hanga.uk

Dave
Hughes

Construction professional — project manager and quantity surveyor, principally client side. Using AI to deepen my practice in systems thinking and process optimisation across capital delivery.

26 years in construction and infrastructure

I'm an NEC-accredited commercial manager working in capital delivery at Yorkshire Water, with a career spanning project management and quantity surveying across construction and infrastructure — predominantly on the client side.

My focus has always been on how systems behave under pressure — how decisions made early in a programme can have unintended consequences, how contracts shape behaviour, and where gaps in process create risk or waste. I have a particular interest in systems thinking as a lens for understanding why programmes succeed or fail, and in the processes that either enable or obstruct good delivery.

Lately, I've been using AI tools to extend and stress-test that thinking in ways that weren't previously practical. This site documents what I'm building and learning as that work develops.

AI-assisted thinking in capital delivery

The questions I'm working on are the same ones I've always worked on. AI makes some of them tractable in new ways — and opens up approaches to systems analysis and process design that weren't practical before.

Systems thinking in construction programmes — understanding how early decisions propagate through a project system, creating downstream consequences that are rarely visible at the point of choice

Scenario-based training design for construction project management, using AI to simulate dynamic stakeholder behaviour and NEC contract administration decisions

Process optimisation in capital programmes — particularly on the client side where delivery frameworks often lag the pace and complexity of the work

Tacit knowledge transfer in post-Covid construction teams, and what structured tools and processes can realistically do about the gap left by reduced in-person mentorship

Things I've built

Construction PM Training Simulation
Work in progress
View prototype ↗

A gamified, scenario-based training simulation for construction project management. Players work through a real project — converting a 1920s building into two dance studios — making decisions across surveys, consultant appointments, scope, procurement, and NEC contract administration. Early decisions create downstream consequences without being signposted.

AI-powered dynamic stakeholders respond to player choices rather than following scripted decision trees. Designed to help graduates and junior staff develop the systems thinking and process intuition that used to transfer through physical proximity and mentorship.

Built around APM-aligned competencies with NEC contract mechanics at its core. The AI layer is the genuine differentiator — stakeholders who adapt to context, not just react to triggers.
Hanga — Construction Cost Estimator
Shelved
View app ↗

An AI-powered construction cost estimator giving homeowners early-stage budget clarity before engaging contractors. Built on Lovable and Supabase with a conversational interface for capturing project scope and generating indicative cost breakdowns.

The build worked. The market didn't validate the premise — homeowners wanted outcomes delivered, not cost transparency, and builders were sceptical of a tool that sat between them and their clients.

Killed based on market evidence, not sentiment. Recognising a flawed premise early — before significant investment — is a skill worth developing.
This Website — hanga.uk
Live
Visit site ↗

A minimal portfolio site built to document my AI experimentation and share work in progress. I bought the domain — hanga.uk — but the HTML was written entirely by Claude, which means it costs nothing to host on Netlify's free tier.

No page builder, no subscription, no template licence. Just a single HTML file, a DNS record, and a drag-and-drop deploy.

The build cost is the domain renewal. Everything else is free. Sometimes the simplest stack is the right one.

Get in touch

If you're working in capital delivery, construction training, or infrastructure programme management and any of this is relevant to what you're doing, I'm happy to talk.