How much will my building project cost?

How much will my building project cost?

We’re often asked how much it will cost? And “it” is a very open question. The answer is, it depends on various factors.

Each and every building project we are involved with is different to the last one. Our experience allows us to gain a thorough understanding as to what’s involved and what it will take to deliver a range of professional services that are tailored to your needs. We believe that the key is in establishing exactly what you need from both us and of the project.

There’s plenty of industry guidance on the internet documenting a percentage of budget ranging from 5-10%. Many practices use a percentage as a way of generating a fee proposal.

We do things differently

To establish your fees for the various stages, from feasibility and planning works, through to technical design and building regulations details, all the way through to on site contract administration and site inspections. We like to work out how long we anticipate the project requires and base our fee on this time estimate. This estimation of time is based on years of experience, so we are confident with our proposals.

What do you do for the fee?

As a multi disciplinary practice, we do it all.

Surveys: We undertake the measured survey works required.

Design: We’re well versed with both urban and rural architecture and have delivered hundreds of successful projects over the years.

Planning: We take you through the planning system, we’ll do it all, so you don’t have to worry about anything.

Listed Building consent: We have lots of experience of working with heritage and listed buildings. We’ll guide you through the options, what’s likely to be supported and as per the planning process, we’ll take care of everything for you.

Building Regulations: Much like the planning process, we do it all, providing a full technical design package, managing all of the consultants, submitting the application and working with the inspecting officers.

Project management: We can take your project out to tender to a range of pre approved contractors who we know will be a great fit for your needs and expectations.

Example costs for a two storey extension to a family home:

We tailor our services to suit your needs, we take time to listen and understand your requirements to ensure we deliver the service you require to deliver the property of your dreams.

In our example below, we summarise the range of architectural services we can provide for a two storey extension to a family house.

Build costs vary on several factors, our estimations are a reflection of the costs we’re seeing at present (2022). These costs are based on a main contractor (who will be the single point of call for the entire build and responsible for all trades) who will typically be charging in the region of £1,900-£3,500/㎡ +VAT (subject to the complexities of the build and the internal specification).

COST ESTIMATE: If we take our example project at 80㎡ over two storeys, this would equate to a build budget of £152,000 – £ 280,000 + VAT

Design stage and planning submission:

During this stage we will:

  • Carry out measured survey of the property.
  • Prepared accurate drawings of the existing house including floor plans and elevations.
  • Prepare a series of drawings with the proposals for discussion and review.
  • Identify the other consultants required and assist with their appointments.
  • Meet you to review the proposals and finalise designs.
  • Co-ordinate the consultant reports required to make the planning application.
  • Develop the design and make the planning application.
  • Manage the submission through to the issue of the decision.

COST ESTIMATE: £2,000 – £5,000

Once planning permission is awarded:

We will complete the following:

  • Prepared Technical drawings in sufficient detail to be able to submit a building regulations application.
  • Liaise with the appointed consultants (Structural Engineer, Ecologists etc..) to ensure compliance with all legislation and integrating their information into our drawings and details where required.
  • Make a building regulations application and manage the process to obtain the approval.

COST ESTIMATE: £2,000 – £5,000 + VAT

Once the detailed design is agreed:

During this stage we will:

  • Agree the detailed specifications for electrical, heating and kitchen layouts.
  • Prepared window, door and finishes schedules.
  • Prepare the NBS (National Building Specification) Preliminaries document.
  • Take the project out to competitive tender to our agreed list of contractors.

COST ESTIMATE: £1,950 – £4,450 + VAT

When the quotations are received:

We will:

  • Analyse them and question any omissions, additions or ambiguity.
  • Produce our analysis report establishing best value and make recommendations for which Contractor should be appointed or which contractors should be introduced to the client for further assessment.
  • Once a contractor has been selected, hold a pre contract meeting.
  • Prepare the contract with the successful party on behalf of the client.
  • During the construction phase, we carry out visits to the site to check the quality of work and certify the valuations for monthly payments to be made to the contractor.
  • When the building work is complete, we finalise the account and issue the Practical Completion certificate.

Once the tenders have been received, we move on to an hourly fee basis and typically, fees in the month to set up the contract are in the region of £1,500+VAT.

COST ESTIMATE: Monthly site inspections, Contract Administration : £850-£1,500/month +VAT

One year after completion:

The Contract we use for house extensions contains a 2.5% retention fee, this is retained by the client for an agreed period of time, typically 12 months. After a year it is generally considered that the property will have naturally settled and any defects in the building should have become apparent.

Following the 12-month ‘defects period’ we will visit the site to check for defects and agree the remediation work with the contractor. Once any identified defects are ‘made good’, a final certificate will be issued and the retention (2.5%) released to the contractor.

The contractor retains their duty to rectify any major defects which may occur as a result of poor workmanship for a further number of years. Dependent upon the terms of the contract agreed, but commonly with house extensions, this will typically be 6 years.

COST ESTIMATE:  Closing out a project at the end of the defects period is typically £700 – £1,000 +VAT