Project cost planning in Lincolnshire

A quote prices a defined scope. A cost plan sets out what a scheme should cost before that scope fully exists, broken down by element so you can see where the money sits and what happens if you change something. It develops with the design, starting as a budget figure and firming up into a detailed plan as the information improves.

As soon as there is a site and a brief. Early figures are broader, but a properly reasoned budget at concept stage tells you whether a scheme is worth pursuing before you spend money on design fees and surveys. It is far cheaper to find out at that point than after planning has been submitted.

That the rates come from what work is really costing in this county now, checked against our established Lincolnshire supply chain, rather than from a national rate book adjusted with a regional factor. Labour availability, material lead times and how busy the local market is all move real prices, and none of that shows up in published averages.

We present cost plans in the formats development finance providers and monitoring surveyors are used to seeing, with the breakdown, assumptions and allowances clearly set out. Lenders make their own assessment and will usually appoint a monitoring surveyor, but a properly structured plan that stands up to questioning makes that process considerably smoother.

By identifying them rather than burying them. Ground conditions, drainage, service connections, access and site constraints get priced as specific allowances with the assumption behind each one written down. Contingency then covers genuine unknowns rather than quietly absorbing things we could have costed if anyone had looked.