Excluding one high price, the other five tender returns were quite close together.
We had decided to provide many of the basic building materials ourselves,
so when we added these costs to the builders tender figures we knew the total
construction costs. These ranged from £876 to £1323 per sq.m for the house
and £497 to £650 per sq.m. for the detached double garage. In addition to these
figures we had also set aside a portion of the budget for renewables.
John A Stephens Builders Merchants tel.0115 9412861, provide a very useful
estimating service that gave us costs for most of the materials needed, from bricks
and blocks to rainwater harvesting tanks.
The tender process was not just about cost however, as we also had chance to meet
the builders and get a feeling for which companies we felt most comfortable working
with. Eventually we agreed to appoint Alan Fearn of Saxton Builders in Chilwell
tel. 07970 115126. Alan not only tendered a keen price and was available to start
very quickly, he had good references from other satisfied customers and took the
time and trouble to have several long meetings with us to discuss the project.
We agreed the price, start date and signed a fixed price contract with Alan and our
Architect, making it official.
No turning back now !