What is in a full tender package?

[SarahG]

Our plans are currently with the council. I asked a builder if he could give us an idea of cost, but he said due to fluctuations in the market he needs a full tender package from us once we have our planning consent (fingers crossed).

 

I am trying to find out what is in the full tender package. I know we will need to get building reg drawings, we plan to use an online company like Arkiplan or Draw+Plan. We plan to part ways with our architect due to a large number of mistakes he has made. Should I also use an online estimator to draw up a Bill of Quantities? I guess this just makes the builders life a bit easier when quoting? What else should I be looking at?

 

Our build is very simple and we are trying to keep costs to a minimum until we are sure we can afford to do it! We are not looking for a full turn key service, ideally we would want to get the house to the minimum state that we could live in it, so electrics and plumbing in and family bathroom and kitchen ideally installed. We would then complete anything that doesn't need a trade ourselves.

 

Any advice would be helpful.

[markc]

Basically they are wanting a bill of quantities and specific requirements regarding the project - what you are wanting and expecting them to do.

pits ok giving an idea of costs but then some, many clients completely change the scope of works but don’t expect any increase in costs.

quantities, finishes, time scale, working hours, facilities provided etc etc.

[SarahG]

1 hour ago, markc said:

Basically they are wanting a bill of quantities and specific requirements regarding the project - what you are wanting and expecting them to do.

pits ok giving an idea of costs but then some, many clients completely change the scope of works but don’t expect any increase in costs.

quantities, finishes, time scale, working hours, facilities provided etc etc.

 

Thanks, if I use one of the online estimators to produce the BOQ, presumably I would only be able to do this once I have the detailed drawings, and not the planning drawings? Otherwise it isn't going to be very accurate I would have thought.

 

We have details on the basic materials to be used, windows, soffits and fascia boards, porch, roofing and brick type. We had to submit this as part of the application as we are in a conservation area.

 

Our expectations largely depend on the cost, at a minimum it would be shell only, then PM'ing the trades ourselves to complete the build, alongside my husband completing what he can. Ideally we would like a contractor to get us to the stage we can move in and complete the interior ourselves. We will be living locally so would be able to be on site a lot of the time completing any jobs we can.

 

If the council ask us to complete a Construction Transport Plan the working hours and timescales should be in that, if they don't presumably we can document this ourselves to share. I'm not sure about facilities (like portaloo's, access to fresh water etc?), there won't be any here, I assumed the builder would arrange for these as part of the contract.

 

It's unlikely our scope will change, I know that can be costly!

[markc]

Yes, BOQ needs accurate and detailed drawings to produce anything meaningful.

as for the rest you are already on the right lines, this is exactly the sort of info they require.

[SarahG]

Thanks, it’s now making much more sense to me. Looking online, there is quite a bit of guidance and hopefully I can find some decent templates. I think this is something we can prepare ourselves, alongside the drawings and BoQ which I will do some more research in to.
 

Initially I was hoping to get a rough cost per sqm from builders before we get our full tender documents ready. Our budget is around £2500 per sqm. I just hope this will be enough, as we will be paying top London prices here. 

[Shire2020]

Hi @SarahG we’re probably a bit further forward than you and just gone through the same process. 
 

We found individual trades as still very busy and ultimately have awarded the job to one company as by the time we self managed it, the saving didn’t feel worth it. Last time we completed major works we employed each trade but this was years ago prior to a skills shortage, materials challenge and the last couple of years.

 

We roughly worked out what the core components would cost so we knew what the fixed costs were. I.e Backdoors quoted at £6k, windows £8k, garage door £2k so we knew these coats weren’t really variable.

 

Good luck finding a builder as we engaged with 5 (always would have preferred 3 not to waste peoples time) 1 of them didn’t really seem to want the job as he kept telling me how busy the new builds are for him, 1 ghosted us, 1 quoted but they felt like this was a big jump for them, which left 2 we really liked. One took so long to return a quote (months) we decided to proceed with the one who we had mutual connections with, had seen his work and been the most professional to deal with. Although, their quote was the most expensive, we want to work with them and have confidence. 
 

If the project all goes to plan and only minor inconveniences then the additional money will have been worth it! 
 

Good Luck, to get meaningful quotes has been a job in itself for us due to the level of work locally. 

Edited March 27, 2022 by Shire2020

[SarahG]

12 hours ago, Shire2020 said:

Hi @SarahG we’re probably a bit further forward than you and just gone through the same process. 
 

We found individual trades as still very busy and ultimately have awarded the job to one company as by the time we self managed it, the saving didn’t feel worth it. Last time we completed major works we employed each trade but this was years ago prior to a skills shortage, materials challenge and the last couple of years.

 

We roughly worked out what the core components would cost so we knew what the fixed costs were. I.e Backdoors quoted at £6k, windows £8k, garage door £2k so we knew these coats weren’t really variable.

 

Good luck finding a builder as we engaged with 5 (always would have preferred 3 not to waste peoples time) 1 of them didn’t really seem to want the job as he kept telling me how busy the new builds are for him, 1 ghosted us, 1 quoted but they felt like this was a big jump for them, which left 2 we really liked. One took so long to return a quote (months) we decided to proceed with the one who we had mutual connections with, had seen his work and been the most professional to deal with. Although, their quote was the most expensive, we want to work with them and have confidence. 
 

If the project all goes to plan and only minor inconveniences then the additional money will have been worth it! 
 

Good Luck, to get meaningful quotes has been a job in itself for us due to the level of work locally. 

Hi @Shire2020thanks for your reply. I agree ideally we do not want to be managing trades ourselves, anything we can do ourselves we probably will. Would like a contractor to manage trades for work we cannot do like electrician, plumber, plasterer etc. I'm sure they are all very busy around here. Our road is blocked up with trade vans every day at the moment.

 

We have one builder who is going to give us a quote, I know his wife and I would trust them. I think probably they are going to be expensive though. How did you find your builders? I know you are supposed to get local recommendations, but I'm not sure how to get these without knowing anyone who has recently had any building work done!

 

I feel like each stage is a job in itself, I'm just trying to take it step by step, getting as ready as I can for the next one!

[SarahG]

Just thinking about how we go about getting our tender docs completed and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am thinking we have two options-

 

a) Use an online company to draw up the building reg drawings, submit to online estimators to get our estimate, programme of works and BOQ, package this together with a tender invitation document ourselves and send out to our chosen builders

Or

b) Find another architect to do our drawings, presumably work with their own SE to create the tender package

 

Assuming I'm not missing anything from the above, we are more than happy to go with option a) if it saves us money, but not if it might mean it costs us in the long run.  I'm concerned if we use an online company is there something I would get from an architect that I won't from an online company? Is there anything I need to consider with option a) that maybe I have not thought about?

[Indy]

On 29/03/2022 at 21:11, SarahG said:

Just thinking about how we go about getting our tender docs completed and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am thinking we have two options-

 

a) Use an online company to draw up the building reg drawings, submit to online estimators to get our estimate, programme of works and BOQ, package this together with a tender invitation document ourselves and send out to our chosen builders

Or

b) Find another architect to do our drawings, presumably work with their own SE to create the tender package

 

Assuming I'm not missing anything from the above, we are more than happy to go with option a) if it saves us money, but not if it might mean it costs us in the long run.  I'm concerned if we use an online company is there something I would get from an architect that I won't from an online company? Is there anything I need to consider with option a) that maybe I have not thought about?

 

Don't have an answer on which way to go for you Sarah, but I did try an online quote for one of the companies you mentioned in your earlier post. They're actually coming in more expensive to do Building Regs drawings than the quote I have for my architect (which I guess re-affirms the value for money we're getting!). 

 

[SarahG]

On 01/04/2022 at 22:35, Indy said:

 

Don't have an answer on which way to go for you Sarah, but I did try an online quote for one of the companies you mentioned in your earlier post. They're actually coming in more expensive to do Building Regs drawings than the quote I have for my architect (which I guess re-affirms the value for money we're getting!). 

 

That’s interesting. I have had quotes from both. Arkiplan was very reasonable, Draw+Plan use a third party SE and their quote was quite high. I’m a little unsure what we should do next. It’s just a real shame our architect is no good. He has made so many mistakes and we have had to fight tooth and nail to get him to make any changes we wanted. We just couldn’t use him again, it would drive us mad! I don’t suppose you would want to share the architects you are using with me? They sound good?

[Indy]

57 minutes ago, SarahG said:

That’s interesting. I have had quotes from both. Arkiplan was very reasonable, Draw+Plan use a third party SE and their quote was quite high. I’m a little unsure what we should do next. It’s just a real shame our architect is no good. He has made so many mistakes and we have had to fight tooth and nail to get him to make any changes we wanted. We just couldn’t use him again, it would drive us mad! I don’t suppose you would want to share the architects you are using with me? They sound good?

 

It was the Arkiplan number that I found to be quite high (used their instant online quote), didn't go as far as sending Draw+Plan anything via email as I'm sure we will use our architects anyway.

 

Happy to share their details via PM, no complaints from me apart from the design process taking longer than I had originally envisaged. That's more down to the number of different directions we went (refurb, new build, changing exterior finishes etc). They've certainly been quite patient given everything.