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13 Hidden Costs Often Missing From Builders'

Quotes
Keep an eye out for these costs when getting a quote, to eliminate oversights, budget surprises and
some of the stresses of building
Adam Hobill, 1 October 2015
Building and renovating is a new process for most of us, and it can be very daunting if youre not well
prepared. In particular, choosing a builder is one area that can overwhelm a lot of people. This is
completely understandable, given the horror stories we often hear and the significant financial
investment thats at stake. After all, youre playing the builders game, and theyre a lot more familiar
with how its played than you are.
Unfortunately, there are builders out there who take advantage of their experience and exploit their
clients lack of knowledge. But rather than taking an us versus them approach, its far better to improve
your knowledge of the processes involved, so you can develop an open, informative and transparent
relationship with your builder. One of the first steps toward achieving this is navigating the quoting
process.
Here are some costs that might have slipped your quotes net.

1. Approval and certification fees


Depending on where you live, the fees for approval and certification of your project will vary
dramatically, as will the types of fees that need to be paid.
Approval fees are generally paid to the council or to a private building certifier and may take the form of
Development Approval fees (DA), Building Approval fees (BA) and Construction Certificate (CC) fees.
There are often other fees to consider too, including Long Service Levies, Capital Works fees and other
environmental contributions fees, just to name a few.
These may be either wrapped up in a total fee bundle and payable in one payment before approval is
issued, or may be handled separately. Its important to ask if and how approval fees have been included
in your quote.
If they have been included, you should try to confirm that all of the required fees have been covered. As
with many items in a building quote, you should check whether theyve been added as a fixed-cost item,
or if theyve been included as an allowance, or provisional sum.
If theyre not included, you may need to contact your council to get a quote for the relevant approval
fees for yourself.

More: Building Jargon Untangled for the Average Homeowner

2. Site preparation costs


The cost of preparing a site for the building process taking into consideration the excavation,
demolition and clearing of the site is one of the most common areas where poor communication and
lazy quoting practices result in budget blowouts.
Site costs are likely to vary dramatically from one project to the next, depending on the location of the
site, the slope of the land, the type of soil and the design of the property. Therefore, for builders to
simply use a generic allowance, or provisional sum, for site costs in their quote is unacceptable. Some
builders even provide quotes where site costs arent included at all, which is a bit like selling a car with
no engine; without it, whats the point?
Depending on the amount and quality of documentation available to the builders at the time of quoting,
they should at least be able to put some time into calculating the approximate amount of soil to be
excavated and transported off site. They should also be able to apply their experience to assessing the
likely costs of demolition where required.
For more complex projects or if the necessary documentation isnt available, its reasonable for the
builder to include site costs in the quote as a provisional sum. But you should ensure that what has been
allowed is based on a specific assessment of the project, and isnt just a guesstimate that may have no
relevance to the actual project.
REMEMBER: If the builder hasnt taken the time to visit your site, its unlikely theyll be able to quote
this element of the project accurately.
Be aware that the cost of excavation in rock will generally not be included in the quote, given the
unpredictability and expenses involved.
Asbestos removal is another important consideration if youre renovating. Awareness around the need
for safety when dealing with asbestos is increasing, as are the requirements for it to be assessed and
handled by licensed contractors.
For that reason its important that the presence of asbestos be assessed before the work starts, and that
allowances are included in the quote accordingly.

3. Temporary site requirements


Be sure to check with the builders that they have included all temporary site costs in their quote, like
temporary fencing, a site toilet if required, and erosion control measures as required by your local
council. These are the kind of items that often dont appear on any drawings, which gives an
unscrupulous builder an opportunity to claim them as a cost variation, because they werent shown on

the drawings.
Experienced builders will be familiar with whats required in their particular area, so they should be able
to take account of whats likely to be required and include it in their quote.

4. Structural costs
Structural costs can be a bit of a guessing game, depending on how thorough the documentation is at
the time of quoting. Often a builder will be asked to quote from a set of architectural plans where
engineering design hasnt yet been done. For some projects that shouldnt be a problem, but for more
complex designs the engineering will have a bigger influence on the quoting process.
Engineering design can affect the footings, floor slab, structural timber and structural steel. If youre
proceeding down the path of quoting without engineering drawings, you need to check what the builder
has allowed for in their quote.
The structural timber components are likely to be quite straightforward to quote, but theres more
guesswork involved for structural steel, which may need to be included as a provisional sum.
By asking potential builders what they have allowed for, you should be able to quickly understand what
the range of the overall cost is likely to be, and who has been more generous with their allowance.

5. Hidden electrical costs


If youre renovating an older home you need to be aware of the possibility that the existing electrical
wiring in the home may not be up to current standards. If thats the case, in many situations its legally
required that the electrical work be upgraded, which is of course an additional cost.
This is not usually included in a builders quote, as it may not be known at the time of quoting. That
doesnt stop you from asking the builder to look into it more closely at the time of quoting though, so
that an allowance can be factored into the quote.
Another hidden electrical cost thats often not included in quotes is the cost of relocating the electrical
point of attachment when homes are extended. The point of attachment is the point at which electricity
is connected from the house to an overhead power line, and they are generally located on the roof or in
the eaves. In many cases you wont have a choice as to whether you want the point of attachment
relocated, as it may be required as a condition of approval by the council or the electrical authority.

6. Insulation
Your drawings should clearly nominate the insulation requirements for the property, and the designer
has probably spent some time considering the best insulation for your particular project. If they have
specified insulation over and above whats required to meet minimum standards, you should ensure
that the builder is following suit, with the allowance theyve made in the quote.

For example, the plans may nominate R5 ceiling insulation even though the minimum requirement for
your climate zone is only R3.5. But some larger-volume builders will be so conditioned to only including
the standard R3.5 insulation that they may only make an allowance for that in the quote. It is important
to remember that the plans form an important piece of your contractual documentation, so if the
drawings nominate R5 insulation then thats what should be quoted for.
Its also likely that the insulation specified on the drawings is required to meet energy efficiency and
thermal comfort requirements, so accepting a downgrade in insulation may also cause difficulties in final
approvals, if the house no longer meets requirements.

7. Door hardware
Unless explicitly noted, door hardware including handles, latches and locks may be left out of your
quote. The best way to inform builders of your requirements for items like door hardware is to prepare
an Inclusions Schedule, which sets out all of the smaller items that need to be considered in the quote.
As well as door hardware, it should also include things like taps, sinks and basins, tiling allowances,
lighting provisions, appliances, joinery and more.
By adding an Inclusions Schedule to the plans for builders to quote from, youre significantly increasing
the likelihood that youll receive detailed, accurate and transparent quotes that are also easy to
compare.
This is because the schedule picks up dozens of items, the costs of which will otherwise need to be
guessed by a builder, or which end up left out of the quote altogether.

8. Flyscreens
While some window suppliers will supply flyscreens as standard with all opening windows, others wont.
Youll need to check who has quoted the windows for your project with the builders, and whether or not
flyscreens have been included.
Windows framed in uPVC sometimes present issues when considering flyscreens, as some of them have
been designed for environments in Europe where flies and mozzies are less common.
The opening styles of uPVC windows can also make it difficult to incorporate flyscreens. So if youre
considering using uPVC windows you should take the time to visit showrooms where you can see how
the flyscreens will work.

9. Bathroom mirrors
What do you see when you look into the mirror? Its generally not going to be the mirror itself. Maybe
thats why they sometimes get left out of building quotes.

We look at them often enough, but were seeing our reflection and not the actual mirror. Like most
things mirrors can be relatively cheap, but they can also get pretty expensive depending on size and
other features, like anti-fog glass.
You may also like the idea of incorporating a little extra storage behind the mirror in a concealed shaving
cabinet. All of these things need to be checked with the builder to ensure youre getting what you
expect.

10. Towel rails, robe hooks and toilet-roll holders


Much like mirrors, we tend to take bathroom accessories for granted. There are endless options
available when it comes to selecting bathroom accessories, and a surprisingly wide range of costs to suit.
Its a good idea to get out to a bathroom showroom, so that you can get a proper look at whats on
offer, and a feel for the type of accessories you might want to include. This will ensure that adequate
provisions can be made within the quote.

11. Fencing
Boundary fencing is less likely to be an issue for renovation projects, but for new homes especially
those being built on new land fencing is more likely to be a cost consideration.
While some builders will identify the need to include fencing in their quote, others will leave it out to
help make their quote appear a little sharper. Once again it comes down to comparing apples with
apples, so that you can be confident in your understanding of whats being included in the quote.

For example, even if a builder does include fencing in the quote, some may have only included half of
what will be required. This is because in most situations youre likely to be sharing the cost of fencing
with your neighbour on a fifty/fifty basis.
Other builders may include the full amount for fencing in the quote for you to pay, and then expect you
to recoup the cost from your neighbours as required. Make sure you ask the question so you know
exactly what youre dealing with.

12. Availability and completion period


Every quote you receive should indicate when the builders available to start the project, as well as
nominating the time frame in which its likely to be completed. Be aware that while larger building
companies have greater capacity to take on new work and potentially complete the project a little
quicker, smaller builders will probably have less capacity to take on new work. You may need to wait a
little longer for the project to get started if youre using a smaller company.
For extension and renovation projects in particular, there are certainly advantages in using a more

hands-on builder who will be more involved in the project, from the quoting stage and throughout the
construction period. Renovation projects are notorious for throwing up little surprises along the way,
but with companies that are more closely connected to the project, these surprises tend to be identified
earlier and avoided.
If they cant be avoided, issues that arise will generally be handled better by builders who are more
experienced in renovation projects.

13. Exclusions
One of the best ways to understand whats included in a quote is to ask the builder what is excluded
from the quote. Like reverse engineering, sometimes you need to start from the end and work your way
back.
By highlighting items that are excluded, youll be able to ensure that youre comparing like with like
when looking at other builders quotes. This will also highlight any items that you may need to have
included in each quote.

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