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Construction estimating and cost planning

For main contractors

Build or check the project estimate before agreeing your main-contract price and procurement budget.

What is it?

We distinguish subcontract allowances, direct costs, preliminaries and the risks you retain as main contractor. A cost check or new estimate for one agreed design issue. Choose a review of the cost plan you already have, or a new estimate covering the trades, options and pricing date you need.

New design issues, additional options, remeasurement and a new estimate following a review are separately instructed.

How does it work?

  1. You explain the work and the decision you need

    You describe the named main contract or subcontract and your position under it, the result you need and any urgent dates. The introductory conversation checks fit and availability; substantive assessment starts under an accepted instruction.

  2. We agree the scope, responsibilities and fee

    We check suitability, conflicts and capacity, then agree the scope, deliverables and timetable in writing, with a fixed fee or agreed hourly or daily basis. We explain payment terms, VAT and any separate costs before you accept. We agree whether to review an existing estimate or prepare a new one, the design stage, cost coverage, pricing date and any options. We confirm responsibility for urgent actions and specialist input.

  3. You accept the scope and provide the information

    You accept the written scope and provide the current drawings and specification, project brief, programme, budget and any existing estimate or quotations; proposed contract terms if available. You identify missing items and the versions supplied; we agree who will obtain anything still needed.

  4. We check the records and resolve gaps

    We check the documents against the agreed scope, dates and versions, raise queries and record the basis on which work can proceed. Missing evidence stays identified; we agree any limited assessment or pause affected work until essential information is available. Live deadlines continue to run.

  5. We set the cost breakdown and pricing basis

    We separate direct work, subcontract packages, preliminaries and retained project risks, checking scope interfaces and procurement assumptions.

  6. We prepare or review the estimate

    We measure or check the agreed quantities, select suitable cost evidence and adjust it for the project, location and pricing date. We record provisional allowances, inflation and risk separately so uncertainty is visible.

  7. We check totals and test the cost position

    We check arithmetic, coverage, omissions and duplicated allowances, compare suitable benchmarks and explain differences. We test the agreed options against the budget and identify choices or further design information needed.

  8. You confirm the assumptions and next decisions

    You answer outstanding design or scope questions and decide which options to pursue. We update within the agreed allowance; a new design issue or additional option is separately scoped.

  9. We explain the result and complete the handover

    We issue the checked estimate or review report, with its pricing basis, assumptions, exclusions and risk allowances, explain the findings and record unresolved items, next actions, owners and dates. We answer the included clarification and correct our errors. New information, changed scope and later stages need a separate agreement; you decide whether to instruct them.

We confirm timing after checking the scope and available records. Flag any live deadline when you enquire; it continues to run while information is gathered.

Read how we agree the scope, fees and instruction.

What do you get?

You receive the outputs for the stages you choose. Each stage has its own scope, fee and endpoint; later stages are optional.

  • For a review: a findings report covering arithmetic, scope gaps, allowances and priority queries.
  • For a new cost plan: an elemental estimate, basis of pricing, assumptions, exclusions and risk allowances.

Each fixed piece of work includes one consolidated clarification round requested within 10 working days of issue, unless agreed otherwise. New records or scope need a separate agreement; we correct our own errors without charge.