Why am I getting tender quotes that are higher than I expected?

Shay Lally Quantity surveyor

IN THE BIG Reno Clinic series, Houses to Restore QS Shay Lally provides answers and solutions to the big (and little, but important) questions you may have about making the most of your home.

Send your question for Shay to reno@thejournal.ie

This week’s question:

The tender returns I’ve gotten back are higher than the costs you share. Why is that?

Shay says:

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Short answer is that the figures I share are budgetary guides, not quotes for your house. These costs are a starting point for planning purposes but these costs aren’t specific to your site, your design or the state of your existing structure. Your tender return will factor these things in but that’s not to say every tender return delivers value for money.

Here are some things that are generally missed by homeowners when setting out their budget.

Structural alterations get missed. Opening up the house to connect it with an extension or knocking a back wall are examples of structural alteration. People budget for the renovation and the extension, then forget the work needed to actually connect the old and new together.

Remedial work gets missed too. Before you can renovate, you may need to repair underlying issues in the house. Roof repairs, rising damp, underpinning and dry rot are all examples of remedial work. Including these is when experience and knowledge kicks in as it’s easy to price the renovation you want and skip the repairs the house actually needs.

The finish level costs more than people expect. Extensive cabinetry, wall panelling, or high-end finishes push a tender well beyond a general budgetary figure. One work  around here is to phase the cabinetry as budget allows.

Timing affects price. March to December is the busiest period for contractors. If you can plan ahead and start a project in January, and you’re willing to manage and negotiate well, you’ll generally get better value for money.

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Information gaps cost money – one way or another. The less detail a contractor has at the tender stage, the more they’ll price in for uncertainty, or the more likely you are to get hit with unexpected costs once the work is underway. Indecision has a price tag too.

Renovating is a balancing act — budget, negotiation and being willing to find cheaper solutions for some of the things you had your heart set on. If you do that work yourself, you’ll get better value. If your plan is to hand every decision to someone else and let them sort it, the project will almost always cost more.

Your roadmap for managing the budget:

1. Treat my figures as a starting point, not a quote. Get a proper cost plan for your specific house and design before going to tender.
2. Have your existing house surveyed for underlying issues before pricing the renovation, so remedial costs are in the budget from day one – a recent building survey should flag these issues.
3. Decide your finish level early. High-end cabinetry and finishes need to be factored into your initial budget and cost plan and not discovered at tender stage.
4. Consider timing. See if you can wait for a January start and time the negotiation earlier, preferably when a contractor is looking ahead for a job to start in January. This involves phoning around, sounding out how busy they are and seeing if they bite when you mention a January start (with all of the decisions made). All of this will put you in a strong negotiation position.
5. Give contractors complete information. The more decided and detailed your brief is, the tighter and more accurate your tender return will be.
6. Be prepared to negotiate and compromise. The homeowners who get the best value are the ones willing to do some of that work themselves, not just outsource every decision.

Shay will be back answering your questions next week. Send him your pressing queries on managing a renovation to reno@thejournal.ie.