Knowledge
Margin, rework and ISO 9001: your questions answered
Guides, tools and definitions for UK businesses that quote, deliver and install. Free to read, no sign-up.
Quick answers
- Why do we lose margin on jobs we priced correctly?
- Usually because the job you priced isn’t quite the job you build: specials described differently on the quote, the drawing and the purchase order, and changes absorbed instead of priced. Read more →
- Why do we keep going back to site for missing items?
- Because nobody shares one definition of “complete”, and some missing items were never on the order, so no dispatch check could catch them. Read more →
- What is margin fade?
- The gap between the margin a job was priced at and the margin it makes by the end. In project businesses most of it happens after the job is won. Read more →
- How do we work out what rework really costs?
- Start with the free calculator, which shows its formula. The real figure needs your own records, and is usually bigger than the rework log suggests. Read more →
- When do we have to move to ISO 9001:2026?
- The 2026 edition was published on 16 September 2026. Certificates to the 2015 edition remain valid until 30 September 2029. Read more →
- Does Curavest issue ISO 9001 certificates?
- No. We prepare you for certification; the certificate itself is issued by an independent certification body. Read more →
- What is containment?
- The immediate action that stops a problem spreading or reaching more customers, taken before the root cause is properly understood. Read more →
- What does on-time-in-full (OTIF) measure?
- The share of deliveries that arrive on the promised date with everything ordered. On time but one item short counts as a failure. Read more →
Margin and project GP
Where gross profit escapes after the job is won, and how to put a number on it.
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Guide
Where project businesses lose margin after the job is won
The twelve stages from quote to invoice, what you notice at each, and the cheap fix that usually works first.
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Tool
Cost of poor quality calculator
A rough annual figure for rework, scrap and remedial work, with the formula shown so you can check it.
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Glossary
Margin, delivery and cost terms
Margin fade, return visits, OTIF, rework, right first time and the cost of poor quality.
ISO 9001
What the standard asks for, what changed in 2026, and how to make it serve the business.
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Guide
ISO 9001:2026: what actually changed
The revision, the 30 September 2029 transition deadline, how much work it really is, and the claims to ignore.
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Service
ISO 9001 that helps the business, not just the auditor
How a quality system built around how you actually work passes audit as a by-product.
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Glossary
Quality system terms
ISO 9001, quality management system, internal audit and gap analysis, defined for owners, not auditors.
Running quality day to day
For the people who have to make it work on a busy Tuesday.
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Guide
You’ve been made Quality Manager. Now what?
The first 90 days, making the case to the MD, and how to report progress in half a page.
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Glossary
Finding and fixing problems
Root cause analysis, 5 Whys, 8D, containment, corrective and preventive action, CAPA and non-conformance.
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Method
How we work: diagnose, contain, fix, prove
What happens week by week in a typical 90 days, and what it needs from your team.
Rather talk it through with your own numbers?
Bring a sample of your rework or remedial records to a free Margin Leak Review, and we'll show you where the money is going.
Free. About an hour. You keep the findings.