Tender Package DrawingsFrom £995
How much does a tender package cost in London?
A tender package for a London home project costs our fixed £995, with no VAT charged. It gives every builder the same drawings, specification and schedule to price, so the three quotes you collect describe the same job and can be compared line by line instead of by hunch.
The short answer: one fee that removes the guesswork from quotes
Our tender package costs £995. We prepare it from your approved drawings: a coordinated drawing set with plans, sections, elevations and key construction details, a specification that names materials, finishes and standards for each trade, a schedule of works the builders price line by line, and a list of what is excluded or left for you to choose.
It also includes a tender return form so every builder answers in the same layout, and a short guide to comparing the returns. The point is not the paper: it is that the quote with the smallest total stops being the one that left the flooring out.
- Drawings
Plans, sections, elevations and key details, coordinated so every builder reads the same job.
- Specification
Materials, finishes and standards named for each trade.
- Schedule of works
A trade-by-trade list the builders price line by line.
- Return form
Quotes come back in the same layout, with exclusions and provisional sums stated.
Why quotes differ so much without one
Ask three builders to quote from a planning set and you will usually get three different jobs. One includes the new floor finishes, one assumes the old boiler stays, one leaves the steelwork out because the engineer's drawing has not arrived. The totals differ by thousands and none of them is wrong, because none was asked the same question.
A tender package asks the same question three times. Exclusions and provisional sums have to be written down, so a low total with a long exclusion list reads as what it is. You then compare like with like, or ask the one builder whose quote looks odd to explain the gap.
Your duties as a domestic client
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 treat a domestic client as any individual who has construction work carried out on their home, or the home of a family member, not as part of a business. The regulations say the client duties must be carried out by the contractor where there is only one, or by the principal contractor where there is more than one.
The same regulation lets the principal designer carry them out instead, but only where there is a written agreement that they will (CDM 2015, regulation 7). A tender package does not create that agreement, and we tell you if your project is the kind where the question arises.
Choosing between the returns
Our guide to comparing returns is short because the method is simple: check that every quote answers every line, read the exclusions first, compare the provisional sums, and ask each builder for the programme. A builder who has priced from a full specification can be held to it, and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says every contract for a service includes a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill.
That is not a substitute for a written contract, which should name the specification as part of it. It is the reason a precise tender is worth paying for: it turns "reasonable" into something you can point to.
Before you tender: planning, building regulations and neighbours
A tender is priced from drawings that have what they need. If planning permission is still pending, wait for it; if building control has not approved the construction details, the quotes will carry risk. Our post on building regulations drawings explains that step.
If the work is near a boundary, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may need notices, and a notice served at least two months before the work begins ceases to have effect if the work has not begun within twelve months. The programme in your tender should respect that. Our tender package drawings page shows the service.
Sources
Every figure in this article, where it comes from and a link to the original.
- domestic client: HSE, CDM 2015 domestic clients: (source wording: "any individual who has construction work carried out on their home, or the home of a family member"). www.hse.gov.uk
- principal contractor: CDM Regulations 2015 reg 7(1): for a domestic client the duties must be carried out by (source wording: "the principal contractor for a project where there is more than one contractor"). www.legislation.gov.uk
- written agreement: CDM Regulations 2015 reg 7(1)(c): (source wording: "the principal designer where there is a written agreement that the principal designer will fulfil those duties"). www.legislation.gov.uk
- at least two months before the work begins: Party Wall etc. Act 1996 s3(2)(a): (source wording: "at least two months before the date on which the proposed work will begin"). www.legislation.gov.uk
- twelve months: Party Wall etc. Act 1996 s3(2)(b): the notice ceases to have effect if the work (source wording: "has not begun within the period of twelve months beginning with the day on which the notice is served"). www.legislation.gov.uk
- the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill: Consumer Rights Act 2015 s49(1): (source wording: "the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill"). www.legislation.gov.uk
Questions people ask
Do I need a tender package for a small job?
Do I pay VAT on your fee?
Do you choose the builder?
Does it include the building regulations drawings?
Does it replace a building contract?
Photographs: Brett Jordan (Pexels License); Brett Jordan (Unsplash License).
Tender Package Drawings: a fixed fee from £995
Read more on the tender package drawings service page, or send your address below and we reply within one working day.
Tender Package Drawings
from £995
Every price is the full fixed fee you pay. No VAT is charged. Council application fees are paid to the council separately.
What you get
- A coordinated drawing set: plans, sections, elevations and key construction details
- A specification that names materials, finishes and standards for each trade
- A trade-by-trade schedule of works the builders price line by line
- A list of what is excluded, provisional or left for you to choose
- A tender return form so quotes arrive in the same layout