Home » Design & Planning » Steps to Building » Contractors and Quotes
Contractors and Quotes
Should you or your designer get the job estimated by a quantity surveyor or do you simply obtain competitive quotes for the whole job from builders?
There are two ways costing your project.
Employ a quantity surveyor at the beginning of the project. This enables accurate budgeting which is monitored as the project evolves and provides you with a benchmark to evaluate costings as they come in. It also provides a level of security that nothing has been missed in the tender process.
Seek tenders from contractors. Alternative to a quantity surveyor is to seek tenders from at least three contractors. If the prices from all three are similar, there is a good chance they will be realistic and accurate. If they are vastly different you will have to establish what that means, did the low one miss something? Is the high price over i or is the a cost difference in the expected quality and professionalism?
Do you appoint a project manager to oversee the whole process? This depends on how you decide to run the project. If you run a labour only contract, this requires you to act as project supervisor for the entire process, including organising your own builder, sub-contractors and purchase materials.
The alternative is to employ an experienced project manager to oversee the process on your behalf. Or put the project in the hands of a builder who is prepared to give you a total cost which covers everything including materials, sub-contrators and full site supervision and co-ordination. This way is good if you want to distance yourself from the day to day hassles related to building projects and just get an all up cost with definitive completion date.
Unless you are a skilled building professional with lots of time to dedicate to the project our advice is to employ a professional project manager. The small cost will be more than compensated for by the huge gains in organisation, scheduling, quality control and peace of mind a professional can bring to your project
If you choose to manage the project by yourself then you carry the full responsibility and liability for the performance of all trade and compliance with Building Regulations.
Selecting a Builder with a proven track record is important. Registered Master Builders and Registered Certified Builders are trade professionals who have met criteria to become members of these associations. These builders can offer you guarantees that provide you with reassurance about the quality of their workmanship.
Step 8 Reality Check
