Cost plan review and market testing for a major office redevelopment

We supported a main contractor preparing a client cost plan submission for an office redevelopment of around 36,000 square metres with a value of around £115 million. The scheme combined retained and new construction, with different requirements across the structure, façades and fit out. We checked selected quantities, rates and scope allowances, then prepared work package pricing information and assembled the relevant design documents to support initial market testing.

Background

The contractor needed to submit a cost plan while developing the pricing information for specialist packages. The Stage 3 information covered retained and new parts of the building, shell and core work, fit out and external works. The existing cost plan needed to be checked against that design before it could provide a reliable basis for further pricing.

The task required attention to both measurement and scope. Some allowances depended on assumptions that needed testing, while significant elements still required specialist prices. The contractor needed to see those distinctions clearly as it prepared its submission and approached the supply chain.

Our approach

We reviewed the cost plan in a format that retained the original descriptions, quantities and rates alongside our checked quantities, differences and comments. This made individual findings traceable and allowed the estimating team to consider a proposed adjustment against the original allowance.

The substructure review illustrates the detail involved. We checked pile counts against the drawings, examined the basis of pile-arisings quantities and compared reinforcement allowances with the structural information. The review identified differences in the numbers of piles and the reinforcement rates assumed for pile caps, together with quantities whose basis needed clarification.

We also prepared separate measurements for the retained and new façades. For shaped façade bays, the take-off used developed widths and heights referenced to the elevations and typical details. This provided a more specific basis for reviewing the envelope quantities than relying on a single overall façade area.

Rate checking included an elemental comparison with published BCIS benchmarks adjusted for location and pricing date. We considered what each allowance contained: the roof costs, for example, included landscaping and fixtures as well as the roof construction. The commentary helped the contractor assess the reasons for a difference and direct further enquiries appropriately.

The review kept unpriced scope visible. External wall and door elements required further pricing, while other observations concerned missing quantities or the allocation of allowances. External works checks identified an apparent paving quantity difference and queried how lighting had been distributed between surface types. These findings gave the team specific matters to resolve or test with specialists.

We then separated the cost plan information into trade packages while retaining the distinctions between shell and core, fit out and external works. During our four-week appointment, we prepared 19 of the scheme’s 51 package pricing schedules, covering work such as piling, concrete frame, façade systems, drylining and ceilings. Each schedule provided descriptions and quantities against which specialists could enter their prices.

The pricing schedules were assembled with the relevant design information. A façade package, for example, drew together architectural, façade, acoustic and fire requirements. The external wall schedule also included specification notes alongside the measured items. This helped define what specialists were being asked to price and gave the contractor a clearer basis for the initial market testing exercise.

Outcome

Our work supported the contractor in submitting its client cost plan on time and carrying out initial market testing. It had an annotated review of the existing allowances, supporting take-offs and package pricing information with the relevant design documents.

The value was in making the pricing basis easier to examine and use. The estimating team could trace the quantities behind important allowances, see where information or prices remained outstanding, and take defined packages to the supply chain for further testing.