- News
All the latest updates on building safety reformRegulations latest
- Focus
- Comment
- Programmes
- CPD
- Building the Future
- Jobs
- Data
- Subscribe
- Events
2024 events calendar
Explore nowBuilding Awards
Keep up to date
- Building Boardroom
All the latest updates on building safety reform
2024 events calendar
Explore nowBuilding Awards
Keep up to dateCost breakdown of base scheme | |||
element cost £ | cost/m2 gifa £ | % of total cost | |
Substructure | 316,400 | 44.56 | 3.55 |
200 thick ground slab, pad foundations, bases for external escape stairs | |||
Frame and upper floors | 1,204,500 | 169.65 | 13.53 |
Insitu concrete frame; 500mm diameter insitu columns; 350mm thick suspended slabs to upper floors and roof; 250mm thick insitu concrete shear walls | |||
Roof | 293,400 | 41.32 | 3.29 |
Flat roof finishes; high-performance two-layer felt roof membrane; metal decking and insulation; double-glazed atrium rooflight; rainwater goods and downpipes | |||
Stairs and balustrades | 141,800 | 19.97 | 1.59 |
Insitu concrete stairs; balustrades, handrails and walkways | |||
External walls | 1,801,400 | 253.72 | 20.23 |
Aluminium stick and panel curtain walling system; aluminium rainscreen cladding on blockwork backing; limited solar shading; glazed partition to atrium | |||
Internal partitions | 131,500 | 18.52 | 1.48 |
Blockwork; WC cubicles | |||
Internal doors | 86,500 | 12.18 | 0.97 |
Wall finishes | 117,300 | 16.52 | 1.32 |
Plaster and paint; painted concrete | |||
Floor finishes | 507,700 | 71.51 | 5.70 |
Raised floors in office areas; stone and tile finishes to landlord's areas | |||
Ceiling finishes | 227,000 | 31.97 | 2.55 |
Mineral fibre suspended ceilings; plasterboard finish to landlord’s areas | |||
Furniture and fittings | 147,500 | 20.77 | 1.66 |
Reception furniture, signage, artwork, blinds | |||
Sanitary appliances | 41,800 | 5.89 | 0.47 |
Disposal installations | 40,800 | 5.75 | 0.46 |
Water installations | 67,700 | 9.54 | 0.76 |
Space heating and air treatment | 810,400 | 114.14 | 9.10 |
Displacement ventilation system; air cooled chiller; AHU with heat reclaim; distribution; floor diffusers | |||
Electrical installations | 512,100 | 72.13 | 5.75 |
Mains, sub mains, power to mechanical services; lighting, landlord’s small power | |||
Gas installations | 17,900 | 2.52 | 0.20 |
Lift installation | 146,000 | 20.56 | 1.64 |
Protective installations | 12,600 | 1.77 | 0.14 |
Communication installations | 107,800 | 15.18 | 1.21 |
Fire alarm, CCTV, security system | |||
Special installations | 126,700 | 17.85 | 1.42 |
Builders’ work | 68,000 | 9.58 | 0.76 |
External works and services | 672,200 | 94.68 | 7.55 |
Preliminaries, contingencies and OHP | 1,305,000 | 183.80 | 14.67 |
Construction cost of base scheme | 8,904,000 | 1,254.08 | 100.00 |
Enhancements to scheme to achieve current best practice sustainability | |||
element cost £ | cost/m2 gifa £ | % of total cost | |
Substructure | 745,400 | 104.99 | 7.56 |
ADD additional foundation and ground slab costs arising from increased footprint associated with two-storey design; pad foundations; 200 mm thick ground slab; below ground drainage. 2300 m2 @ £180 | |||
Base building substructure costs based on footprint area of 1636m2. | |||
Extra over 200 mm thick ground floor slab for incorporation of recycled aggregates in concrete 1000 m3 @ £15 | |||
Below ground drainage pipes and fittings in clay in lieu of PVC 2300 m2 @ 0 | |||
Reduced use of potentially toxic materials at no overall increase in cost | |||
Frame, upper floors and stairs | 849,500 | 119.65 | 8.62 |
OMIT six-storey insitu concrete frame; upper floors and roof; insitu concrete shear walls 7100 m2 @ (£170) | |||
ADD two-storey steel frame; universal columns and beams @ 50kg/m2; standard proprietary hollowcore precast concrete floor and roof deck units; finishes to steelwork – no fire protection required 7100 m2 @ £120 | |||
Embodied energy and transport benefits from utilising partially recycled steel and reduced cement volume; reduced building mass through use of hollow core units in lieu of insitu concrete; reduced waste due to off-site fabrication of steel and precast units; exposed thermal mass using PC units; reduced use of toxic materials as no fire protection required to steel due to adoption of fire-engineering-based design. | |||
Roof | 1,076,600 | 151.63 | 10.92% |
OMIT bespoke glazed rooflight over atrium to six-storey building 80 m2 @ (£750) | |||
OMIT flat roof finishes to six-storey building; felt roof membrane on metal decking and insulation 1465 m2 @ (£116) | |||
ADD northlight roof to two-storey building; secondary steelwork; standing seam mill finish aluminium; 175 mm zero ODP insulation to achieve good practice U-value 4465 m2 @ £80 | |||
Roof profile designed to increase natural daylighting. Operational lighting costs and lighting heat load will reduce as system is specified in conjunction with a lighting control system. Increased roof area due to replanning of building based on two storeys, and northlight profile. Actual roof area stated rather than plan area. | |||
Extra over for roof installation for fan assisted ventilation shafts; refer to building services for costs of fans 42 @ £3250 | |||
Fan-assisted natural ventilation provided to supplement natural cross ventilation | |||
ADD increased drainage requirements for increased area of roof for a two-storey building; siphonic drainage, gutters, outlets, pipework. 2935 m2 @ 12 | |||
ADD increased area of glazed rooflights; thermally broken patent glazing ; sealed double-glazed units 635 m2 @ £340 | |||
Increased natural daylighting to 100% of office space to BS8206. Operational lighting costs and lighting heat load will reduce as system is specified in conjunction with a lighting control system | |||
Extra over for Argon filled cavity to rooflights; U-value = 1.4 W/m2K 635 m2 @ £30 | |||
Management of potentially increased heating and cooling loads resulting from increased U-value and improved thermal performance of rooflights | |||
Extra over for opening vents to rooflights to assist natural ventilation; tilt and turn vents; actuator motors; refer to special installations for controls 84 @ £800 | |||
Reduced carbon emissions, running costs and plant replacement costs resulting from simplification of mechanical installation | |||
ADD solar shading to rooflights; externally mounted, proprietary aluminium louvres 635 m2 @ £150 | |||
Management of increased solar heat load and glare resulting from increased area of roof lights | |||
ADD for automated solar control blinds to rooflights; including interface with controls 635 m2 @£70 | |||
Management of increased solar heat load and glare resulting from increased area of rooflights | |||
Extra for enhanced insulation thickness to roof to meet best practice U-values (overall thickness 200 mm); U-value = 0.18 W/m2K 4465 m2 @ £1.10 | |||
Extra over for insulation for achieving best practice U-value with 200 mm injected cellulose insulation (Warmcell 500) 4465 m2 @ £0.25 | |||
Extra for achieving same U-value with natural sheep’s wool insulation. 4465 m2 @ £8.15 | |||
Renewable source of materials | |||
Stairs | 224,000 | 31.55 | 2.27 |
ADD balustrading to first-floor voids 300 m @ £450 | |||
OMIT reduced number of stairflights for two-storey building 24 (£2200) | |||
External walls, windows and doors | 1,976,000 | 278.31 | 20.05% |
OMIT aluminium stick and panel curtain walling system; sealed double glazed units; to all elevations 2600 m2 @ (£335) | |||
OMIT aluminium rainscreen cladding; blockwork backing; to roof level enclosed plant rooms and escape stairs 700 m2 @ (£250) | |||
OMIT solar shading; south elevation only 790 m2 @ (£525) | |||
OMIT internal atrium glazing from base scheme 545 m2 @ (£300) | |||
ADD cavity wall construction to two-storey scheme; outer leaf of facing bricks; inner leaf of 140 mm dense concrete blockwork; zero ODP insulation; wind posts. Including allowance for high proportion of additional labours. 1685 m2 @ £300 | |||
Reduced solar heat gain from solid wall; embodied energy and toxicity from use of masonry materials. Brickwork and blockwork are A-rated materials in the Green Guide to Specification. Use of locally sourced materials also reduce embodied energy associated with transportation. | |||
Extra over for lime mortar 1685 m2 @ £4 | |||
Facilitates recycling of brickwork at end of building life | |||
Extra over for sheep’s wool insulation to meet best practice U-value; U-value = 0.25W/m2 C. 1685 m2 @ £9.50 | |||
Renewable materials source | |||
ADD high performance aluminium stick system curtain walling to external wall and lightwell elevations 1560 m2 @ £350 | |||
Rate reflects high performance specification with U-value of 0.25 W/m2K and airtightness rating of <7m2/hr/m2 | |||
Extra over curtain walling for manually openable windows 60 @ £320 | |||
Provision of responsive workspace through user control of daytime ventilation | |||
Extra over curtain walling for top hung windows; for nightime cooling; electrically actuated; refer to special installations for controls. 56 @ £650 | |||
Reduced carbon emissions, running costs and plant replacement costs resulting from nightime cooling and simplification of mechanical installation | |||
ADD tilt-before-turn inward opening framed vents with insulated panels; electrically actuated; refer to special installations for controls. 525 m2 @ £500 | |||
Reduced carbon emissions, running costs and plant replacement costs resulting from simplification of mechanical installation | |||
ADD external solar shading to curtain walling; externally mounted, proprietary aluminium louvres 810 m2 @ £250 | |||
Enhanced management of solar heat load and glare | |||
ADD overhanging roof canopy to south elevation. 510 m2 @ £400 | |||
Enhanced management of solar heat load and glare | |||
Internal partitions | 131,500 | 18.52 | 1.33 |
Internal doors | 64,500 | 9.08 | 0.65% |
OMIT reduced number of lift lobby doors in two-storey scheme. 6 @ (£2000) | |||
Ditto for reduction in riser doors. 8 @ (£1250) | |||
Wall finishes | 120,400 | 16.96 | 1.22% |
ADD lightweight plaster to inside face of masonry walls; emulsion paint. 1685 m2 @ £15 | |||
OMIT plaster and paint finishes to concrete core. 1180 m2 @ (15) | |||
OMIT paint finish to concrete columns. 150 m2 @ (£30) | |||
Cost effect of VOC-free water-borne paints 1685 m2 @ 0 | |||
Minimisation of the use of potentially toxic products | |||
Floor finishes | 357,700 | 50.38 | 3.63 |
OMIT adaptation of raised floor for underfloor displacement ventilation; sealing of raised floor plenum; cutting holes for diffusers; bridging over ductwork. 6000 m2 @ (£25) | |||
Ceiling finishes | 230,500 | 32.46 | 2.34% |
OMIT mineral fibre suspended ceiling to office areas. 6000 m2 @ (£18) | |||
OMIT allowance for plasterboard margin to office and atrium perimeter. 6000 m2 @ (£11) | |||
ADD self finished acoustic plaster to soffits of upper floors and sloping roof deck of northlights. 7100 m2 @ £25 | |||
Furniture and fittings | 147,500 | 20.77 | 1.50% |
Sanitary appliances | 59,500 | 8.38 | 0.60% |
ADD waterless urinals. Item @ 3,500 | |||
Additional costs of waterless urinals mostly offset by savings in simplified plumbing installation | |||
ADD spray taps and dual flush WCs. 7100 m2 @ £0.50 | |||
Reduction in water consumption by 50% if all three measures are implemented. | |||
ADD PIR control to taps. 7100 m2 @ £1.50 | |||
Water and disposal installations | 174,400 | 24.56 | 1.77% |
Extra over for PVC-free materials in water and disposal distribution. 7100 m2 @ £1 | |||
Minimisation of the use of potentially toxic products | |||
ADD additional cost of water and waste distribution pipework to more dispersed toilet provision. 7100 m2 @ £3 | |||
ADD solar thermal water heating installation for pre-heat of hot water in toilet cores. 25 m2 @ £1500 | |||
CO2 saving of 10 tonnes pa; 25-year payback | |||
Heat source, space heating and ventilation | 414,800 | 58.42 | 4.21 |
OMIT reduced capacity of boiler installation (250kW); ultra low NOX 25ppm condenser boilers. 250 kW @ (£40) | |||
Saving related to omission of AHU heater battery | |||
OMIT mechanical displacement ventilation system including AHUs, chiller, pipework and ductwork distribution. 7100 m2 @ (£60) | |||
Plant rooms and riser provision retained to allow for future retrofit | |||
ADD extract fans; to ventilation shafts; power wiring and controls. 42 @ £675 | |||
Fan-assisted natural ventilation provided to supplement natural cross ventilation | |||
ADD increased length of LTHW perimeter heating installation. 6000 m2 @ £2 | |||
Electrical installation | 646,000 | 90.99 | 6.55% |
OMIT electrical services cabling and containment to mechanical ventilation and cooling plant. | |||
7100 m2 @ (£2) | |||
ADD PVC-free materials in electric wiring and conduit; LSF sheathing to cable. 7100 m2 @ £1 | |||
Minimisation of the use of potentially toxic products | |||
ADD additional power supplies to actuator controlled facade and roof openings. 6000 m2 @ £6 | |||
OMIT basic recessed lighting installation to suspended ceiling (1 fitting per 4.5 m2). | |||
6000 m2 @ (£32.50) | |||
ADD exposed up/downlighter lighting installation (one fitting per 4 m2) excluding any attached acoustic treatment. 6000 m2 @ £45 | |||
Extra for slimline lighting control boxes located in floor void and allowance for exposed containment systems. 6000 m2 @ £5 | |||
Gas installation | 17,900 | 2.52 | 0.18 |
Lift installations | 40,000 | 5.63 | 0.41 |
OMIT two passenger lifts serving six storeys. 2 @ (£73,000) | |||
ADD one passenger lifts serving two storeys. 1 @ £40,000 | |||
Protective installation | nil | nil | nil |
OMIT dry riser serving six storeys. Item @ (£12,600) | |||
Communication installations | 107,800 | 15.18 | 1.09 |
Special installations | 184,200 | 25.94 | 1.87 |
OMIT BMS controls associated with mechanical ventilation and cooling system. 50pts @ (£650) | |||
ADD BMS controlled ventilation path and increased control to roof/vent openings to facilitate night-time cooling. 6000 m2 @ £15 | |||
Builder’s work in connection | 68,000 | 9.58 | 0.69 |
External works and services | 744,600 | 104.87 | 7.55 |
ADD higher proportion of soft landscaping and tree planting to external works areas and internal courtyards. 9050 m2 @ £8 | |||
Additional planting to enhance biodiversity | |||
Preliminaries and contingencies | 1,475,000 | 207.75 | 14.97 |
Contractor’s overheads, site establishment and site supervision; including waste management; pollution control and protection of water courses. Allow 12%. Item @ £1,006,000 | |||
Preliminaries provision includes recycling of waste, controls on materials disposal, rainwater and grey water recycling; vehicle sharing etc. There is typically no financial effect on competitively tendered projects with a value in excess of £10m | |||
Allowance for waste segregation and recycling schemes. Item @ no extra cost | |||
Recycling can produce cost savings on projects where volumes are large enough and where minimisation of active waste disposal is achieved | |||
Contingency sum. Allow 5%. Item @ £469,000 | |||
Construction cost including current best-practice sustainability | 9,855,800 | 1,388.12 | 100 |
Additional costs of current best-practice sustainability | 951,800 | 134.04 | 10.69 |
Additional costs of enhanced sustainability options | |||
unit | unit rate £ | overall rate * £/m2 gfa | |
Superstructure | |||
Extra over steel frame for glue-laminated timber frame | m2 | 60 | 71 |
Extra over to upgrade exposed soffit to bespoke precast coffered slabs cast from special moulds | m2 | 150 | 176 |
Extra over mill finish aluminium for terne coated stainless steel | m2 | 30 | 22 |
Extra over for green / landscaped roof of planted sedum (Erisco Bauder or similar) | m2 | 40 | 30 |
Upgrade external wall insulation U-values from 0.25 to 0.2 with natural sheep’s wool to achieve leading-edge performance | m2 | 2.5 | 0.70 |
Building services | |||
Rainwater harvesting system; below ground storage tank; water treatment; pipework; distribution; builders work | m2 | 32 | 25 |
Grey water recovery system. Small packaged units serving shower or changing rooms | nr | 7500 | 2.60 |
Displacement based mixed-mode ventilation system to provide minimum occupancy fresh air; including heat recovery | m2 | 25 | 31 |
Dimming facility added to basic category A fit-out lighting control system; dimming cards, universal sensors, dimming ballast | m2 | 10 | 11 |
Closed loop heat rejection/collection borehole system. External borehole grid with pipework loops grouted in, connected to header and heat pump installation (approx 120 kW load) | nr | 85000 | 15 |
Photovoltaics installed on south-facing roof area including AC conversion and cabling | m2 | 650 | 6 |
CHP installation to accommodate part load only (250 kVA) | kVA | 1000 | 43 |
Use of pre-loomed structured IT cabling to avoid waste on site generated by cutting cables | negligible cost | ||
External works | |||
Use of natural organic composts and other soil amelorants | negligible cost | ||
Sustainable urban drainage installations comprising soakaways, permeable pavings and underground attenuation tanks (assumes pavings at 82% of GFA) | m2 | 35 | 34 |
Location factors | |
The cost breakdown is based on a price levels current in the South-east and should be adjusted by the following location factors for schemes in other regions. | |
Inner London | 1.13 |
Outer London | 1.06 |
South-east | 1.00 |
South-west | 0.93 |
East Midlands | 0.91 |
West Midlands | 0.91 |
East Anglia | 0.95 |
Yorkshire & Humberside | 0.88 |
North-west | 0.91 |
North | 0.90 |
Scotland | 0.91 |
Wales | 0.91 |
Northern Ireland | 0.72 |