Your friends tell you construction of a house in London will cost you some amount, you call in the construction company in London and decided to ask for a quotation. They come around and visit, one really impresses you and you can hardly wait to get the quotation, as they appear exactly what you are after. The quotation you receive will be more than your planned budget.
Does this situation sound familiar?
Many people find themselves in a situation, the construction company connected with the most on site visits cost is well over what they had expected. One of the others builders quote will be much closer to the price that they initially expected, should they simply proceed with them despite the fact that they don’t have a good feeling about them.
In this article we will explore 5 reasons why your construction company quotation is higher than expected.
The Data You Have Provided Is Flaky
Did all the builders coming to see you have a clear and exact brief of what you needed? Do the given quotes match with the individual items?
For instance, when you look at your quote have you been specific on the type of doors, window and tile and so on that you need. One builder could quote for UPVC doors and windows and the other for aluminum, there will be a major price variation with these.
Even down to little things like electrical points, ensure every builder specifies the amount and type that they are taking into consideration or your costs could easily creep up.
If the builder needs to make a lot of assumptions, this may be the reason why the cost is so high or maybe when you inform the cheaper builder on our specific requirements you may see their price jumps as well, and either you pay more for these final touches that you like or you make alterations to your quote and go for something more simple.
Your Designer Has Overdone The Design
Has your designer have got carried with ‘ideal’ needs and ran well over budget? This often happens.
For instance, you give your designer your top budget and ask them to make your drawings for a house. Then you see on the design that there isn’t sufficient light coming in so request an additional window, at that point you need an additional door and so on. By the time your amends are done, have they been updating you on the extra costs this might incur along the way? Each time you roll out any change to your project you have to revisit to the budget and check you are still in accordance with it.
Your Budget Not Realistic
Could it be able to be that your budget was never realistic enough and your friend might have paid lesser amount as you have expected that was 5 years back and isn’t of the spec that you are asking. Sometimes budget are unrealistic.
Great Builder Are Not The Cheapest
Great builders don’t come cheap. When you find a cheaper builder, you will find the reason why they were so cheap. Some go in low and then hike their costs up with additional, others produce a cheap quality work.
You Are Not Factoring In Labor And Materials
Do you really know what amount of this actually goes into a construction company pocket?
Clearly, every construction company can charge what they like, it’s their business and you either accept or reject a quote. However, it is good to know how most builders calculate their expenses.
Most construction companies in London quotations depend on 40% work 40% materials and 20% profit. If the two quotes come in at two different points then you have to ask where those savings are being made.
Is the amount being saved on less expensive quote mean less skilled labour and inferior quality materials possibly?
If you want to a transparency as possible while getting a quotation, why not have a quantity survey.
What Is A Quantity Survey And What Amount Do They Cost?
A quantity survey indicates all the materials that have been included for your quotation and even breaks the expense of the labour. It is very transparent and allows you to check whether any costs have been inflated so you know precisely what you are paying for.
Conclusion
If you are surprised at the quotation you have received, weigh up the different points we have discussed in this article. Guarantee your quotation is on a like for like basis, check whether there are elements you can tone down to shave money off the job and recollect that you get what you pay for – so cheap isn’t always cheerful!
