Early Cost Estimates - More than just numbers
September 9, 2025
Early Cost Estimates - behind the numbers
There's more to making a cost estimate than just numbers. The bottom line is of course the most important number, telling you how much you need to borrow is the first and most obvious bit of information a Cost Estimate is telling us and that's fine. Some people are happ...
Renovation Cost Blowouts are Unnecessary
March 7, 2025
Renovation cost blowouts are unnecessary
There is probably not a week that goes by when I am not talking to someone about a renovation job that exceeded the expected budget, sometimes catastrophically and significantly.I have real-life examples where the cost has doubled or the full cost has been reached and the jo...
Hourly rates are good...... aren't they?
March 19, 2024
The Contract Line
I had recently come across a line in a building contract which read " you will only be charged for the hours that are used".I was stunned for a while after reading that. I must have read it wrong. No, I read it again and the self-evident statement was still there.It is a rel...
Cost impact of incomplete design in buildings
October 4, 2023
Pitfalls of incomplete design
Recently, a client approached me with a predicament. They had signed a contract with a group housing company to build a new house, but there was a significant issue – the design work had not been completed at the time of contract signing. As a result, much of the geotechni...
