Estimating a Build Cost  How much to Build a House?    It's a good idea when you have a plot of land and a set of plans to look at what costings you are likely to incur in your Build, a simple idea is to break down the the build into various stages or catagories such as below.      Quotes and Tenders  Each chunk or stage of a build can be costed by sending out plans and relevant information (Tender Packs) to contractors and builders to quote or tender for the work to be done, it is a good idea to get at least 3 quotes or tenders for each stage, it's worth mentioning that it's not always the cheapest quote that should get the job, a selection process should be used to pick the contractor that can fit to your time table and include all aspects of work you have set out in the Tender pack. A simple contract can be made between the 2 parties (you and theContractor) and an agreed payment schedule based on completed work.          Click on Free Download Links Below     Electrical & Mechanical, Commonly know as M&E Do you need an M&E Contractor?         It Depends on the size of your development, for a House with a Total floor area in excess of 2000 square feet I feel You should be looking at M&E in a slightly different way to a smaller development.   Recomended Books below
Estimated Costing Spreadsheet   For Example (M&E) A smaller development may adequately use for Ventilation local extraction fans in rooms extracting air through an external wall                  A Larger Development may require low noise Ventilation to all rooms with discreet hidden Ducting with heat recover incorporated to contribute towards Building Energy Management. Heating design will be different systems for small and large developments, Hot and cold water supply "runs" around the house will increase in complexity as a project size gets bigger (more floor space to heat and longer runs from Boilers to taps). Larger Projects tend to have extra storage tanks, pumps, larger capacity pipes, buffer tanks and more in terms of Electronic Home Control systems as seen in:-      Click on the Free links:      House Build Cost Cashflow Example     for a more detailed Excel speadsheet free Download,    or visit our Downloads Page   Need info on:-  Home Automation
In the Example below we have indicated the kind of amounts you would possibly spend for each stage on an average sized 4 bed detached house, we must point out this is only an example and is now 3/4 years old, however it is not far from being a reasonable benchmark to use as a starting point to estimate your build (these figures are based on a recent House build QS I recently prepaired for a client) for example:-
Estimated  House Build Cost
COSTS Plot 3 Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 TOTAL Remaining COSTS   Site/Property purchase           0.00 0.00 Site/Property purchase   Demolition /site clearance 1,000.00         1,000.00 1,000.00 Demolition /site clearance   Foundations / slabs 6,000.00         6,000.00 6,000.00 Foundations / slabs   Plot3 Reinforcement 3,500.00         3,500.00 3,500.00 Plot3 Reinforcement   Ground floor joists 2,000.00         2,000.00 2,000.00 Ground floor joists   Roads + Sewers           0.00 0.00 Roads + Sewers   Brickwork   24,000.00       24,000.00 24,000.00 Brickwork   Roof   8,800.00       8,800.00 8,800.00 Roof   First Fix Electrics   1,000.00       1,000.00 1,000.00 First Fix Electrics   First Fix Plumbing   2,000.00       2,000.00 2,000.00 First Fix Plumbing   First Fix Joinery   4,800.00       4,800.00 4,800.00 First Fix Joinery   Glazing     4,868.00     4,868.00 4,868.00 Glazing   Plastering     4,000.00     4,000.00 4,000.00 Plastering   Second Fix Electrics     2,400.00     2,400.00 2,400.00 Second Fix Electrics   Second Fix Plumbing     3,600.00     3,600.00 3,600.00 Second Fix Plumbing   Second Fix Joinery     6,400.00     6,400.00 6,400.00 Second Fix Joinery   Kitchens       5,200.00   5,200.00 5,200.00 Kitchens   Bathrooms       2,000.00   2,000.00 2,000.00 Bathrooms   Electricity Connection     450.00     450.00 450.00 Electricity Connection   Water Connection           0.00 0.00 Water Connection   Gas Connection     450.00     450.00 450.00 Gas Connection   Finals [painting + finish]         3,200.00 3,200.00 3,200.00 Finals [painting + finish]   Landscaping/Walling         2,000.00 2,000.00 2,000.00 Landscaping/Walling   Appliances         400.00 400.00 400.00 Appliances   Contingencies 2,500.00         2,500.00 2,500.00 Contingencies   TOTAL COSTS 15,000.00 40,600.00 22,168.00 7,200.00 5,600.00 90,568.00 90,568.00 TOTAL COSTS   � � � � � � 0.00 � �   FEES Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5   Remaining FEES   Stamp Duty           0.00 0.00 Stamp Duty   Valuation           0.00 0.00 Valuation   Quantity Surveyor           0.00 0.00 Quantity Surveyor   Ground Investigation           0.00 0.00 Ground Investigation   Section 106           0.00 0.00 Section 106   Planning           0.00 0.00 Planning   Legals - Purchase           0.00 0.00 Legals - Purchase   Architect   1,350.00       1,350.00 1,350.00 Architect   Insurance 180.00 180.00 180.00 180.00 180.00 900.00 900.00 Insurance   NHBC/Zurich     1,100.00     1,100.00 1,100.00 NHBC/Zurich   Engineers           0.00 0.00 Engineers   CDM           0.00 0.00 CDM   Project Management 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 Project Management   TOTAL FEES 1,180.00 2,530.00 2,280.00 1,180.00 1,180.00 8,350.00 8,350.00 TOTAL COSTS   � � � � � � 0.00   �   Total Month Expenditure 16,180.00 43,130.00 24,448.00 8,380.00 6,780.00 98,918.00 98,918.00 Total Month Expenditure   � = � � � � �   �   Cummulative Expenditure 16,180.00 59,310.00 83,758.00 92,138.00 98,918.00 � � Cummulative Expenditure                                                                                 Download NOW FREE Examples Below
You will need to research material prices and obtain 2 or 3 quotes or Tenders for each of the stages or categories to be able to Assign realistic (fixed) amounts to cover the materials and Labour for each  stage, use a spreadsheet if you can, then add up the total, the contingency should be around 10% of your total to cover any unseen or unplanned events or cost's.        The list above is also the order in which work is usually done and is a familiar labeled format throughout the building industry that trades understand and work too, for a more detailed list or "Programme of Work" follow the link below where you can download a spreadsheet with a further example of what work needs to be done and when.    Also see House Building Program of Works   Where to Start    You may find these following links of Interest:   http://www.visualbuilding.co.uk   http://www.selfbuild.com/     If you would like further explanations of the above examples please contact us with no obligation    See how we can Estimate your building work with a difference, visit-   Site & Project Management    or Contact Us : 07799203081