Elemental Cost Plan: Preliminary Cost Report

What Is An Elemental Cost Plan?

An elemental cost plan is a professional, accurate, and thorough document that provides:

• An early indication of total project costs
• A useful comparison tool to evaluate contractor tenders
• Cost-saving opportunities through detailed cost planning

With a Duo Tax elemental cost plan, you gain greater visibility over all key construction costs to achieve the best possible value.

The Duo Tax Advantage

Our elemental cost plans deliver an in-depth analysis of all factors influencing your building costs, including:

• Preliminary expenses like design fees, surveys, and consents
• Construction and labour costs based on current market rates
• Overheads such as insurance, supervision, and plant
• Contractor profit margins benchmarked against similar projects
• Risk contingencies for unforeseen events or variations
• Tender reconciliations to identify discrepancies
• Benchmark indicators for effective cost comparison
• Escalation provisions factored over the project duration

Our reports also highlight key quantities and areas with specific inclusions and exclusions, factoring in certain benchmark indicators, contingency and cost escalation provisions, and assumptions.

And as leading quantity surveyors, our cost estimates draw on extensive historical data from diverse construction projects, including commercial, industrial, and residential – which enables superior accuracy.

Key Deliverables of Our Elemental Cost Plans

Our elemental cost plans provide clients with several useful deliverables, including:

• Detailed Cost Analysis Report – This core document breaks down projected expenditures across all elements, like preliminaries, construction, and contingencies. It draws on our proprietary cost database for accuracy.
• Cost Model – We provide an interactive Excel-based cost model aligned to the drawings. This allows real-time forecasting as the design progresses.
• Benchmarking Data – We provide clients with benchmark cost rates for key construction materials, labor, and equipment. These benchmarks are based on historical data and industry standards.
• Summary Presentation – We deliver a presentation summarising the cost plan, analysis, assumptions and recommendations for stakeholder alignment.
• Ongoing Cost Reports – Regular cost reports keep you informed of variances and new projections as the project advances.
• Expert Guidance – Our consultants provide guidance on value engineering, alternative solutions, and cost mitigation strategies.

With these comprehensive deliverables, an elemental cost plan from Duo Tax provides end-to-end support for cost management and oversight.

Cost Planning Process for Construction Projects

Our elemental cost plans support detailed cost planning throughout your project:

• Initial Budget Estimate – Early forecast of total expenditures
• Developed Cost Plan – Refined estimate from detailed drawings
• Pre-Tender Estimate – Final forecast aligned to specifications
• Post-Contract Cost Control – Managing variances during construction

This phased approach allows us to re-evaluate expenditures as the design evolves, minimising risk of overruns. We apply value engineering where it is prudent to balance costs without compromising quality.

Regular cost reports also ensure you have up-to-date projections. By forecasting and tracking costs in detail, we enable smart decisions.

Ongoing Cost Management

A Duo Tax elemental cost plan provides more than just a spreadsheet. It’s an active tool for proactive cost control throughout your project:

• Our team of expert quantity surveyors provides ongoing cost management and mitigation throughout your project. This allows for proactive control and superior forecasting accuracy.

• We identify potential risks relating to scope creep, material price fluctuations, labor shortages, or unforeseen events. By assessing sensitivities and probabilities, we quantify potential cost impacts and guide mitigation strategies.

• We incorporate sustainability within budget by weighing expenditures versus long-term savings for solutions like solar, water recycling, and energy efficiency. We ensure green features align to your goals cost-effectively.

• Detailed contract reviews avoid hidden costs through clarity on specifications, allowances, and procurement methods. We forecast expenditures based on contract terms and conditions.

• Cost estimates are continuously refined at each project stage as new details emerge from developed designs. We re-evaluate rates and quantities continually to provide up-to-date projections.

Keeping track of actual spending and purchase orders during the construction phase allows us to quickly identify deviations from budget and propose real-time mitigation like value engineering.

This comprehensive approach provides accountability through regular tracking of cost against the approved budget. Expensive elements are flagged early before becoming problematic.

Overall, a Duo Tax elemental cost plan empowers intelligent forecasting and cost control from preliminary estimate through the final expenditure. Our proactive management and contingency planning mitigate overrun risk.

End-to-End Cost Consulting

In addition to elemental cost plans, Duo Tax provides:

• Construction cost advice for alternative builds and materials
• Analysis of total life cycle cost implications
• Guidance on cost-efficient construction methods