Article | Adaptive Spaces
Avoiding the fitout cost headache
Chartered building professional James Green details the benefits of overcoming time, quality and cost risks to achieve a new fitout for your office space.
August 21, 2022
Industry and media hype persists around the topic of rising construction costs, ongoing supply chain issues, delays, skills shortages, and other industry challenges.
Although construction activity may be showing signs of slowing, it still remains healthy in many sectors. Demand continues for both new developments and occupiers wanting to undertake fitouts for refurbishment or repurposing. Even with the supply, market, and resource pressures, it’s reassuring that projects are still being delivered on budget, while balancing priorities such as quality, sustainability, and safety, and all to rigid programme deadlines for business needs.
With the changing way occupiers are now working, many organisations are reviewing their business models and looking to adjust their current or newly leased space to suit these objectives. Occupiers considering undertaking an office fitout, need to consider how risks such as supply, market and resource pressures are best mitigated to meet time, quality, and cost expectations.
Our Building, Depreciation and Cost Consultancy (BDCC) team manages that process. Being across market trends, we have established relationships within the construction industry allowing us to deliver clarity, minimise programme times, mitigate risks and help maximise potential returns in the long-term.
By partnering with occupiers, we provide confidence by leading you through the project life cycle continually focused on minimising risk, engaging with the right people in the market, and with a sharp eye on delivering to time and budget constraints.
It’s critical to acknowledge the value and advantage that early design investment offers, along with careful project planning and management throughout the life of the project. This early engagement allows us to achieve a clear understanding of priorities from the outset, providing the right specialist expertise to help ensure delivery of results and long-term value.
At the early stages of a project, we consider concepts and market indicators to create a feasibility budget, advising on realistic costs that can incorporate all areas of risk within the current market. This usually includes an elemental review of the project, feasibility advice and allows for the latest market forecasts providing an annual project cash flow.
Through early engagement in the more developed stages of design, we are on hand to develop a more detailed budget, tracking changes, updating cash flows, looking at value engineering opportunities, and helping ensure value for money is being achieved.
During procurement stage we undertake contract management ensuring up to date, beneficial and industry standard terms of engagement to protect all parties. Our team focus on a well-executed concise contract, with terms agreed clearly and early in procurement. By advising on specific topical terms such as agreed escalation adjustments, appropriate contingency allowances, accepted material alternatives, process for buying materials off-site and milestone completion dates, we provide clarity and help dissolve the potential for disputes. Using our extensive industry experience ensures the setup of a smooth tendering process, providing clear and consistent platforms for tender analysis, negotiation, and reporting recommendations.
Throughout project progress, we work alongside appointed contractors to establish processes such as regular reporting, variation management, consistently updated project cash flow and regular inspections to track progress, expenditure, risks, and milestones. At final account and after completion, the result is evaluated against initial projections to verify the effectiveness of the decisions and strategies throughout the project.
We can also provide specialist expertise that extends to cost management services such as:
If you are wanting a fitout project that is seamless and meets your property cost management needs without the abundant stress, unknown risks and factors that can occur the contact myself or Qusain Khan to discuss how we can assist.
Although construction activity may be showing signs of slowing, it still remains healthy in many sectors. Demand continues for both new developments and occupiers wanting to undertake fitouts for refurbishment or repurposing. Even with the supply, market, and resource pressures, it’s reassuring that projects are still being delivered on budget, while balancing priorities such as quality, sustainability, and safety, and all to rigid programme deadlines for business needs.
With the changing way occupiers are now working, many organisations are reviewing their business models and looking to adjust their current or newly leased space to suit these objectives. Occupiers considering undertaking an office fitout, need to consider how risks such as supply, market and resource pressures are best mitigated to meet time, quality, and cost expectations.
Our Building, Depreciation and Cost Consultancy (BDCC) team manages that process. Being across market trends, we have established relationships within the construction industry allowing us to deliver clarity, minimise programme times, mitigate risks and help maximise potential returns in the long-term.
By partnering with occupiers, we provide confidence by leading you through the project life cycle continually focused on minimising risk, engaging with the right people in the market, and with a sharp eye on delivering to time and budget constraints.
It’s critical to acknowledge the value and advantage that early design investment offers, along with careful project planning and management throughout the life of the project. This early engagement allows us to achieve a clear understanding of priorities from the outset, providing the right specialist expertise to help ensure delivery of results and long-term value.
At the early stages of a project, we consider concepts and market indicators to create a feasibility budget, advising on realistic costs that can incorporate all areas of risk within the current market. This usually includes an elemental review of the project, feasibility advice and allows for the latest market forecasts providing an annual project cash flow.
Through early engagement in the more developed stages of design, we are on hand to develop a more detailed budget, tracking changes, updating cash flows, looking at value engineering opportunities, and helping ensure value for money is being achieved.
During procurement stage we undertake contract management ensuring up to date, beneficial and industry standard terms of engagement to protect all parties. Our team focus on a well-executed concise contract, with terms agreed clearly and early in procurement. By advising on specific topical terms such as agreed escalation adjustments, appropriate contingency allowances, accepted material alternatives, process for buying materials off-site and milestone completion dates, we provide clarity and help dissolve the potential for disputes. Using our extensive industry experience ensures the setup of a smooth tendering process, providing clear and consistent platforms for tender analysis, negotiation, and reporting recommendations.
Throughout project progress, we work alongside appointed contractors to establish processes such as regular reporting, variation management, consistently updated project cash flow and regular inspections to track progress, expenditure, risks, and milestones. At final account and after completion, the result is evaluated against initial projections to verify the effectiveness of the decisions and strategies throughout the project.
We can also provide specialist expertise that extends to cost management services such as:
- Reinstatement Cost Assessments for insurance purposes - should a loss event occur; this assessment provides accuracy in principal and mitigates underinsurance risks.
- Purchase & Capital Expenditure Cost Assessments for Depreciation - enhances overall property financial performance, net income returned and yield, all increasingly important in today’s market.
If you are wanting a fitout project that is seamless and meets your property cost management needs without the abundant stress, unknown risks and factors that can occur the contact myself or Qusain Khan to discuss how we can assist.