Comments/Feedback on Build Quote

Comments/Advice sought on Quote
I have received my first quote back for the construction of a TF 2600 sq ft dormer in the West. It is much more than I had mentally been budgeting and whilst it is high spec and designed to get a very high BER rating I am wondering if there are ways I might still achieve a high BER but at a lower cost. I would like to get people's feedback on some elements of the quote which I will list to see if people feel that these are expensive/overpriced.
The total cost including everything except sanitary ware and kitchen units is approx. €350,000 ex. VAT.

Some elements of the quote:

Preliminaries €26000 - includes Site supervision, Site Accommodation, Teleporter Hire, Insurance (€3600), Power, Scaffolding etc.

Insulation €21500 Rockwool and Xtratherm

External Plastering €15000

Internal Dry Lining/Plastering €32000

Windows/External Doors Alu-Clad (approx 30) €35000

Electrical €8500

Condensing Boiler, Underfloor Heating, Solar Panels €31000

Comments very welcome

When you say "very high rating" are you talking about an A or where do you envisage the house on the scale?

Your build is working out at €134 per ft2 which many will say is high, some houses are being built at €65 per ft2. Personally I don't see it being possible at these cheap rates with current building regs.

Assuming all materials are involved except your 2nd fix items, and there are no variables, and you are at A rating, this is ok.

Mickeyg,

Personally I think that quote is extreamly high.

-My Internal and external plastering for a 3600 sq ft house and 600 sq ft Garage is coming in at €10,000 + VAT(doing the cosyboarding and dry-lining myself but one plasterer quoted €5000 for this)

My Plumbing including Condensing boiler, UF heating,and Solar panels €17500+ VAT

24 Alu-clad Windows including external doors front and back, 1 set of french doors and one 3 mtr opening sliding door = €24,000

Sparks myself, so your price for electrical sounds about right concluding that all your technologies( solar,Boiler,UF etc.) will be controlled to an A-rated spec

Based in Midlands

Wow - that's very high.

We are coming towards the end of a self build in the West also (Co. Galway) . It's about 2,700 sq ft, storey and a half in the front and 2 storey in the back. Solar panels, hollow core, underfloor heating up and downstairs, top spec for all insulation , condenser boiler , walnut floors & doors, walnut & glass stairs , hig-gloss contemporary kitchen, top spec tiles, footpaths, big garage with floored upstairs etc etc.
All in, fully finished, on a direct labour basis, we will bring it in close to 200-220k. Now, that's a very good cost because, even though none of them are in the trades, my husband and his brother/dad did a lot of donkey work such as installing the solar panels themselves, doing all the dry lining & insulation themselves, clearing the site, painting etc etc. What they saved on this kind of work meant that we didn't need to budget on things like kitchen or flooring.

However, when we were getting quotes from contractors 2 years ago (i.e. near the height of the boom) max quotes that we got for a builders finish , which is what it sounds like you'll be getting, were around 280k for this house. I can't see how they could be charging so much more for a builders finsih for a similarly sized house in the West of Ireland, in the current climate. I would have expected that the contractors would be more competitive in their quotes these days as the labour costs have dropped substantially, even if materials haven't.

Hope that helps.

mister mac.. nice price for plastering im looking to get mine done at the moment 4500 sqft house 14k inside and 6 k outside plus materials and scaffolding... have had a few better quotes for outside down to about 5 including materials and scaffolding..

any one know any one in Louth whos good and can give references?...

but your costs do seem high, windows are about right id say although I have herd if you find a good local carpenter that maeks windows you can save a lot.. electrical sounds good if it includes wires... you can buy scaffolding your self for about 2k... I got insurance,, wish i haddent know one signs your insurance book anyway. you dont need site accomadation if you do many free mobile homes about. teleported should be with the fellas who need it not for you to hire you find most people will help you out moving the odd thing arround,, not sure you really need one on site.. site supervision.. if you want that then you have to pay for it but at 26k thats one very nice kitchen you could have had. personally do it your self if you can its good fun,. your boiler system 31k now would get you a very good geothermal heating system.. no need for solar panels... try http://www.heliotherm.at/ have one and they seem good.

There is a massive difference between self-building and employing a contractor and associated construction professionals to carry out construction projects.

Site accommodation - this is a Health & Safety requirement to provide welfare facilities for all individuals working on the site, eating areas, drying rooms, storage, site office etc. Not to mention the obligation to have insurance!!

A very good geothermal heating system may not be effective in the location of the build where an ambient air temperature heat exchanger may be highly effective.

If the house is being built to a very high rating, there may not be a need for such a large portion of the build budget to be on heating inputs.

Mickeyg- it would help if you can let us know the target rating and even if you are going for passive house specifications.