FAQs for Getting Started for Self Builders

Question 1

Do I need a quantity surveyor for a self build?

Accepted Answer

Not always - and anyone selling you certainty either way is guessing. The bigger, less standard or less certain the build, the more one earns their keep. The honest answer is that plenty of small, simple builds run fine without one: a straightforward design, an experienced builder, a self builder with time and a head for paperwork, and the free templates on this site may be all the structure you need. What changes the answer is scale and uncertainty. The more money is moving, the less standard the design, the tighter your funds or the shorter your time, the more the money side rewards someone who reads building costs for a living - because on a self build every mistake is yours to keep. A quantity surveyor is the construction industry's money professional: the person who checks that prices are complete, that payments match the work actually done, and that changes get priced before they are built. If you are unsure, that is itself information: one General Support session exists precisely to tell you, honestly, whether your build needs help or does not.

Question 2

What does a quantity surveyor do on a self build?

Accepted Answer

Everything about the build that is money rather than design: the budget, the quotes, the contract's money terms, the monthly payments, the changes and the final account. An architect designs the house; a quantity surveyor looks after what it costs. On a self build that means: a budget built from measured reality rather than hope; builder quotes rebuilt onto one basis so they can actually be compared; the contract's money terms - payment, retention, what happens when things change - checked before you sign; each payment request valued against the work actually standing on site before you pay it; every change priced in writing before it is built; and the final account, the build's last bill, checked line by line at the end. Those jobs are separate fixed-fee services, so you can take the one that meets your worry, or have the whole money side run for you throughout under Commercial Management.

Question 3

When should I bring in help with the money side?

Accepted Answer

Earlier than feels natural: the cheapest moment to fix a money problem is before the design is frozen and the contract is signed. Money help on a build has a simple rule: the earlier it arrives, the cheaper it works. Before the design is frozen, a budget problem is solved with a pencil - the design moves, nothing is lost. After the quotes are in, the same problem is a negotiation. After the contract is signed, it is a variation - a change to what was agreed - priced by a builder who no longer has any competition. And after the work is built, it is a dispute. Most people bring help in one stage after it would have done the most good, usually when the first number has already gone wrong. If your budget is still forming, that is not too early - it is exactly on time. It costs nothing to ask which side of that line your build is on.

Question 4

How do your fees work on a self build?

Accepted Answer

Every service is a fixed fee, quoted in writing before you book, and nothing is ever charged as a percentage of the build or of any saving. Three rules, all of them in writing before anything starts. First, fees are fixed: you are told the number before you book, and that is the number. Second, nothing is charged as a percentage - not of the build cost, and not of any saving found against a quote or a final account - because advice with a stake in the answer is not advice. Third, a first move is credited forward: a General Support session's fee is credited against any self-build service taken within 90 days - credited once, against one invoice, never stacked. The figures themselves are quoted for your build rather than printed here, and the first conversation is always free.

FAQs for Getting Started, Self Builders

Frequently asked questions

Before you start

Do I need a quantity surveyor for a self build?

What does a quantity surveyor do on a self build?

When should I bring in help with the money side?

How do your fees work on a self build?