What pricing methods are available for Quantity Surveyors?

There are a number of sources of cost information available to quantity surveyors, which can be used to benchmark construction projects. These include:

1. Building Cost Information Service
2. Pricing books
3. In house benchmarking
4. Unit rates from suppliers/contractors

Each of these sources has its own advantages and disadvantages, which need to be considered when using them for benchmarking purposes.

Building Cost Information Service

There are a number of published cost indices that can be used to benchmark construction projects. The most well-known is probably the RICS Building Cost Information Service, which is a large scale cost database based on a number of construction costs in the UK.

Advantages:

• Widely used and respected
• Provides good coverage of construction costs

Disadvantages:

• Can be out of date
• May not be relevant to your specific project
• Limited control over data

Pricing books

Pricing books like provide a range of prices for different types of construction projects. The most well-known is probably the Spons, which is used by many quantity surveyors, however alternatives are available

Advantages:

• Can be very specific to your project
• Contains full cost breakdowns usually including materials & labour

Disadvantages:

• Very quickly out of date after publishing due to it being a book
• Compiled by one company so may not be representative of the wider market.

In-house benchmarking

Construction project benchmarking is a process of comparing the cost of a construction project to similar projects in order to determine the projects estimated cost. This process can be used to compare the cost of a construction project to other projects in the same region or to projects of a similar size and scope.

Advantages:

• Benchmarking can help improve the accuracy of your estimates. By understanding how your project compares to similar projects, you can make more informed decisions about your own project.
• Benchmarking can also help you gain a better understanding of the construction market. By understanding what similar projects cost, you can get a better sense of the meta conditions of the market
• Benchmarking can also help you make better decisions about your project. Popular cost sources prevalent in the industry and the moment rely on averages of large datasets that aren't necessarily in touch with real-world rates, benchmarking allows your to control and own your own data meaning it is making it more reliable and definitive

Disadvantages:

• Benchmarking may not be available for all construction projects. For example large, complex or one-off buildings may not have comparable projects to benchmark against.
• Benchmarking may not be accurate for all construction projects.
• Benchmarking requires constant updating to keep in line with the latest rates.

Unit rates from suppliers/contractors

Quantity surveyors have the option of contacting suppliers and contractors before going out to tender to estimate the cost. This is one of the most accurate methods of estimation as costs are ultimately decided by the successful contractor. However, at an early stage this is both in-practical and time consuming.

Advantages:

• Can be very specific to your project
• Very accurate and temporal data

Disadvantages:

• Scope and specification is not defined early in the project so data will be unavailable.
• Access to cost data lies with the contractor/supplier so may not always be available
• To contact different contractors/suppliers for each building element would be extremely time consuming.

Conclusion

In reality, a mixture of these approaches should be used to generate the most accurate cost information. When it comes to construction project benchmarking, there are a few key things to keep in mind. First, benchmarking is not an exact science and there will always be some variability in the results. Second, benchmarking is just one tool that can be used to price construction projects, and it should be used in conjunction with other pricing sources. Finally, construction project benchmarking can be a valuable tool for quantity surveyors, but it is important to understand the limitations of the process before using it.

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