How do Builders price a Home Extension?

Builders have various ways of pricing a house extension. Some will break it down themselves into the schemes constituent parts while others will take a simpler view on floor areas plus other costs for internal works or remodelling and take a view on the price.

The break down analysis can take a lot of time for the builder so many farm out the costing to a pricing agent for a fee which can be around £300.00 for a simple two storey extension for example. Therefore all clients should not underestimate the work & time involved when they approach builders for prices. Any tender required by a homeowner should always be a genuine opportunity for all builders approached. If a home owner simply requires a check price to check on a preferred builders quote then they are to engage their own pricing agent for an agreed fee.

The time you should allow for a builders tender period should be around 4 weeks. Many builders require prices from their trades in order to package it all together for you so please do be patient. On your covering letter enclosing the tender package you should have stated a return date for the tender price from the builders. If you go out to 3 builders, it is quite normal to have only received one returned by the due by date so you have to chase the others. Regretfully this is quite normal. Do not give away any prices you may have received to the remaining tendering builders.

All tendering builders should make arrangements with your to visit the site to acquaint themselves with all the sites conditions & to ask you any relevant questions of which there are usually many. Beware of any builder who submits a price without first visiting site.

A professional design Agent for the preparation of drawings and Specifications often offer this tender service to their clients which can relieve them of the process involved.