held by the Treasury or the servicing bank.

How to test it. Require a signed reconciliation for each year; trace the cause of every difference — do not accept a netted total.

Attention: High

06

Payment exceeds the contract value

What the signal looks like. The sum of all payment tranches exceeds the contract price plus valid addenda.

How to test it. Add up every tranche and compare against the contract price as adjusted.

Attention: High

07

Advances not fully recovered

What the signal looks like. A contractual advance has not been fully offset although the works are complete.

How to test it. Keep an advance and recovery schedule per contract, reconciled against the advance guarantee.

Attention: Medium

08

Costs incurred with no capital allocated

What the signal looks like. Quantities executed but no capital allocated in the public investment plan.

How to test it. Reconcile costs proposed for settlement against the annual capital allocation.

Attention: Medium

Quantities and unit rates (6)

09

Settled quantity exceeds accepted quantity

What the signal looks like. The settlement schedule records more than the corresponding acceptance record.

How to test it. Reconcile three ways: settlement schedule — acceptance record — as-built drawing.

Attention: High

10

The same quantity counted in two packages

What the signal looks like. One work item counted in two different packages, usually where two packages meet.

How to test it. Search for duplicates by unit-rate code and by chainage; pay particular attention to package boundaries.

Attention: High

11

The wrong period’s norm applied

What the signal looks like. Current norms used for quantities accepted years earlier.

How to test it. Fix the date each work item applies to, then look up the norm in force on that date.

Attention: High

12

Specialised work with no approved norm

What the signal looks like. Tunnelling, signalling installation, integrated testing — not present in the general norm system.

How to test it. Require the decision approving a new norm; without it the item lacks a basis for settlement.

Attention: High

13

Price adjustment inconsistent with the form of contract price

What the signal looks like. Escalation paid on a lump-sum contract or a fixed unit-rate contract.

How to test it. Establish the form of contract price stated in the contract first, then consider whether the adjustment is permitted at all.

Attention: High

14

The wrong price index used

What the signal looks like. An index for a different province, a different type of works, or a different period.

How to test it. Match the index source against the contract terms and against the publication of the competent authority.

Attention: Medium

Contracts (4)

15

The form of contract price differs from how the parties actually pay

What the signal looks like. A lump-sum contract settled on measured quantities, or the reverse.

How to test it. Read the price clause and the payment clause before checking a single figure.

Attention: High

16

An addendum signed after the work was finished

What the signal looks like. An addendum adjusting quantities or price signed after that part was accepted.

How to test it. Compare the addendum signing date against the acceptance date for the same work.

Attention: High

17

An EPC contract with no detailed bill of quantities

What the signal looks like. An international-form contract defining scope by output, with no bill of quantities to check against.

How to test it. Require the price analysis and the base bill of quantities; if neither exists, state the scope limitation clearly.

Attention: High

18

The adjusted price exceeds the approved package price

What the signal looks like. Contract price plus addenda exceeds the package price in the contractor selection plan.

How to test it. Add them up and compare against the decision approving the contractor selection plan.

Attention: Medium

Project management, consultancy and other costs (3)

19

Project management cost above the norm

What the signal looks like. Actual cost exceeds the amount derived from the percentage norm on construction and equipment cost.

How to test it. Recompute using the norm interpolated between the two size thresholds and compare against the amount claimed.

Attention: Medium

20

Items already inside the norm charged separately

What the signal looks like. Stationery, electricity and water of the project management unit charged on top of the norm.

How to test it. Compare the list of costs already covered by the norm against actual spending.

Attention: Medium

21

Consultancy cost above the contract

What the signal looks like. Settled value of a consultancy contract exceeds the contract price plus addenda.

How to test it. Reconcile each consultancy contract and check that the deliverables were in fact delivered.

Attention: Medium

Assets and handover (4)

22

Asset value does not balance against investment cost

What the signal looks like. The balance equation does not hold: cost, less amounts not chargeable to assets, less surplus stock, does not equal asset value.

How to test it. Run the balance equation on a single set of figures; trace every difference before issuing.

Attention: High

23

Common costs allocated without a principle

What the signal looks like. Common costs split across items by feel rather than in proportion to capital.

How to test it. Check the allocation schedule and match the allocation basis against the approved policy.

Attention: Medium

24

Assets missing or duplicated across receiving entities

What the signal looks like. The same item appears in two handover records, or in none.

How to test it. Reconcile the total asset schedule against the sum of all handover records.

Attention: Medium

25

Costs excluded from asset value without permission

What the signal looks like. Losses, or costs of a cancelled item, with no decision of the competent authority.

How to test it. Require the decision permitting it; without one the amount must stay suspended and cannot be transferred.

Attention: High

Debts and surplus stock (3)

26

Debts recorded against the wrong party

What the signal looks like. Balances recorded by package name rather than by contractor legal entity, or several contractors merged.

How to test it. Reconcile balances by legal entity; circularise under the auditor’s control.

Attention: Medium

27

Confirmations sent and received by the investor

What the signal looks like. The auditor does not control despatch and receipt, so the evidence loses reliability.

How to test it. The auditor controls the despatch address and receives the replies directly.

Attention: High

28

Surplus materials and equipment with no disposal plan

What the signal looks like. Materials still in store after completion with no decision on what happens to them.

How to test it. Count physically against the records; recommend a disposal route in the report.

Attention: Low

Risks particular to urban railway projects (5)

29

Trial-running costs classified wrongly

What the signal looks like. Electricity, operating payroll and insurance during trial running charged to investment cost with no basis for doing so.

How to test it. Require the document approving the scope and funding source for trial running, prepared before trial running began.

Attention: High

30

System safety assessment cost missing from total investment

What the signal looks like. An item carried out by an independent foreign body, commonly omitted when the project was prepared.

How to test it. Reconcile the safety assessment contract against the approved total investment.

Attention: Medium

31

Exchange differences on loans and imported equipment

What the signal looks like. Rates applied to different transaction types inconsistently, or at the wrong date.

How to test it. Test exchange differences separately; match the rates applied against the contract terms.

Attention: High

32

Unclear whether training and technology transfer create an asset

What the signal looks like. Large amounts that form no fixed asset, easily suspended at settlement.

How to test it. Require a decision of the competent authority on whether they are chargeable to asset value.

Attention: Medium

33

No clear cost boundary between the line and the TOD area

What the signal looks like. Cash flows and assets of the two are mixed, and cannot be separated at handover.

How to test it. Check whether a cost separation policy was established at project preparation stage.

Attention: Medium

How to use it

  • When planning, run down the list and mark which items apply to this project. Items you rule out, write down why — that is evidence of judgement, not of laziness.
  • When testing, the “how to test it” column is a starting point, not a substitute for the audit programme.
  • Before a file goes for verification, an investor can run the same list as a self-check. Most items are things that can still be corrected if they are found in time.

If you would like this applied to your own project

Send the details through the Advice page. We will say which groups matter most for the stage your project is at.