When you have three quotes for the same job and they are all noticeably different it can be difficult to understand how everyone arrived at their numbers and if they are offering the same service.
Some contractors are more expensive than others because they’ve been around longer and have well earned reputations. Sometimes it comes down to quality of work, or quality of finish, what their overheads are or even how busy they are.
But there are certain checks you can make to give you as good a change as possible to unpick who is offering what.
Start by checking they've all priced the same job
Ideally, every builder should be working from the same drawings, specification and structural information. But drawings don’t always tell the whole story, particularly when it comes to finishes, individual rooms and exactly what is expected from the contractor.
This is where a detailed scope of works can be really useful. It sets out what’s required room by room and gives each contractor the same information to price against. Some clients already have one prepared by their architect or provide their own; where they don’t, we can put one together with them before the project is priced.
It might cover things such as who’s supplying the kitchen, whether decorating is included, what happens to existing floors and finishes, or exactly where the contractor’s work starts and finishes.
The aim isn’t to create paperwork for the sake of it. It’s simply to remove as many assumptions as possible, so when the quotations come back you’re much closer to comparing like for like.
Differences in scope can account for thousands of pounds before you’ve even started comparing the actual cost of the building work.
Compare the allowances before you look at the totals
Quotes often include allowances for things you haven’t chosen yet – kitchens, bathrooms, tiles, flooring, sanitary ware and light fittings are common examples.
This is where apparently similar quotes can quickly become very different.
If one builder allows £10,000 for your kitchen and another allows £20,000, the second quote is immediately £10,000 higher. It doesn’t necessarily mean that builder is more expensive; they’ve simply made a different assumption about the kitchen you’re likely to choose.
A low allowance doesn’t save you money if you eventually choose something more expensive. It simply moves that cost to later in the project.
Writing the main allowances out side by side is one of the easiest ways to make different quotations more comparable.
Read the specification, not just the headings
“Electrical works” can mean almost anything.
A useful quotation should give you enough detail to understand what’s actually included. There’s a significant difference between a room priced with twelve recessed downlights and the same room priced with a single pendant.
Materials are the same. “Floor tiles” tells you very little. An allowance for porcelain tiles up to £40 per square metre gives you something meaningful to work with.
We put considerable detail into our quotations because we want the figure you receive at the beginning to be a realistic reflection of the project you’re planning. Where something can’t yet be accurately priced, we’d rather make that clear than leave you to discover it once work has started.
Understand the provisional sums and allowances
Some parts of a project simply can’t be accurately priced at quotation stage.
A provisional sum is an allowance for work where the extent or detail isn’t yet known — perhaps drainage that needs investigating or work that’s currently hidden behind a wall or beneath a floor.
You may also see Prime Cost (PC) allowances, which are generally used for items that haven’t yet been selected, such as sanitaryware, tiles or fittings.
Both are perfectly normal. What matters is that they’re clearly identified, the allowances are realistic and you understand what happens if the actual cost is higher or lower.
This is particularly important on renovation projects, where some parts of the existing building may remain hidden until work begins.
Read the exclusions
Most quotations contain a list of things that aren’t included. It’s often near the end – and it’s an important part to read.
Depending on the project, exclusions might include scaffolding, decorating, professional fees, planning or Building Control fees, structural engineer’s fees, Party Wall costs or floor coverings.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with an exclusion. The important thing is knowing about it.
If one builder has included something and another hasn’t, the difference between their quotes may have nothing to do with the price of their actual work.
Ask how changes will be priced
Changes are common during building projects, particularly renovations. Sometimes the client changes their mind; sometimes opening up an existing building reveals something nobody could reasonably have seen beforehand.
Ask how changes will be priced and agreed, whether you’ll know the cost before additional work goes ahead where possible, and how you’ll be kept informed of changes to the overall project cost.
A clear process at the beginning makes life much easier for everyone later.
What to do if your preferred builder is the most expensive
Ask them to explain the difference.
A contractor who has prepared a detailed quotation should be able to show you where their figure comes from. Often the difference will be found in an allowance, an exclusion or something one contractor has included that another hasn’t.
It’s also perfectly reasonable to ask whether there are sensible ways to reduce the cost. There may be elements that can be changed, simplified or left until later without compromising the overall project.
It’s much better to make those decisions before work begins than discover halfway through that the original budget wasn’t realistic.
In short
Don’t start with the bottom line. Start by making sure you’re comparing the same job.
Line up the scope, specification, allowances and exclusions. Check what’s included, what’s still uncertain and how changes will be dealt with.
Once you’ve done that, the totals start to mean something.
