‣ Top-line KPI band

 Cost Performance Index (CPI) for the current month and cumulative to-date, plus three “at-completion” forecasts: Estimate‐to-Complete (ETC), Estimate-at-Completion (EAC) and Variance at Completion (VAC). A CPI above 1.00 shows you are spending less than the earned value; below 1.00 signals a cost over-run.

‣ S-curve (line chart)

 Planned cumulative EPC drawdowns (baseline) versus actual certificates paid. A diverging gap after Month 5 is the first visual alarm that cash is leaving faster than value is being created.

‣ Monthly CPI trend (bar-over-line)

 Bars: monthly CPI.

 Line: rolling three-month average.

 A two-month dip under 0.90 triggers the red flag in your project controls procedure.

‣ Milestone variance table

‣ Cost-category pie

 Hard cost spend split (structure, MEP, façade, preliminaries) against budget to confirm whether overruns are systemic or isolated.

‣ Cash-flow vs loan-facility gauge

 Shows % of construction loan drawn, remaining head-room, and whether you are approaching DSCR covenants.

Why it matters

1. Early-warning radar – CPI is earned-value-based, not accountant-based. A falling CPI tells you material over-runs weeks before the quantity surveyor’s monthly report lands, giving time to cut scope or renegotiate rates.
2. Capital-call discipline – Investors and lenders release funds against the EPC drawdown schedule. A live dashboard proves you are hitting physical progress, so money arrives on time and the contractor’s cash chain stays intact.
3. Pricing power – If costs creep while sales prices are flat, ROC collapses sharply (see sensitivity table). Real-time cost visibility lets you re-price remaining inventory or re-sequence sales launches before profit evaporates.
4. Governance – Dubai’s larger banks now require monthly earned-value curves on projects above AED 300 M. A dashboard satisfies that compliance in one screenshot.

Why we set a 75 % Return-on-Cost hurdle

• Risk buffer – Mid-rise mixed-use in JVC is higher-beta than Downtown plots. A 75 % ROC equates to ±35 % net profit margin; that cushion absorbs a simultaneous 10 % sale-price drop and 12 % cost inflation while still clearing the 60 % committee minimum.

• Equity multiple – 75 % ROC over a 30-month programme converts to roughly a 2.0× equity multiple and an un-geared IRR near 24 %. That meets the threshold private-office investors use for Dubai secondary locations (they benchmark against Downtown/Marina deals returning 18-20 % IRR but with lower absorption risk).

• Finance leverage – Banks will typically lend 55-60 % of cost. Hitting 75 % ROC means you can service debt even if absorption slows to 70 % of forecast, keeping the project clear of cash-sweep clauses.

• Negotiating posture – A visible 75 % target signals to the landowner and contractor that you have walk-away power if land or EPC terms erode the economics. It frames negotiations around data, not sentiment.