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Estimating & costing

Estimate a feasibility budget before design

Put an order-of-magnitude number in front of the board before a single drawing exists: pull a cost-per-square-metre benchmark, shape it into a shell of allowances and report the range.

3 steps9 minDeveloper / clientCost consultant / QSGeneral contractor

How it works, step by step

3 steps across the platform - what you do at each one, and why it matters.

1

Pull a cost-per-square-metre benchmark

Cost Explorer

Search the cost database for comparable projects of the same building type and region, and read off the typical cost per square metre of floor area.

Why: Before a design exists, a benchmark rate is the only honest way to put a number on the job, and it tells you fast whether the brief fits the budget at all.

InBuilding type and regionCost databaseOutCost per square metreComparable projects
2

Shape it into a bill of allowances

BOQ

Open the bill and lay in a handful of lump-sum allowances by element, substructure, superstructure, envelope, fit-out, services, scaled off the floor area rather than a detailed take-off.

Why: A feasibility budget only needs to be right at the element level. Locking allowances now gives the design team a target to design to instead of a blank cheque.

InBenchmark rateGross floor areaOutElement allowancesElement budget targets
3

Report the range

Reports

Issue the budget as a range, low to high, with the benchmark source and the assumptions stated plainly, so the board can decide whether to proceed to design.

Why: A single number invites false confidence and gets quoted back at you as a promise. A stated range with its assumptions is what a feasibility decision should actually be made on.

InElement allowancesSource and assumptionsOutBudget rangeFeasibility report

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