Groundworks quote: prices OK?

[Dreadnaught]

Getting close to starting now. 

 

Could anyone who knows about groundworks, or has had theirs done recently, have a look over this quote for groundworks and give me an indication of any areas where prices look high? I'd be grateful. (Note the inevitable South-East premium: Cambridge plot). (Prices assume 0% VAT.)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Dreadnaught

[Drunkenmunkey]

NEC Contract? Option B? It's remeasurable. I would push for a lump sum/ activity schedule (Option A).

 

Risks I see are:

 

Site clearance is an allowance. If more than one day, this will increase per day by the sum.

 

Grab load allowance - As above for the allowance, how much is a grab load? I would want a lump sum for this and the site clearance. How much vege' are they clearing?

 

Reduced level dig -  Is the site already level? i.e. a scrape with a bucket. Or is the site signifcantly undulating? If it's flat then I would ditch this and go with a single JCB + driver for a 2 days at around £1500 allowance. Also, is the 200m3 correct? = 500m2 clearance area for 400mm.

 

Spoil removal is 80m3 - What they doing with the other 120m3? Is that the trim formation level? i.e. landscaping.

 

Drainage and water supply look OK for risk. Prices seem reasonable but I'm not Cambridge based so won't claim to know.

 

Off-site drainage - This can vary a lot and depends on your site plan. Does it include traffic management etc?

 

Off-site services - That doesn't look unreasonable to me as a sum. And you look fairly protected from risk, it'll only change if the meterage goes up. It's always worth getting them out to site first so they can measure up themselves and take decisions. That way, if they argue a change then you have the security that they had a site visit to include these things and price accordingly, which places it as ther cost.

 

 

[Dreadnaught]

Thanks @Drunkenmunkey. Very helpful.

 

Not heard of NEC contract before. Looking at it now.

 

Thanks for the warning on those items. Hand't noticed they were "allowances".

 

9 minutes ago, Drunkenmunkey said:

Reduced level dig -  Is the site already level?

 

No not level yet. Just a back garden, photo below. The site does undulate by about 400 mm because it has the concrete foundations for an old greenhouse.

 

9 minutes ago, Drunkenmunkey said:

Also, is the 200m3 correct? = 500m2 clearance area for 400mm.

 

That's 200 m squared not cubed I think.

 

9 minutes ago, Drunkenmunkey said:

Off-site drainage - This can vary a lot and depends on your site plan. Does it include traffic management etc?

 

No traffic management needed.

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Dreadnaught

[Dreadnaught]

Photo of the plot to give an impression of how overgrown it is. (Ignore the two small trees, I'll have someone else take those down).

 

 

[jamieled]

I'd tend to the opinion that NEC contracts are overkill for a self build. They can work well on larger jobs, but from experience they undoubtedly involve more time and paperwork than other contract types. They need quite a lot of knowledge to execute correctly and protect both parties. I have never seen them used on self build jobs as they involve too much work relative to the typical fee.

The general advice above related to allowances vs lump sum seems sensible, but if there is any uncertainty over quantities or effort a contractor is likely to price in some risk and pass it to you if you want a lump sum. 

[nod]

While your quote is quite high 

You have done very well to get a detailed quote 

Most groundwork’s  companies won’t give a fixed quote 

So it would be madness not to load it a little bit 

Don't be surprised if the muck away rises 

Very difficult to estimate As BC may come along and ask for mor depth  

[ToughButterCup]

If you want a clear  indication of a  reasonable price , buy a copy of  SPONS Architects and Builders price book.

 

Yes its expensive,  but it will save you way more than the outlay.

 

It takes a good deal of effort to get into it: I can't understand why a self- builder wouldn't want to have an authoritative reference if a significant amount of money is to be spent. 

Its so helpful in so many  ways.

 

[nod]

31 minutes ago, AnonymousBosch said:

If you want a clear  indication of a  reasonable price , buy a copy of  SPONS Architects and Builders price book.

 

Yes its expensive,  but it will save you way more than the outlay.

 

It takes a good deal of effort to get into it: I can't understand why a self- builder wouldn't want to have an authoritative reference if a significant amount of money is to be spent. 

Its so helpful in so many  ways.

 

??

[Adam2]

If SW = Surface (or storm) Water drainage - just checking you're OK with disposing that off-site? Our planning app did have that as our intention and was approved but even though this was the case, the  over-riding requirement was compliance with the policy for on-site drainage (or something else other than using the existing off-site drainage for the house we demolished).  So a bunch of soakaway created came into the equation which worked out fine but we dd not anticipate this and the architect didn't either so was a little later than ideal to make the discovery for us.

[Dreadnaught]

3 hours ago, Adam2 said:

If SW = Surface (or storm) Water drainage - just checking you're OK with disposing that off-site?

 

Thanks for asking. Yes, all is well. Long story short: I had to change the design of my bungalow to have a green roof and pay for some expensive water calculations to convince the local SUDS-officer to agree to me being able to discharge storm water to the local drain. Quite a palaver but got there in the end!

Edited March 16, 2020 by Dreadnaught