Provisional Sum

ajkzr

Hi,


We have had quotes back from builders for an extension and some items are listed as provisional.


From a contractual point of view, how do people usually deal with this?



We would like to use one of the standard building contracts, but that only works off a fixed price/staged payments?



Thanks.

jakemillspaek

A provisional sum in the construction industry is an item which cannot be accurately priced due to unknowns and will await clarification.
Get your contractor to price and specify exactly what he has priced for and any departure from this can we revalued on its own merits.(variation)

rescynic

We usually handle provisional sums like this:

- Include in the total cost of works (make sure and highlight them for easy reference later)
- write to the client when we start to expend money against said provisional sums
- When costs are quantifiable submit an add and omit variation (omit the provisional sum replace with actual costs)

I have also seen them included in total cost and then the client will issue as variation 1 a negative instruction to remove the provisional sums which are raised as standard variations at a later date.

out of curiosity what have they included for as provisional sums?

Tfl

We have a similar problem, it is a worry that the provisional costs could escalate!

tacpot12

You might ask if there is anything that could be done, pre-contract, to firm up the provisional amounts, e.g. paying for design or investigation work. Paying a little more now might resolve some of the uncertainties for you.

I would also suggest that scope of the provisional items is clearly defined; you might ask for the provisional items to be broken down further so that areas that are certain and uncertain within the work can be seen. Understanding the point on the plan where the uncertainties can be resolved would probably be a good idea.

Ultimately you might just have to have some spare money in your budget to cover the potential range of cost.

ajkzr

Thanks. It was for plumbing and some external landscaping works.