Most clients who come to see me have the same question uppermost in their mind—“How much will the project cost?” With careful planning and using the correct process keeping within budget can be straight forward.
Knowing your spending limits and developing a building budget will go a long way towards keeping you out of financial trouble on your project. Bringing a building firm or quantity surveyor into the process right from the start provides cost certainty and ensures everyone is on the same team working towards the same outcome.
At VRA we can help you put together your budget. We can give you some rough guide prices and estimate the square metre rate as a starting point. Once the concept plans are complete we get these priced by a builder or QS. Undertaking pricing at this early stage saves time and money. It is a lot cheaper to make any necessary changes early on in the design process than after consent is granted.
Spending a little more upfront on design will save you money in the long run. It is a good idea to include everything you want in your house in the plans—if say the bathroom fittings and door handles are not included in the plans you could be in for a nasty surprise further down the track.
A contingency and a fixed price contract are other essentials for cost certainty. A building contract should include all the sub-contractors prices as well as the fittings they will be installing.
Just remember when putting your budget together—its better to be conservative than optimistic. Your design professionals and builders are there to guide you so don’t be afraid of letting them know what your budgetary constraints are.