The site works best as one connected process: find the gaps, turn them into actions, build the true budget and keep important decisions visible as the project moves.
01
Take the readiness check honestly
Answer for the project you have today, not the project you hope to have in a month. A lower score with accurate answers is more useful than a reassuring score built on assumptions.
02
Create your project and enter the real ceiling
Start the workspace with the total amount you can safely commit—not the figure you hope the building work will cost. Keep emergency savings separate from the project budget.
03
Use the action plan before final quotes
Create your paid project after the free check to carry its gaps into Overview. Give each action an owner and deadline, add any project-specific tasks and mark them complete as you resolve them. Your original check score remains a record of the assessment, separate from task progress.
04
Build the all-in budget
Add design and survey fees, statutory costs, temporary arrangements, client-supplied items, external works, contingency and VAT where relevant. Then compare that forecast with your available budget.
05
Prepare your builder briefing pack
Add the work and selections for each room, then choose Builder briefing pack. Review the scope, open actions, decisions and quote questions. Your budget is hidden by default and quotation records are not included. Check your own notes for anything private. Print, save as PDF or download the document; attach drawings separately and send it yourself when ready.
06
Compare the same scope line by line
Enter each builder's price against the same headings. Mark anything missing, provisional or unclear. The lowest headline total is not necessarily the lowest completed-project cost.
07
Record decisions and due dates
Log every important choice, who owns it and when it is needed. Work backwards from installation dates so late selections do not become rushed purchases or programme delays.
08
Control changes before work proceeds
Record the description, cost and time effect of a change. Approve it before the work starts and update the forecast immediately, even if the formal invoice comes later.
09
Link payments to evidence and finish well
Check agreed milestones before paying. Link each milestone to a budget line; lines using Linked milestones take their paid totals directly from that schedule. Existing manual figures are preserved—review them before switching tracking, because manual amounts and milestones are never added together. Keep a snagging list and record where certificates and warranties are stored; uploads are not included.
Guide 02
Preparation
5 minute read
Better information in, better prices out
What to prepare before asking builders for quotes
A quotation can only be as clear as the information behind it. Give each builder the same pack so differences in price reflect their offer—not different guesses about your project.
01
A defined scope
List what is being built, altered, removed and retained. Include work outside the obvious building area, such as access, drainage and making good.
02
Coordinated information
Issue the same current drawings, structural information and relevant reports to everyone. Mark superseded documents clearly.
03
A specification
State expected products, finishes and performance where they matter. If something is not chosen, use a sensible stated allowance.
04
Clear responsibilities
Say what you will supply, what the builder will supply, who arranges approvals and who coordinates specialist trades.
05
Site constraints
Share access, parking, working-hour, neighbour and occupied-home restrictions before pricing—not after appointment.
06
A return format
Ask builders to price against the same headings and list exclusions, assumptions, provisional sums, programme and VAT separately.
Guide 03
Budget
6 minute read
Look beyond the contract sum
Build a realistic all-in renovation budget
The builder's quote is one part of the cost. Your useful number is the forecast to complete the whole project and live through it.
Core works
Builder's scope, VAT, preliminaries and priced specialist packages
Professional and statutory
Designers, engineers, surveys, applications, inspections and certificates
Client purchases
Kitchen, sanitaryware, finishes, appliances, lighting and furniture you supply
Life around the work
Storage, temporary accommodation, moving, security and extra travel
Outside and after
Landscaping, decorating, blinds, final cleaning and reinstatement
Contingency
A visible risk allowance appropriate to the project's uncertainty and existing fabric
Keep four figures separate
Budget: the amount approved for each category.
Committed: orders, appointments and accepted quotations.
Paid: money that has actually left your account.
Forecast: the best current view of the final cost, including known changes.
Guide 04
Builders
6 minute read
Compare the offer, not just the total
How to compare builder quotes fairly
Line up the same scope across every quotation. A £10,000 difference may disappear once missing items, low allowances and exclusions are corrected.
1
Normalise the headings
Put each quote into the same structure: preliminaries, demolition, structure, envelope, services, finishes and external works.
2
Find every gap
Mark each item included, excluded, provisional or unclear. Send a single written clarification list and keep the answers.
3
Check allowances
Compare quantities and product allowances, not only totals. A low provisional sum transfers risk back to you.
4
Compare programme and method
Look at start date, duration, sequencing, supervision, site setup and how work in an occupied home will be managed.
5
Test the likely final cost
Add reasonable values for omissions and weak allowances before ranking the quotes. Then assess confidence, communication and evidence alongside price.
Guide 05
Decisions
5 minute read
Remove pressure from the programme
Decide the right things before work starts
The most disruptive late decisions affect concealed work, long-lead orders or several trades. Prioritise choices by consequence, not by how visible they are.
Before pricing
Scope and performance
Layout, structure, insulation approach, heating strategy, window and door requirements, electrical ambition and who supplies major items.
Before appointment
Commercial rules
Final inclusions, exclusions, allowances, programme, access, payment milestones, change approval and responsibilities.
Before site starts
First-fix information
Kitchen and bathroom layouts, lighting and socket positions, controls, built-in joinery interfaces and specialist equipment.
Before each trade needs it
Products and finishes
Confirm selections early enough for technical review, ordering and delivery—not merely before visible installation.
Guide 06
Hiring
5 minute read
Look for evidence and clear processes
Questions to ask a builder before hiring
Good conversations go beyond “How much?” Ask questions that reveal who will run the job, how uncertainty is handled and what happens when something changes.
01
Who will supervise the site day to day, and how often will the person who priced the work be present?
02
Which recent projects are genuinely similar, and may I speak to those clients about communication, changes and finishing?
03
What is excluded or still provisional, and which assumptions would most change the price?
04
How is the programme managed, including long-lead orders, subcontractors and delays outside your control?
05
How will changes be priced and approved before additional work is carried out?
06
What evidence supports each payment, and what retention, snagging or completion arrangements are proposed?
07
What insurance and relevant competence can you evidence, and who is responsible for statutory inspections and certificates?
08
How will problems be raised and recorded, and what response time should each side expect?
Turn reading into action
Find the gaps in your own project.
Complete the free readiness check, then use your action plan and project workspace to keep the important work visible.