when do i need construction plan and/or Quantity surveyor?

itayshap

Hello all,

I'm planning to fully renovate a house, turning it to a 4 bedroom HMO
The renovation will include fully refurbishment of the house internally and externally, upgrading the kitchen and WC's, wiring, heating system etc.
The building costs will be around 35-40K according to my builder, who based his costs after visiting the site and by using the detailed plans, used for building reg control. but i'm worry that calculating building costs that way won't be accurate.
usually an architect draw two types of plans:
1. detailed plan - for planning permission and for building regulation control
2. construction/technical plans - for the builder - which currently i don't have
Do i need a plan construction plan and/or Quantity surveyor for this size of a project or it's to much?

On which kind of project should i start asking for construction plan and/or use Quantity surveyor ?
is this based on it's size, complexity or should i require at least construction plan in any case?

i'm asking this in order to understand how to deal with a builder and set the right cost as much as i possibly can at the beginning, making it difficult for the builder to extract more money at the end.

Thank you,

Newuser1987

itayshap wrote: »

Hello all,

I'm planning to fully renovate a house, turning it to a 4 bedroom HMO
The renovation will include fully refurbishment of the house internally and externally, upgrading the kitchen and WC's, wiring, heating system etc.
The building costs will be around 35-40K according to my builder, who based his costs after visiting the site and by using the detailed plans, used for building reg control. but i'm worry that calculating building costs that way won't be accurate.

Do i need a plan construction plan and/or Quantity surveyor for this size of a project or it's to much?

On which kind of project should i start asking for construction plan and/or use Quantity surveyor ?
is this based on it's size, complexity or should i require at least construction plan in any case?

i'm asking this in order to understand how to deal with a builder and set the right cost as much as i possibly can at the beginning, making it difficult for the builder to extract more money at the end.

Thank you,

I can only assume you mean a programme when you refer to construction plan? i.e. dates of each stage of work.

To be honest 30-40k isnt a very high value to get builders of this scale to produce construction programmes etc. Normally you would need to be in £250k + to expect things like this.

A QS would greatly eat into your budget so I would not think this would be worth while. A QS are really only used at the planning stage before a builder is involved to guide the design team on meeting the budget. Your past that stage and the project will now cost what a builder wants to charge you. Not what a QS will come up with.

One thing you could consider and which I have used sometimes to help clients is the following website:
https://www.estimators-online.com/
Again it may not be that useful now because builders should be able to use the information you have to price accurately.

itayshap

Newuser1987 wrote: »

I can only assume you mean a programme when you refer to construction plan? i.e. dates of each stage of work.

To be honest 30-40k isnt a very high value to get builders of this scale to produce construction programmes etc. Normally you would need to be in £250k + to expect things like this.

A QS would greatly eat into your budget so I would not think this would be worth while. A QS are really only used at the planning stage before a builder is involved to guide the design team on meeting the budget. Your past that stage and the project will now cost what a builder wants to charge you. Not what a QS will come up with.

thank you Newuser1987.
actually by construction plan i meant the technical plans the architect draw for the builder to use. currently the builder based his cost assumption only on the detailed plans which should be used only in application to the building regulation control.
with a construction plan the builder should make a better estimation of the cost.
my question is, should i ask my architect to draw a technical/construction plan for this kind of a project or is this project too small for that?
furthermore, Quantity Surveyor is usually employed during the construction phase, so it's not too late to hire one.
my question again is should i hire QS for this small project or is it a good practice to hire one for any project ?
thank you,

Newuser1987

itayshap wrote: »

thank you Newuser1987.
actually by construction plan i meant the technical plans the architect draw for the builder to use. currently the builder based his cost assumption only on the detailed plans which should be used only in application to the building regulation control.
with a construction plan the builder should make a better estimation of the cost.
my question is, should i ask my architect to draw a technical/construction plan for this kind of a project or is this project too small for that?
furthermore, Quantity Surveyor is usually employed during the construction phase, so it's not too late to hire one.
my question again is should i hire QS for this small project or is it a good practice to hire one for any project ?
thank you,

You are defining technical and detailed drawings as two different things. At this scale of works I would expect them to be the same thing. What additional information are you expecting on the drawings that is not already there?

Why would you need a QS during the construction phase. QS quite often work as Contract Administrators/Project Managers but this is a separate role and something your Architect could also do. All that needs to be done from a QS point of view during the construction phase is value the work based on the contract value the builder has quoted. This can be done by you/Architect/Project Manager. For this scale of work it is normally the client.

This is because a PM role could cost 10-15% of the construction cost if your budget is 30-40k. Not really money well spent when your budget isnt very high. Also if your tender is robust it really isnt needed.

Have you sent your information out to 4-5 builders to get a better understanding of what the actual costs are likely to be? It seems 30-40k is quite an underestimation.

My advice would be to tender your information to 4-5 builders. Ask them to respond with any requests for information that they will need in addition to agree a fixed price and this will answer your query regarding 'construction plan' and what additional information is actually required. Also ask them to give you a detailed cost breakdown of their quote which again will help you understand the costs whilst the project is ongoing.

I think you need to be clearer in what you want a QS to do for you before considering one. Also speak with builders to understand what additional information they need to build before asking your architect to something they may have already done.

Doozergirl

This is your 4th thread about the same sort of thing.

You had building control approval before considering planning permission and you have a builder's quote when you have some vague drawings for a renovation when only part of a renovation happens by drawings... the rest happen when stuff crumbles before your eyes.

You do need help. From someone with genuine experience and without a current vested interest.

Everything that newuser says is correct, but you're taking advantage of the valuable time of 4-5 builders when you can't give them a proper specification. I'm not the only one now to tell you that your budget is unrealistic and none of us have seen the house. If you phoned me tomorrow and said you wanted to create an HMO from any house with £35k, I'd not waste my time visiting.

Where is your surveyor's report from the purchase? That's where it starts.

naf123

Might need planning permission for HMO- check the rules in your area