TENDERING PROCESS
Our quantity surveyor Tim Phillips explains what’s involved in this essential phase in any build project, and why going out to tender matters when it comes to controlling costs effectively
TIM PHILLIPS Is a quantity surveyor and runs
Quantiv.uk, with over 30 years of experience across the commercial and residential sector. @timphillips71
The tendering stage is when a project begins to feel real to the majority of homeowners and self-builders, and this is where apprehension usually sets in. You may have worked with budgets, sketches and ideas up to this point. During the tendering process, builders provide firm costs based on your finalised plans.
Tendering is, to put it simply, a systematic means of inviting builders to provide a quotation for your project using the same information. You provide designs, specifications and electronic data to a number of qualified builders and request official quotes from each of them rather than depending just on verbal estimates. This makes it possible to compare ‘like for like’ and levels the playing field.
Finding the cheapest builder is not the only goal of tendering. It is a tool for risk management. It assists you in selecting a builder who has a reasonable price, a clear grasp of the project’s scope, and fewer chances for expensive disputes when the project is underway.
WHEN SHOULD YOU USE THE TENDERING PROCESS?
A formal tendering process is recommended for any project with a high level of risk, complexity or cost. This covers the majority of self-build projects, extensions and major renovations. Tendering becomes important when there are structural changes, various trades need to be scheduled or the build programme exceeds several months.
Consistency is the most important principle. Only when each builder is pricing the exact same information can several quotes make sense. The quotes you get will differ greatly and provide you with very little information if one builder is working from planning drawings, another from Building Regulations drawings and a third from a sketch layout. In that case, you are evaluating how each builder understands missing details rather than the market. The end result is frequently a low initial figure that changes once building gets underway.
When you have a clear concept and want to know the cost before committing, tendering is key to getting the correct information. It also helps if you are taking out a loan or stage payment mortgage from a company like BuildStore, working within a specific budget or carefully supervising the whole project yourself.