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Taking the fuss out of architecture and building projects

Tips on how to manage the cost of your building project

Most people think architectural services end at the design, but for me, the design is only part of the job. The other part of the job is protecting the Client’s bottom line.

Fears of cost overruns is a real and big issue. This is especially relevant as the supply only cost of materials over the last few years has sky rocketed.

Surely there is a way to manage costs, or a way to control costs, so the money horror stories you hear about from your friends and family or see on the TV, don’t become your reality.

Fear not my financial savvy friends, there is a way.

Your costs can be managed properly so your core requirements are delivered and actually built. Carry on reading to find out how I keep my Client’s project costs on track from day one.

Design is only part of the job - the other part is protecting the Client’s bottom line

Costs are a big constraint to any project and understanding how to manage the costs while still delivering the Client brief is something that can be quite difficult to actually achieve in reality. I’ve pulled together some real life tips on how to achieve this, using tried and tested methods learnt over the years. Carry on reading to find out more. 💡

A Client’s budget needs to be grappled with early on in every project

During my very first conversation with new Clients, we are talking about project costs and how to ensure their project can be delivered on budget. One of my first questions is around budget. What is your budget? Does that include VAT and professional fees as well?

I always try to encourage Clients to get cost estimates applied at early stages so the design can be sense checked against realistic market rate costs. Most, if not all of my Clients, are often surprised at how much things cost to get built properly and cost savings are usually made throughout the life of the project.

If you are embarking on a building project please try to ensure that you are considering realistic costs very early on, before you get too attached to a design that you love, but is simply unaffordable. Try not to ignore the advice of your professionals, after all, this is what you are paying them for [what a crazy notion right, this can’t ever happen].

Enter the esoteric Quantity Surveyor

To help with controlling project costs we often work side by side with another building professional called a Quantity Surveyor or QS. A QS can do many magical things but in the context of cost control, they possess expert knowledge about building costs and can prepare documents that itemise the building work into logical sections that are each priced up to current market rates. This document is called a Cost Estimate and takes into account the quantities and costs of each building component, such as number of items [say 12 timber framed windows], areas [say 47m² of fireboard] and volumes [say 17m³ of concrete], etc. When all these components are allowed for and totalled up this generates the total cost of the building work. There is a lot more to it than that but hopefully you get the idea. If you are employing a QS to help with your project before getting a Building Contractor involved you will need to pay a professional fee for this service. It’s worth noting that Building Contractors often employ a QS to help them prepare their quotes for new projects which demonstrates how effective they are at helping with project costings.

Here’s the 4 phase process I often follow for controlling costs on Client projects, the design is usually amended at each stage to reduce or manage costs.

Before Planning Permission – Cost Estimate 1

Early costs are obtained from a Quantity Surveyor, once a preliminary design scheme is agreed, before Planning Permission is applied for. This is sometimes called RIBA Stage 2. This means the design can be amended to save costs, before submitting for Planning Permission. Sometimes the project is cancelled at this early stage, as the costs are too high.

Note > Stage 2 costs are based on a lot of assumptions, the final specification and final build ups of floors, walls and roofs etc. have not been fully worked out at this stage. This means Stage 2 costs can sometimes vary from Stage 4 costs. Stage 2 costs should only be used as an outline guide price, not a definite, detailed Cost Estimate.

After Building Regulations – Cost Estimate 2

A bit later on, get the previous costs updated from the Quantity Surveyor, once the technical design has been completed, soon after Building Regulations has been submitted. This is sometimes called RIBA Stage 4. This means the design can be further amended to save costs, before obtaining prices from Building Contractors.

Another note > Stage 4 costs are usually higher than Stage 2 as the technical detail and specific calculations have been properly worked out, Stage 2 cost estimates should not be used for direct comparisions against Stage 4 Cost Estimates or Building Contractor’s quotes as they will be invariably different as already explained.

Before construction – Cost Estimate 3 / Tender stage

We then obtain accurate prices from Building Contractors for the updated design. If the costs are acceptable we proceed to get things built for this cost. This is sometimes called RIBA Stage 5.

Before construction – Cost Estimate 4

If the costs are still too high we then accept the cost estimate from the Building Contractor who is the best fit for the project [not always the cheapest] and work together as a team to agree a final round of cost savings. Once these cost savings are agreed and the project is in line with the Client budget we proceed to get things built for this cost. This is sometimes called RIBA Stage 5.

At this point, you need to focus [ruthlessly] on the luxury ‘nice to have’ items vs the essential non negotiable items. i.e. new handmade, handpainted artisan timber kitchen vs new decent kitchen from a regular supplier that could be over £15k cheaper.

Occasionally, at this stage some Clients decide to pull out and do not proceed any further, their project is not built. While this is disappointing and frustrating it is a lot better than the alternative of starting a project on site you can't afford to finish off or that needs a late redesign, sometimes after building work starts.

The image above is of a Green Belt project that was abandoned after receiving building contractor quotes. So, while this family did spend a lot of money on professional fees, the cost of these fees was a lot less than the potential cost of a building project that was unaffordable, and the emotional stress of having to deal with that, was eliminated.

The process above isn’t the quickest and I recognise this isn’t always possible or suitable on certain projects. However, this process does work and provides assurance to my Clients that their project is going to be delivered on budget. There are no unexpected surprises towards the end of a project.

I have to admit, I didn’t always do this and I quickly learnt the hard way that waiting until costs are provided by Building Contractors at a late stage is not the best way to manage costs. In the past, this approach sometimes meant that a Client’s ideal project and the Client’s dream wish list came in above budget. Amending the design at a late stage to reduce costs can sometimes mean that Planning Permission and other approvals need to be amended or fresh approvals are needed. This can then delay a project. You need to adjust the design along the way, to save costs before it’s too late.

There are also other ways to obtain costs, but they don’t always produce the best results, in my opinion.

During construction

If appointed for project management services on site I can also help manage costs during the build phase. During construction I also work collaboratively with the Building Contractor to see if there are other ways to save costs without reducing performance. There is also another tried and tested method I use during construction that generates a staged paper trail along the way so everyone knows exactly how the project costs are going at any particular time and there are no surprises at the end. I think I will write another Newsletter about this in the future, for another day.

If you try to get a grip on your project costs early on and keep reviewing them regularly, this should mean that you don’t have to put up with a part-finished project on site that you can’t occupy and enjoy. You should always have a good and real understanding of how much things are costing you at all times.

Yet another note > detailed designs and drawings are essential for accurate prices and overall project success. This is something I try hard to do and I like to think I help deliver with this. My designs and drawings are very thorough and detailed, without any second guessing. This means working with my drawings should mean pricing is accurate + the work is quicker and easier to build on site. There is more Client certainty and less figuring stuff out on site as you go along, so to speak. I try to get everything absolutely nailed down before building works start. In fact this is a key component of my core business values.​

Retrofit + extension project where we are helping to keep costs on track

We first started initial investigations with this project over a year ago.

It’s a fairly typical Victorian end terrace house in Sheffield, that has suffered from poor quality building work completed in the past that is failing and not safe. The existing house also needs some love and care to modernise and upgrade to current standards. This house was built before cavity walls were commonplace in Sheffield and the existing walls are essentially solid brick, with some stone facings in places.

A summary of the proposed work is:

• Remove the old first floor offshot rear extension that is falling down, literally.
• Remove the old loft conversion that is not safe to use.
• Full strip back of the existing internal finishes, including lots of asbestos, back to bare brick and timber joists in all rooms.
• Rebuild a new pitched roof over the old ground floor offshot kitchen, to almost replicate the original roof.
• Remodel the ground floor slightly to create a larger open plan Kitchen / Dining space.
• Remodel the first floor slightly to provide two decent bedrooms and a bathroom, in less space than before, as the old first floor extension has been removed.
• Rebuild a new loft conversion with rear dormer to create a safer and larger bedroom.
• Fully insulate and draft proof the entire house, all rooms. Breathable wood fibre and lime plaster build ups are proposed to be used to all external walls, to manage condensation risks.
• Remove a couple of chimney breasts to create more internal space.
• Rebuild the front bay window that has started to detach from the front walls.

This was not the original scope of work; the original Client wish list was a lot larger and ambitious. The scheme has been cut back and several items removed to save costs during the design journey.

I asked questions about how the costs were going to be managed at an early stage. The risks of not getting estimates early enough were explained, and how this could be a false economy that may delay or cost more money to rectify at a later date. It was agreed to proceed with the services of Quantity Surveyor so cost estimates could be prepared to help inform decisions.

We went through the exact same 4 phase process described above.

The first design had a new first floor rear extension replacing the old first floor extension with a timber framed structure, and some cool circular windows [in my humble opinion]. The first cost estimate confirmed the cost was over budget. So, we removed the first floor rear extension, and external lime render to an entire gable wall and a load of renewable tech such as large arrays of solar panels.

The scaled back design was then submitted for Planning Permission soon after and was approved in good time. The technical design and structural co-ordination were then completed and a second updated cost estimate obtained, that took into account the scaled back scheme. The second cost estimate confirmed the cost was still over budget. So, we then removed an extensive scheme of external landscaping and made some other cost saving adjustments.

We then obtained quotes from Building Contractors which still confirmed the cost was over budget.

We have now selected one of the Building Contractors and are now working through a final phase of cost reductions while still trying to retain the main bulk of work, so the finished building still provides the same level of accommodation. This isn’t finished yet and is ongoing. We hope the final cost savings can be agreed over the next few weeks and works start on site soon.

So far this has been a challenging project, and with many more yet to overcome. I can’t wait to get this project on site and to physically start the transformation. I’ll be sharing future project updates, so please keep an eye out here on the monthly newsletters or in my social media accounts.

Find out about the Green Belt project here

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New places

If you are new to my newsletter then each month, I share a photo of somewhere I've been. Just sharing something about my love of buildings and nature. I also love travelling to new places and cultures. Whenever I go on holiday, I try to take a few photos of buildings and places I find fascinating and interesting. I’m by no means a professional photographer but I’d like to share some of these places with you, hopefully they capture something of what I experienced.

Last month’s photo was taken in Hallstatt, Austria. Hallstatt is a village on Lake Hallstatt's western shore in the Austrian alps, with many of the original 16th-century Alpine houses still occupied and in use. A stunningly beautiful area and village, relatively unharmed by modern interventions, it’s easy to see why this is a UNESCO heritage site. Slightly saddened that I was one of the many tourist visitors spoiling the experience for the inhabitants though.

So, what do you think this is a photo of and where was this photo taken? If you think you know where the photo was taken or like the photo and want to find out more, hit reply and let me know.

You’ll have to wait until the next newsletter to find out where this photo is from. I know, I can feel the pent up excitement from here.

What's next

Next time we will have a brief overview of glazing when used in retrofit projects, with some top tips. Keep an eye out to find out more.

That’s it for now, hope you enjoyed this and I look forward to sharing more with you soon.

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