“Beware the ‘low ball quote’ and pick your tiles early – here’s how to get the work done.”
From the The Irish Times – Life & Style – Fiona Reddan – Sat, Mar 9, 2019
In a nutshell, “How do you bring a building project in on time, and on budget?”
Advice given by Quantity Surveyor Patricia Power from RTE’s Room to Improve and Gillian Sherrard, Designer.
This is a summary of some key points in the article.
For those with an Irish Times subscription read the full article here ….
We find ourselves in agreement with the experts. In our experience, a few things in particular are discussed regularly with clients to help them with their own project.
Unfortunately build costs have risen sharply in recent years and they will continue that way. Where in 2016 you could expect to pay around €1500-€1900/sqm, now it’s at least €2000/sqm.
You should have a firm specification of what you’re looking for before you look for pricing. And for clarity, have your drawings prepared and be clear and detailed in your spec.
Once you have pricing, remember the lowest price isn’t always the best. Things can be missed and then are added on during the build resulting in you paying the same in the end but with a lot of heartache along the way.
Lastly, do your homework and be really thorough with what vision you have, put as much detail as possible on paper and have as many decisions made as soon as possible. Remember changes and delays cost money.