A Schedule of what?
Okay – Probably something you’ve heard of and tried to avoid… Or attempted and perhaps not your area of expertise. That’s fair – I couldn’t build a box to save myself.
It’s not something that’s taught when you are getting your qualifications but something so important to set you up for success and efficiently winning tenders. A QS can help for sure, and in most cases save you money. But, here is some key information to help you when drafting a SoQ or Material Take off.
The concept is pretty simple. An itemized list, or spread sheet, of materials that are needed to complete the project at hand to provide an accurate construction budget.
Although, for small jobs it is easy to rattle the list off your head, for larger construction projects you may need to engage a Quantity Surveyor to ensure nothing’s missed.
Using a QS to help
A Quantity Surveyor has access to list of current materials, rates, margins, tags – everything and anything that won’t and shouldn’t get missed. They have procedures in place that price plans so efficiently that it becomes more cost efficient than trying to do it yourself..
The easiest part is listing the materials but the most time consuming is the measure. If the measure is inaccurate then you can potentially spend more on materials and labour than what you have budgeted for, eating into your hard earned profit.
Whether you are planning a construction project that is big or small, you must do an accurate estimation of an SoQ. While the process isn’t a simple one and can be super time-consuming, you will need to decide whether this project might be better off with a QS. You may be really surprised at the cost of pricing plans and who should actually be paying for this to be done!
How to get help from Red QS
Save money and maximize profit where you can, contact Red QS for a friendly chat about how we can help your business, get those plans off your desk and into action!