Should we build??

[galwaytt]

.... I agree with sending out the plans but I do not think that it is a simple as sending out the plans as they can be priced / intrepreted in so many different ways and I am struggling on how to approach this.

You're dead right. I've seen a contract lost because one builder used a QS to price, whilst another did a calc himself for actual, rather than 'book' costs. The difference in in the house came to 160k. And no, you've no comeback with the QS on it, either. I'm not enamoured by the QS work I've seen.

The problem with sending out plans is, as you've said, there's no spec. So write up something yourself, as a starting point, from a common-sense point of view, and at least get the pricing in the same manner. A one-line quote from a builder with 'to build your house € XXX,XXX is pretty much useless. Those quotes always smack to me of a guy who threw a per-sq-ft price at it, and hoped for the best. You want someone to have earnestly sat down and calculated the actual cost, for you.

Quotes should be at least as detailed as your RFQ - Request For Quote. The more info you give, the more comprehensive, and accurate, the quote. And don't dismiss the more expensive 'looking' one. Check what's actually included, or not, to compare. You'd be surprised how many of the 'cheap quotes' work out to be nothing of the kind........

In general, though, if you can, and are in a position to, yes, it's a great time to build.

Make it fun !

 

[mb16]

I had a meeting with my architect yesterday and he is going to do up a spec to try and include every eventuality in the house and get a couple of prices from builders so that we can have an overall idea of what our price is going to be. I have more or less decided the builder I want to use so he is going to get a couple of quotes from others to keep him honest. The architect now wants me to decide all the elements I want in the house i.e. what kind of internal doors, is there wooden flooring throughout etc and I haven't really thought about it down to that level so must do a lot of homework now.It's going to take the architect a few weeks to come up the finished spec so will update when I have more news.
M

 

[Clarelassie]

Hi Bartbridge,

Well I have to admit my OH did up the spec. Including everything from what spec of insulation we wanted everywhere,what type of wood for doors, skirting etc, heating system ( we orig quoted for pellet boiler and stove with back boiler), spec of windows, etc

We still had to revise it after we got the quotes back as some things changed, and some things dropped by us. Also, some contractors will come back with detailed lists, some with just the figure, some with different levels of breakdown. If we were doing it again, we would provide them with a breakdown of how we want the costs shown (i.e. site clearance, roof etc) - much easier to compare like with like then.

I can send you one of the draft copies if you pm me with your email address - just know that it did change, it was our ideal house - think there were 2 more rounds with the contractors. We were told ours tender doc was very detailed - but there is less room for them to argue after if you have it detailed from the start what you want - prices will change some of that though

 

[galwaytt]

don't let someone charge you a fortune for writing out a spec, get a pric e for that job........you don't want to get stuck for a huge bill for that task.......

other point: I got two sets of plans in the post today, to price. One, was a reduced-to-A4 photocopy, with no dims on half of it. Almost completely impossible to price stuff like that: make assumptions about things and you may be too expensive, and people think you're nuts: don't make assumptions and you'll have a nice cheap quote, but full of PC sums and 'to be clarified' 's in it. Again, only marginally worse than useless.

What I would say to anyone paying someone to do their plans, for planning or construction, is to insist you get a copy of them in AutoCad format, on a disc/stick. They're YOUR plans, and you pay for them, and you should get them in the fashion YOU require - not what suits the 'drawer'........ make this a point, right up front, before you spend any energy or money on the project. We've been used to paper, and scale drawings in the past, but this is not the past, and everyone, from factories like ours, to window manufacturers, to HRV and UFH planners, all use CAD.