Pre-Construction Services
- Design Development & Sketches
Draw up sketches to scale so you can ensure the space will be fit for purpose. For example, you don’t want to plan a pool/snooker room and when its built you are hitting the walls with the cue.
Or wish you had gone for a downstairs toilet when the project is complete.
Make comparisons to existing rooms/areas and focus the design on your key criteria and your wish list.
The sketches can then become part of the specification issued to the architect or builders to help them see your vision.
- Create a Specification
Builders will use materials and products they like to make more money or save money, the more specific you make the request the better comparison you will have between quotations.
If you leave it to the individual builder then all the quotations will be different, you wont be able to make an informed decision, for example, you have a quote for £45,000 and another for £60,000. You pick the lowest has you think it is the cheapest, but they are missing items included in the other quotation along with cheaper materials and unskilled workers. In the end you could end up paying more or having a lower quality finished product.
We can help you build the specification, so you have comfort know the most important items or features have been included in all quotations.
- Review Builders & Quotations
We can complete a review the quotations and provide a like for like comparison, highlight items missing, incorrect or traps to create opportunities to charge you more money later down the line.
This is a key part to the process to ensure you get the best value for money.
We can also complete a review of the builders providing the quotation, visit their sites and completed works to check quality and performance. This also promotes poor builders to walk away, if they are not keen to let me see other works it would be a red flag and a warning that they might be unreliable.
- Value Engineering
The term means getting the best value for your money, if the quotations are high or lower than your budget, we can review the specification with the builders and change items, for example, you specified solid oak doors with feature lead glazing but the cost is over budget, the builders can propose alternative products to help reduce the cost in a controlled manner.
We can also revisit the design and see any opportunities to reduce the cost, this will help you make the best decision for you and not the builder as it can create an opportunity for them to take advantage and make more money.
A the end of the day you want to get the value for money end product as close to your specification/requirement as you can.