selfbuild - Quantity Surveyors - Worth the money?

tik33

Hi all,

not sure if this is the right branch, but I thought all you money savers out there might be good people to ask:

I am doing a self build project in London - planning to project manage myself.

I have architects and going to get a structural engineer. The architects want me to get a quantity surveyor (QS) on board. Here's the question:

Will I save money by hiring a QS - ie spend money to save money...?

Love to hear all your thoughts...

adr0ck

as a qs i have to say....yes!!!!!!!

tik33

aaah, a QS on moneysaver - you must be the kind of QS I'm after!

In all seriousness, how would you be able to convince me (and others?) why you think that you (and your fellow professionals) would be able to save us money?

thanks for your thoughts

frizz_head

Being married to one - I would say worth his weight in Gold!

Seriously, you would have to be totally dedicated to project manage a job yourself. Have you ever seen Property Ladder? I think you will save money (and a marraige) if you employed a QS for the job.

Party_Animal

Totally agree, a good QS will save you money in the long run.

richardw

Be careful with the Architect, he could be looking for a third party to blame when the project goes over budget. If he wants one ask him to get one to work for him and what the QS's fee would be.

gurj_k

hi...just wondering who will you be getting the structural warranty off? NHBC or zurich im pondering this decision!

richardw

If you know exactly what you want and a very good Employer's Requirements document could be produced then do it Design and Build.

windym_2

We're doing (project managing) a barn conversion, no qs and it's going very well and on budget. If there is one thing I am good at it is shopping! As far as our warranty goes, our Architect is supplying an architects certificate (about £700 plus VAT). May I recommend that you subscribe to one of the building magazines too, like Build It. They offer invaluable help and give details of all fairs etc.

Good luck.

richardw

Another way of looking at things is to consider

when you want the project finished and want to move in or sell it or let it, what if it isn't finished on time?

how much it is going to cost, will it go over budget, where does the extra money come from

and what are you actually going to get in terms of quality and specification and functionality, will it provide what you require and what if it doesn't, can you live with a certain level of imperfection.

If you are thinking of doing without a QS what would you do if the following arises

"The building contractor is claiming extra money because you want to expend an undefined provisional sum, the architect says it is a pc sum and the contractor's claim is unjustified, the contractor also wants extra time to complete the project, there has also been a bit of cold weather, and you want to deduct liquidated damages that aren't a genuine pre estimate of loss"

tik33

I hear what you all are saying.

9 months on and we've got planning permission but yet to start on site. Anyway, the question about QS's has cropped up again - I've even got a price for one!

They're quoting 6k for their services - I'm building a 150 m2 building contemporary and quite complicated - does that sound reasonable to all you other QS's?

to gurj - I'm planning to use NHBC - for the following reasons:

1. they are probably better known than the rest - useful when it comes to selling
2. they offer building control services (if you use a 'solo' build - ie it's a self-build) which will mean one inspector doing the building control and the NHBC - less potential conflicts

Anyone else doing self-build out there?