Compare your builder quotes against the drawings, £199 fixed
One quote includes the drains, another assumes a cheaper window, a third prices the kitchen as a provisional sum. We read up to three quotes against your drawings and tell you what each one actually covers. £199, no VAT to add.
- £199 fixed, no VAT to add
- Up to three quotes
- A scope check, not a valuation
What does a builder quote comparison cost?
The fee is £199, fixed, with no VAT to add. You send up to three quotes and your drawings. A chartered architectural technologist (MCIAT) lines the quotes up against the drawings and any specification, and writes down what each includes, excludes and leaves as an allowance. It checks scope. It does not say whether a builder’s rates are fair, and we do not recommend a builder.
Structural calculations, engineering design and formal inspections are provided only through an appointed professional, such as a structural engineer or a building control surveyor. These reports do not replace them: where a report finds something that needs one, it says so and names the kind of professional to appoint.
What is in the £199 comparison
- A table with one column per builder and one row per element, showing included, excluded or not mentioned
- A list of provisional sums and allowances, with the items they stand in for
- Items the drawings show that no quote mentions, so nobody is assuming someone else will do them
- Questions to put to each builder before you choose, written so you can send them as they are
- A note of anything that needs a specialist, such as a quantity surveyor for the rates or an engineer for the structure
Why are builder quotes so far apart?
Usually because they are not quotes for the same job. One builder prices to the drawings, one prices to the sketch they saw on site, and one leaves out items they expect you to buy yourself. The total at the bottom hides all of that.
The quote with the smallest total is often the one with the most items left out. Comparing totals tells you very little; comparing scope tells you where the gap comes from.
What we check line by line
We take the drawings as the reference and ask of each quote: is this item shown on the drawings, is it in this quote, and is it priced or only allowed for? Anything priced as a provisional sum is flagged, because that figure can move once the real cost is known.
We also check that the quotes name the same materials and standards. A quote that says “windows” and one that says “aluminium-framed double-glazed units to the drawing schedule” are not the same quote.
- Groundworks, drainage and underpinning
- Structure and steelwork, as listed by the engineer
- Roofing, windows and doors against the drawing schedule
- Fixtures, finishes and electrics
- Preliminaries, skips, scaffold and making good
Contract scope: what you should confirm before signing
A scope review of the contract itself covers the same ground from the other side: which drawings form part of the contract, what is excluded, what is a provisional sum and who carries the risk if it moves. We read the contract’s scope description against the drawings and flag gaps. We do not give legal advice and we do not redraft the contract.
What a builder writes in a quote can bind them: statements you rely on when hiring can become terms (section 50). If a price is missing, the law fills the gap with a reasonable price only (section 51), which is why you want the price written down.
What the comparison cannot do
It cannot tell you that a rate is too high or too low. Valuing prices is a quantity surveyor’s job, and we will say so where it matters. It cannot choose the builder for you, and we do not recommend one.
On health and safety, the contractor draws up the construction phase plan before work starts (CDM regulation 4); we note whether each quote mentions it. If you do not yet have construction drawings, a tender package or a schedule of works means builders price the same job from the start. The full set of builders’ reports is in the builder’s and construction reports hub and the reports index.
What the law says about quotes and plans
- Binding statements
- What a trader says or writes about the service becomes a term of the contract if you take it into account when deciding to hire them, unless a caveat or agreed change says otherwise. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50
- Reasonable price
- If a contract neither sets a price nor says how it will be set, you pay a reasonable price for the service and no more. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 51
- Care and skill
- Every contract to supply a service is treated as including a term that the trader must perform it with reasonable care and skill. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49
- Before work starts
- The client must ensure a construction phase plan is drawn up by the contractor before the construction phase begins. CDM Regulations 2015, regulation 4
- Principal contractor
- Where there is more than one contractor, the principal contractor draws up the construction phase plan and keeps it reviewed and updated. CDM Regulations 2015, regulation 12
Quote comparison questions
Do you tell me which builder to pick?
No. We report what each quote covers and what to ask. The choice, and the contract, are yours.
Can you say whether a price is fair?
No. That is a quantity surveyor’s valuation. We check scope: what is in, out and allowed for. We can point you to a quantity surveyor.
How many quotes can I send?
Up to three for the £199 fee. Ask us first if you have more.
What if I have no drawings?
Then there is nothing fixed to compare against. A tender package or schedule of works gives builders one scope to price.
What if the builder never agreed a price?
If the contract neither sets a price nor says how it will be set, you pay a reasonable price and no more. Whether a price is reasonable is a question of fact.
Other services people book with this one
Send us your quotes
Email the quotes and your drawings. We reply with the fixed fee of £199 and a date.