Tutorial 8 � Home Design & Building Cost .

In my view, the principle design factors which will affect the cost of your new home, extension or alteration are size and shape and type of construction and detail.

Other factors affecting design and cost:

1. Time of the year and local market conditions.
2. Size and type of building contractor.
3. The home designer.
4. The site.
5. Contractual arrangements.
6. The degree of external works included.
7. VAT

How to Establish a Budget Cost for your Home Design . There are 3 methods that I use for assessing approximate costs:

1. Costs per sq. metre or per sq. ft. Depending on where you live and what you are trying to build there will be a very rough local guide for cost per sq. ft. or per sq. m. These costs are supposed to represent a finished shell, i.e. plastered, decorated, heated and lit. They don't include things like furniture, fittings, carpet, external works, VAT etc. Ask several local builders, explain what you have in mind.
2. Comparisons with similar projects.
3. Paying for someone to prepare a simple cost plan (usually a Quantity Surveyor). This is a more thorough way of breaking down the various elements of costs of a building project.

This is my step-by-step guide on how to assess and control building costs through the home design process.

1. Step One . Take time to find a home designer with whom you are happy to work. Take up references etc.
2. Step Two . Checking your requirements. Are you sure you have considered your requirements carefully. Have you looked at alternatives, or considered the implications of VAT? Proceed to Step 3.
3. Step Three . Making a quick and approximate assessment of cost. Consider doing this using any or all of the methods I've described above.
4. Step Four . Eliminate some of the cost risks and uncertainties. This might include: taking the design through planning and a building regulation stage; digging trial holes and carrying out other investigations. At this stage expect prices to increase rather than reduce as a result of more information being available.
5. Step Five . Development of design detail and a cost plan.
6. Step Six . Cut and carve to suit the budget. This is an opportunity to reassess what you have got and to cut the cost.
7. Step Seven . Proceed! You now have a design and a realistic Cost Plan and want to proceed.

My book, How to Design Your Own Home, Extension or Alteration, covers this subject in a lot more detail and gives you ideas in terms of how to find a builder, building warranties, building contracts etc. (The book will be available in the Autumn, watch the website below).

Suggested Reader Tasks :

Test your proposed home project (new home, extension or alteration) by checking budget costs using the 3 methods described above. Compare the results.

Contacts and References :

Go to www.homedesign-online.co.uk and www.homebuilding.co.uk .