New clients often ask two or three companies to tender for their design & build or refurbishment projects so that they can compare their prices. A great idea – but do make sure you’re comparing like with like.
An example of a Humphrey Munson kitchen. Humphrey Munson are currently designing an amazing kitchen for one of our new-build projects.
We’ve been building houses in this area for a long time now, so we’ve come to expect that you’ll want your home finished to a certain standard. We’ll spend time at the outset establishing your priorities, the level of finish you’re after – and your budget. The idea is that we remove all ambiguity from the process and give you real cost certainty. Our subsequent proposal will cover everything we’ve discussed.
But not all quotes are structured in exactly the same way, so do drill down so you’re clear about exactly what’s been allowed for.
Take your kitchen as an example. An open plan kitchen/ breakfast room/ day room which opens out onto a stunning outdoor space has become a priority for many of the homes in this area. Chances are, you’ll be spending most of your time here – and you’ll want it to be fabulous. We’ll allow for a bespoke kitchen, carefully designed to suit the way you and your family want to live – and we’ll make sure that it will add real value to your property for years to come. But these things cost money! There’s no point in us allowing an insufficient figure for a fantastic kitchen – we’ll only have to increase the budget part-way through the project. The alternative would be that you’d have to compromise, and compromise often equals disappointment, something we like to avoid wherever possible!
Another beautiful Humphrey Munson kitchen
We apply the same principle to every aspect of our quote: our price is the price we genuinely think you’ll need to pay to finish your home to the standard you’re looking for. Of course, if you decide halfway through the project that you’d like to go all-out and add an extension over the garage or a swimming pool, the price will change, but we’d like to think that you’d expect that!
The other issue to bear in mind is that we’re also realistic when it comes to timings. We calculate exactly how long it will take to complete your project and we’ll supply you with a plan at the outset to tell you when the all big decisions will need to be made: we’re expecting that you’ll want your home completed as soon as possible, so we don’t want you to inadvertently delay the process. We’ll then keep everything on track, not least because delays generally lead to increased costs. And you’ll never have to worry about the builder/ plumber/ electrician/ whoever moving on to their next job before they’ve completed yours – that’s what you’ve got us for!
So, our proposal may not be the cheapest, but it’s likely to be the most realistic, in terms of both costings and timescale.
It hurts to lose out in a competitive bid situation, only to find out that our competitor was subsequently unable to deliver the home you dreamed of for the price and timescale they’d quoted!
Nick Barlow
nickbarlow@accuroresidential.com
01932 559 150
