How a QS Turns Site Changes Into Secured Profit
Adding £96,069 to a groundworks contract without a single dispute
Civils and Groundworks, 11 New Build Houses
Oxford Surveying Services was instructed to price and secure a civils and groundworks contract for 11 new build houses. The Bill of Quantities (BoQ) set out accurate quantities and rates for the project, with a target profit of £217,500 built into a contract value of £870,000 from the outset.
The project changed. Revised drawings, a new surveyor for the client and site conditions near a stream at the plot boundary triggered further external works agreed with the local authority. As a result, every change was priced and agreed with the developer in real time, giving both parties a clear and defined cost as the works grew.
By completion, the contract had grown from £870,000 to £966,069. The £96,069 increase was fully accounted for, with no disputes at final account.
The OSS Role
- Priced the full groundwork and civils package, with labour, plant and material costs built in prior to site commencement
- Managed a change of surveyor at client level without losing continuity on cost tracking
- Priced and agreed each drawing revision individually-resolved at the point it arose
- Secured client agreement for external works triggered by site conditions near the stream boundary
- Tracked cost and value across the 12-month programme, so the final account matched what was agreed on site
Why This Matters
A fixed-price contract is only as reliable as the process behind it. A dedicated Quantity Surveyor should price every change against the original design, agree it before work proceeds and, crucially, record it in a way that stands up at completion. This discipline turned the design changes into £96,069 of additional value.
the numbers
| Original value of secured works: | £870,000 |
| Final account: | £966,069 |
| Increase in value: | £96,069 |
| Total OSS fees: | £14,503 |
For every £1 spent with Oxford Surveying Services, £6.62 came back as additional secured value, on top of the profit margin already built into the price.
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