Step 1 - Determining possible suppliers:
You need to decide where to purchase the materials. You may choose a local supplier such as a timber yard or the usual supplier for your company. Sometimes a wholesaler will be able to meet your requirements.
Quotes are generally called from your company's usual suppliers because:
• the quality of their materials is known
• the bookwork is simplified
• they already work closely with your organisation.
In building construction, both during the period of quoting or estimating and also the construction period, by the very nature of the work, there will always be some unknown factors. The usual procedure is to allocate a cost against the unknown factor that will be validated at a later time.
Valuing Variations is often a complex area of assessment for the Superintendent, Client or Contractor in relation to variations.
It is prudent to confirm costs at every stage of a project and proceed with the certainty that the ground rules have been properly set and are understood by all.
As part of best practice, builders should ensure, all estimates must be consistent and reflect the most likely cost, not a ‘padded’ or ‘guessed’ cost’.
