Instant costs, BCIS style

Many surveyors will have taken a call at 5pm on a Friday from a client who has just seen a site that would be perfect for a housing or office development and wants to know, that evening, what it would cost to build.

After putting all thoughts of the weekend to one side and trying to decide whether or not the request is serious, the surveyor must consider the following points:

• What do I need to know about the proposed building?

• What information do I need to cost such a scheme and where can I find it?

• The first figure that I give will be remembered by the client.

The first issue is the most important part of the ensuing conversation if the client is to receive sound advice. However, trying to pin down exactly what sort of development he has in mind is difficult, particularly when he is busy calculating the amount of money he is going to make. But even if the client cannot answer all the questions, establishing both what the client wants and what you have to assume in your advice will be important in adjusting the estimate as the project develops.

The best advice to give the client would be to wait until Monday, when both parties will have had an opportunity to clarify their thoughts. But if that doesn't work and information needs to be gathered quickly, what help is at hand? The information the surveyor might have himself will depend on how rigorous he has been in recording the information that passes through his office. However, the BCIS has developed a database, BCIS Online, containing details of nearly 16,000 projects, all accessible from your PC.

The following checklist is based on the RICS guidance note on cost planning and on BCIS studies of the factors which affect pricing levels, including:

• Location

• Use and accommodation requirements

• Size - both floor area and functional units

• Occupation target date

• Level of specification

• Views on design (the name of existing buildings that are broadly similar to the client's concept is often a help here)

Trying to pin down exactly what sort of development the client has in mind is difficult, particularly when he is busy calculating the amount of money he is going to make

• Number of storeys

• Any special storey height requirements

• Any specialist engineering or service requirements

• Size of site

• Access to site

• Any likely planning constraints

• Likelihood of problems with ground condition

• What's on the site at the moment

• Any problems with public utilities, either connection or existing services.

It is important that the assumptions made on these and any other factors are stated in the report to the client, even if he is only interested in the bottom line. The factors need to be considered both as they affect the total cost and the price level. For example, the size of the scheme will affect both the total cost (that is, you pay more for more building) and the pricing level (economies of scale).

The BCIS provides cost per functional unit information as well as average group elemental costs and average element costs, all adjusted for time and location as required for a particular project. The examples (across) show how BCIS Online can be used to produce the information required for a simple £/m2 estimate.

The information seen in these examples can be downloaded to the surveyor's own PC and further adjusted, where appropriate, using BCIS adjustment factors for size of contract, procurement, number of storeys, the studies of preliminary costs and the group element study which shows the relationship between building type and external work costs. The results can be imported into an organisation's own documentation for reporting to clients.