SOE

Question 1

How did you produce the £/m2 for the two options on the River House project?

Answer 1

I took the total cost of both options and divided this by the GIA.

Question 2

What assumptions and exclusion were included within the Union Street project?

Answer 2

Examples of some assumptions were,

That the contractors site set up and welfare could be accommodated on site.

The works would be carried out in one continuous phase.

Access would be required in the form of scaffolding with a hoist.

Examples of some exclusions were,

VAT

Fees associated with planning

Diversions of services

Costs associated with phasing

Question 3

On the Union Street project how did you budget for the site constraints and how did you advise the client on this?

Answer 3

I budgeted the for the site constraints by included four separate line items for risk which were,

Construction Risk
Design Risk
Employer Change Risk
Employer Other Risk

I advised the client that a percentage should be allocated to each of these risk categories and times the base cost estimate against that percentage to come to an overall risk pot.

Question 4

Where would your advice stop, and specialist consultants’ advice start?

Answer 4

In areas which are not my expertise, such as structural, mechanical and electrical, architectural etc.

Question 5

On the Beckton Gateway project what changes to the glazing specification were made?

Answer 5

The architect proposed a specific type of glazing which had high acoustic performances to shelter the commercial spaces from the general sound of the service yard.

Question 6

How do you decide when to use elemental cost plans versus £/sqm benchmarking?

Answer 6

This is generally dependent on the level of design available.

If drawings equivalent to RIBA stage 2 have been provided, I will advise that a elemental cost plan be used.

If limited design information has been provided I may choose to provided benchmark cost data to indicate a high level cost.

Question 7

What are the risks of providing cost advice with limited design information, and how do you mitigate them?

Answer 7

Items which may have a significant impact on the overall cost could be missed.

I will mitigate limited design by making informed assumptions and where relevant, applying a cost to those assumptions.

Question 8

What is an example of an assumption you may choose to include a cost for?

Answer 8

It depends on the scheme, but some general assumption I will may include would be,

• The contractors site set up and welfare can be accomodated on site.
• A competitive procurement strategy will be used.

Question 9

Can you give an example of when you had to challenge a design proposal due to cost implications?

Answer 9

When I have carried out VE exercises on numerous projects.

One example would be the finishes to the Cumberland Terrace project I worked on.

The architect included very high spec finishes to the common parts which put the scheme close to the client budget.

Question 10

How do you tailor your cost advice for different types of clients (e.g., developers vs. public sector)?

Answer 10

I have only worked with developers in my career thus far.

However I am aware that different clients have different needs and it’s important to identify those needs in the early stages to align my advise.

Question 11

On the 1 James Street Project, what did the retention amount to?

Answer 11

Around £650k.

Question 12

When valuing materials on site, what do you check for?

Answer 12

I check that the quantities are in line with their claim.

That the materials are ready for the works.

The claim is in line with the programme, i.e. the materials are on site at the correct time.