Preliminaries
The costs of running the site that do not belong to one item of work, such as supervision, welfare, access and site plant.
by Jack Butler-Kettle · About 2 min readShare
Further detail
Read this alongside NRM 2: Detailed measurement for building works and SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol.
Preliminaries are project-related costs that support delivery rather than one measured item of work. Some are time-related, such as supervision or hired accommodation; others may be fixed. That distinction matters when considering a change or delay because not every preliminary increases with duration.
Typical items include site supervision, welfare, temporary accommodation, access arrangements, security and temporary services. Include only what the package actually requires.
Mobilisation and demobilisation may be one-off costs. A hired cabin or supervision allowance may depend on duration. Check the build-up rather than assigning every item the same behaviour.
Compare builders’ estimates on the same scope, duration and responsibilities. Check whether a subcontract rate already includes an item before adding it again as a preliminary.
Separate fixed and time-related costs in the tender and cost reports. Our Main-contract tender pricing service builds the original allowance. A Delay and disruption cost recovery needs evidence connecting additional cost to a compensable event.
There is no universal preliminaries percentage that fits every project. Our Main-contract tender pricing can build an allowance around the actual programme and resources.