At agreed points
Get the cost advice you need for a particular decision, with a defined piece of work and a fixed fee. Your agreed assignment can include:
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A budget estimate or elemental cost plan.
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Design updates and comparisons of different options.
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Tender pricing documents and benchmark pricing.
A good fit when your team manages the wider process and needs cost expertise at specific points. Your proposal sets out the selected outputs and review arrangements.
Ongoing consultancy
Keep cost and commercial advice close as your project develops. With regular involvement in your team, your agreed appointment can cover:
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Cost-plan updates, design meetings and reviews of options and risks.
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Procurement advice, tender management and contractor assessment.
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Construction cost reporting, payment assessments, changes and the final account.
Useful where complexity, pace or coordination calls for regular input. Meeting frequency, reporting and responsibilities are agreed from the outset.
A tailored combination
For projects that need more than occasional input, but not a continuous consultancy appointment throughout.
Combine cost plans at agreed milestones with closer support where decisions become more involved. Your scope might include:
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Selected design meetings and reviews of options.
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Procurement advice and management of the tender.
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Help with particular commercial issues during construction.
Your support can change as the project develops, with the scope and fee agreed clearly.
Choose the involvement your project needs.
Every project deserves a realistic budget, forward planning and appropriate support. How closely you need us involved depends on the project’s size and complexity, the decisions ahead, your team’s experience and capacity, and how you and your client prefer to work.
You can commission defined pieces of work, bring us into the team throughout the project, or combine the two. Together, we’ll agree where our involvement will be most useful.
From the first budget to the final account.
Good cost advice helps you plan ahead, while there is still room to shape the design. Explore each stage to see the decisions it supports and the work you can commission.
Defined deliverables can be commissioned individually or form part of an ongoing appointment. Closer involvement adds advice and coordination around that work.
Procurement planning starts alongside design. Your proposal will set out the selected services, responsibilities and fee.
Bring your client’s ambitions and budget together while there is still room to explore the possibilities. An early estimate helps you test whether the proposed scope is realistic before committing substantial time to developing it.
What you receive
Budget estimate
An early assessment of likely costs, based on the brief and available information, with clear assumptions, allowances and exclusions. It gives you and your client a starting point for deciding what to develop and what needs further investigation.With ongoing or tailored support
Work through the brief and alternatives together, identify the principal cost risks and develop the budget as the project becomes clearer. This can include project discussions, option reviews and cash-flow advice.
Explore the options with your client, then keep the design and its cost developing together. Each update helps you understand what has changed and decide where to focus the next stage of design.
What you receive
Initial elemental cost plan
A breakdown of the emerging design into recognisable building elements, with assumptions and the main cost drivers explained. Compare options before deciding which to develop.Cost-plan updates
Revisit the plan as the design develops and as technical details and specifications become clearer. Track cost movements and test the budget before the next commitment.With ongoing or tailored support
Bring cost advice into design meetings and option reviews, with checks between formal cost-plan updates. Work through changing requirements and risks with the team while there is time to respond.
Give suitable contractors a clear, consistent basis to price, so you and your client can compare offers with confidence. Procurement planning starts during design, with the route, programme and tender information considered together.
What you receive
Tender pricing document
A schedule of works or other appropriate pricing document setting out the scope for contractors to price, supported by the design information and specifications.Benchmark estimate and tender comparison
A priced reference and, where commissioned, a review of tender returns to identify differences, exclusions and issues to resolve before appointment.With ongoing or tailored support
Procurement advice and management can include selecting the route, vetting contractors, organising tender enquiries, managing clarifications, evaluating returns and supporting negotiations and appointment.
Keep a clear view of what has changed, what is due and what your client is likely to spend by completion. Timely assessments and clear records help the team address commercial issues as the work progresses.
What you receive
Construction cost reports and assessments
Payment assessments, valuations of changes, cost reports and forecasts of the final cost, at the frequency agreed for your project.Final-account assessment
Review outstanding changes and claims, support agreement of the final account and bring the project costs together.With ongoing or tailored support
Regular commercial input, progress meetings and advice on emerging issues help your team manage decisions and changes through to completion.
Construction support is scoped separately from cost-planning assignments. Contract administration and project management are distinct roles that can also be agreed.
Project quantity surveyor
Understand the financial position of your project and the cost implications of the decisions ahead. Your project quantity surveyor can provide:
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Cost planning, design updates and advice on options.
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Commercial advice through procurement, tendering and contractor appointment.
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Payment assessments, change reviews, cost forecasts and final-account advice.
A good fit when you want dedicated attention to costs throughout the agreed stages. Contract administration and project management are separate roles, included where expressly appointed.
Contract administration
On larger projects, design development, detailing, coordination and site queries already demand substantial attention. Taking on contract administration as well adds a significant responsibility.
With Multiproject handling that role, you can give your design work and your client the attention they need. Depending on the contract, the appointment can include:
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Formal instructions, notices and clear contract records.
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Payment and completion certification, where applicable.
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Managing the procedures for changes, time and completion.
Timely administration helps client and contractor understand and fulfil their obligations. For design-and-build projects, an employer’s agent appointment can be agreed instead, with duties appropriate to that contract.
Project management
Your architect develops the design, your contractor delivers the work, and your cost and contract advisers look after their respective responsibilities. Someone also needs to keep sight of the whole project.
On smaller projects, this coordination may sit with the architect or client. As the team and demands grow, a dedicated project manager can help you:
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Plan key dates, decisions and the information needed to reach them.
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Coordinate the team, responsibilities and communication.
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Track progress, risks and actions through to handover.
You have someone keeping you informed, following up what needs to happen next and helping the team move in the same direction.
Agree the roles your project needs.
Good cost information is one part of a well-run project. Someone also needs to administer the building contract and, where the project requires it, coordinate the wider team.
These responsibilities can place significant demands on the architect and client. Agreeing who takes them on gives everyone room to concentrate on their work, with clear responsibilities and a shared understanding of what needs to happen.
Help with a difficult issue.
Most project teams work constructively together. Sometimes, however, disagreements arise over payments, changes, responsibilities or the final account. A clear assessment of the facts and figures can help you understand the position and decide how to move forward.
Support can include:
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Assessing disputed payments, variations and final accounts.
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Preparing or reviewing cost-related claims and supporting commercial negotiations.
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Support with alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and adjudication.
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Independent expert reports and expert witness services within our areas of expertise.
Tell us about the issue so we can discuss the help you need and agree an appropriate role.