Delivering Your Project On Budget
Delivering your project on budget is one of the key success factors when embarking on a construction project. With so many elements to consider, putting together a budget and then sticking to it can be a full-time job.
Because of this, using a quantity surveyor during a construction project should be seen as having the same importance of using an accountant for your business. Using a quantity surveyor will not only save you time in this vital area, but also money; often a lot more than the fees you pay.
There are three main factors a quantity surveyor will consider when helping you to deliver your project on budget.
Know what your budget should be
Your quantity surveyor should be a central part of your project from the earliest stages in order to not only understand your end goals but play a vital role in helping to realise them.
They will be able to begin making cost estimates from rough sketches to help set realistic expectations of what can be achieved within your budget. It may be that your budget will need to increase to deliver the project, however it may also be that you have a little spare for something extra!
Setting these cost estimates are based on current benchmarks for building costs, along with the projected increases for when you start building and data from projects of a similar scale. This is much more accurate than relying on contractors quotes or budgets from projects that you simply just ‘know’ as the data will have been tested multiple times.
The final consideration when forming a budget comes down to cost, quality and time. You can have low cost and high quality by taking your time, quality and a short time at a high cost or cost and save time and cost at the expense of quality. Your quantity surveyor will help identify where you are on this triangle and plan accordingly.
Stick to your budget
Without a detailed schedule of work, it is almost guaranteed that you will overspend or go over time on your build. Your quantity surveyor will write a schedule of works for each element based on the drawings and information from various consultants.
This schedule of works is then used during the tendering process to find the best contractors for your project. This schedule of works coupled with a full understanding of the project and current industry standards will help you understand the quotes provided and ensure that the right contractors are appointed.
In addition, the schedule of works will allow contracts to be negotiated based on detailed information about the build and the budget. This will mean costs can be fixed prior to the commencement of works and then up to the contractor to stick to them.
Saving you money
There are often hundreds of different people involved in a construction project such as one layout out the plans, one digging the foundations, one laying the bricks, plastering, painting e.t.c and whilst they might do a good job, you would not know if they are charging the right price without a quantity surveyor.
In addition, there is an extremely long list of materials that are required. Your quantity surveyor will have all the information of suppliers, costs and availability for all materials that you will require. Often this is also cutting out the middleman and simply doing this can cover the costs of a better bathroom or slightly larger extension!
