There are a few reasons that can explain why builder’s costs vary so dramatically. We have outlined 6 reasons below as follows:

1. Overheads and Profit Margins: The size of a builder’s company will mean their overhead costs differ, and they may also have different profit margins which will impact their costs.

1. Their experience: If the building project has complex design elements that are non standard and the builder doesn’t have experience they may well add a premium to allow extra time to construct the building. Likewise if the builder doesn’t have the experience they may underquote for complex design. This can have a dramatic impact on the builder’s costs.

1. Timeframe and Scheduling: Builders may charge more for projects that need to be completed quickly or require flexible scheduling to accommodate the client’s needs. They may need to employ additional workers aswell. Each builder will take differing views on this and this can vary the costs dramatically.

1. Specialisation and Expertise: Builders who specialise in certain types of construction, such as eco-friendly or luxury homes, may charge higher prices for their specialised skills and knowledge and a higher level of finish and coordination.

1. Market Conditions: Economic factors, such as fluctuations in the cost of materials or changes in demand for construction services, can impact pricing.

1. Existing workloads: If a contractor has a healthy workload and they are booked up they are more likely to keep their profit margins higher than if their workloads were less and are willing to reduce their profit margins to secure work.

In conclusion, when getting builders to quote for your building project, we would recommend to obtain 3 quotes as a minimum. Additionally try and establish they are all of a similar size. Finally check that the quotes are like for like when comparing them. As a general rule we work on the basis that quotes that are 5-15% (depending on the value of the project) of each other are an acceptable level of variation.

If your building project is coming in above your budget check out our blog about how you can look at reducing the build cost without loosing the essence of your design.

Check out our build cost calculator to work out the cost of your building project before you even start to understand what kind of budget you should allow for.