Your refit program waits on a class surveyor, but Asana thinks a task is just done or not done
Custom project management software for a Portsmouth marine or defence program runs £40,000 to £110,000 over 3 to 6 months. Asana, Monday, and Jira track tasks well. They can't model what actually governs a refit: stage gates that depend on class-society or naval approvals, milestone billing, and dependencies that hold for weeks while a surveyor signs off.
Your projects are vessel refits and marine-systems programs that move through approval gates, a class surveyor or naval authority has to sign off before the next stage can begin, and a milestone payment hangs on it. Asana treats a task as done or not done. It has no concept of a gate that's complete on your side but blocked pending an external approval, which is the single most common state your work sits in.
Monday and Jira can be bent into Gantt charts, but they can't tie a stage gate to a class approval, link a milestone to billing, or show you which of fifteen refit workstreams is genuinely blocked on a surveyor versus just behind. Your real project state, waiting on external sign-off, with money attached, is exactly what generic PM tools can't represent.
The fix: project management built for Portsmouth, not rented
Custom project management software models a refit as it runs: stage gates that can be complete-but-blocked pending a class or naval approval, milestones linked to billing, and dependencies that distinguish 'waiting on a surveyor' from 'behind schedule'. You see, across every workstream, exactly what's blocked on external sign-off and what that means for the next milestone payment, which no generic board can show you.
The capability list that earns its budget
What we build under project management in Portsmouth
The engagements Portsmouth teams bring us most often: team collaboration software, workflow management, custom project management software, task management, Gantt charts and resource scheduling.
What project management costs in Portsmouth
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Gate-aware PM core | £40k to £60k | 3 to 4 months |
| Plus milestone billing links and program roll-up | £60k to £85k | 4 to 5 months |
| Plus ERP/accounting integration | £85k to £110k | 5 to 6 months |
How long it takes, phase by phase
Exactly what you get
Project software that runs a refit honestly: stage gates carry an external-approval state, milestones link to billing, and dependencies separate 'waiting on a class surveyor' from 'behind schedule'. Across every workstream you see what's genuinely blocked on sign-off and what it means for the next payment. It connects to your ERP and accounting so gates, milestones, and billing stay aligned, with documents and approvals attached at each gate for audit.
How to choose a developer in Portsmouth
Pick a developer who has built program or project tooling for regulated, gated work, not just task boards. Ask how they'd model a gate that's complete on your side but blocked pending a class approval, and how a milestone links to billing. A partner who understands that your projects live in the 'done pending sign-off' state is the right one. A team that just rebuilds Asana columns hasn't grasped what governs a refit.
- Stage gates carry an approval state, so 'done pending class sign-off' is visible and tracked
- Milestones link to billing, so project progress and revenue stay connected
- Real blockers (waiting on a surveyor) are distinguished from ordinary delays
- Multi-workstream refit programs roll up to a clear, honest program view
- It connects to your ERP and accounting so gates, milestones, and billing align
- A bespoke PM tool means giving up the rich ecosystem and integrations of Asana or Jira
- Your team has to adopt a new tool, and change management is real work
- Modelling approval gates and billing links adds build complexity
- For standard task tracking with no gates or milestone billing, Monday is cheaper and fine
- !They rebuild a Kanban board. Ask how it models a gate blocked on class approval
- !No billing link. Ask how a milestone connects to a payment
- !They can't distinguish external blocks. Ask how 'waiting on a surveyor' shows up
- !No program roll-up. Ask how fifteen refit workstreams give one honest view
- !No ERP integration. Ask how gates and billing stay aligned with finance
Most Portsmouth teams pricing project management end up comparing notes on field service management, booking & scheduling, mobile app too; the systems share one data spine.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't Jira or Asana handle refits?
They model tasks as done or not done. A refit lives in the 'complete on our side but blocked pending class or naval approval' state, with money attached to the gate, which generic PM tools can't represent natively.
How does it link to billing?
Milestones are tied to gate completion and to your accounting, so when a gate clears its approval, the related milestone billing is triggered and project progress stays connected to revenue.
Can it show what's really blocked?
Yes. Dependencies distinguish external blocks, like waiting weeks on a surveyor, from ordinary internal delays, so your program view is honest about why a workstream is stalled.