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 Half Yearly Review December 2004

"independent" Quantity Surveyor or Building Surveyor will have to be judged as against working solely with the contractor who is eventually selected for the project.

As soon as initial sketches are available, approximate costs can be arrived at and an initial cost budget can be set. Without this, much time and effort can be wasted in the "exciting" part of the design process. For example, we have found that many clients "ignore" the VAT element of a project in the early stages, whereas the budget should of course include for all non-recoverable VAT.

From this point onwards, costs can be held in check by closely monitoring the complete building process from inception to completion.

The strength and type of contract is a further key issue from the earliest stages; approaching a contractor for "an estimate" has unfortunately on many occasions been a recipe for disaster, unless every absolute detail of construction has already been established and agreed. It is therefore wise to seriously consider the use of a tried and
trusted form of building contract, the advantage being that this will establish the requirements of both employer and contractor in the process and will allow a clearer control of any modifications which will undoubtedly arise over the course of the building works.

In the case of Holyrood, it became very clear during the inquiry that the design brief had not been fully established before the contractual process got underway. This brings into play the other key factors of scale, quality and programme which need to be addressed by those at the helm in the very early stages. If there is an unrealistic emphasis on any of the main factors above, there will undoubtedly be a negative influence on one or more of the others.

In many commercial projects, for example, an emphasis on cost/scale/programme can have a detrimental outcome on quality. Time restrictions placed on the design team will equally result in the project not being fully "designed out" leading to on site difficulties and cost consequences.

To summarise, therefore, it is important in avoiding unexpected cost problems at the later stages in the building process, to consider all the key factors described above.

I will look at the important issues of the selection of contractors and ensuring quality in a future article.

Bill McConnell

Perhaps the Holyrood Parliament building (the cost spiralling from the original budget figure of £40M to the current final estimated account of £421M) has brought to the public eye the importance of making the correct decisions at the earliest stages in the procurement of any building project. Although I have never actually heard of a budgeted £40,000 extension rising in cost to £400,000, the same general principles described below should apply if the owner / employer is not to be taken by surprise with costs being more than anticipated.

Most building projects whether domestic or commercial will start with the basic idea or requirement for a new building or extension, for any number of reasons. This early, concept stage is where the first mistakes can be made (unless of course cost is not a factor: I do not come across this situation too often!).

In my view, there are generally four main factors which should come into play:

     Cost
     Scale of the project 
     Quality
     Programme

and the correct balance of these factors is the key to a successful project.

If these factors are considered, the recent spate of TV programmes embellish how these elements can easily fall apart, mainly in residential repair and upgrading projects, but the lessons are clear for all to learn, if financial problems are to be avoided.

The control of costs is usually given priority and an early and correct decision as to how best to control these costs is a crucial feature.

Much will depend on the scale of the project but a decision is normally made relatively quickly (possibly without adequate consideration) on whether or not "professionals" should be employed to assist in controlling costs.

The appointment of a suitably experienced

Holyrood