COST CHECK (From page 104) will then have set against it the amount which will be needed to cover possible price rises up to the time of tender.
If this is the case the most straight-forward way is to do the pricing of the Cost Checks at the same price levels as those on which the Cost Plan was prepared. This then allows for direct comparisons to be made with the Cost Plan.
The quantity surveyor responsible for the Cost Checking of the job should know how the Price and De- sign Risk Element is made up and also exactly what was anticipated in the way of price increase. If, then. an increase in wage rates should occur during the Cost Checking stage; the effect of this increase can be assessed and checked against the amount in the Cost Plan.
It may be that the Price and De- sign Risk Element in the Cost Plan includes
an allowance for such
things as: --
(1) Remoteness of site (2) Seasonal or weather condi-
tions
(3) Local market conditions, or (4) Market conditions generally.
If it does. then again it is the quantity surveyor's responsibility to keep these under review so that if a significant change occurs he can im mediately assess the effect and in- form the architect.
In other words, the Price and De- sign Risk Elements should be treat- ed as any other element for Cost Check purposes. Its constituent parts should be understood and a Check made if any circumstance arises which is likely to affect the amount included in the Cost Plan.
FIRE PROTECTION (From page 108)
than to the inspection of the origin. al plans? (The proof of the pudding is in the eating).
Finally, there is this question of the cost of the fire protection. - the protection of structure. the fire-re- sisting doors. the staircases only re- quired as fire-escapes and the fire. fighting equipment that has to be installed.
110
Consultant's Estimates
A word of warning about estim- ates provided by consultants for specialists' work. These should not be taken for granted and without question, for it is quite possible that there may be overlapping with other elements. Builders Work in Con- nection' may or may not have been included, and any contingency sums should be carefully examined to see whether or not they properly belong to the Contingency Element.
Furthermore, the preparation of these estimates for specialist work is all too often left to consultants. There is no reason why they should not be prepared by quantity sur veyors, and if we have neither the knowledge nor skill to do it at the moment we should take every step to see that we do get to know how to do it as soon as possible.
Area Checks
In the early stage of design it is possible that the plan shapes and areas may change from what they were when the Cost Plan was pre- pared. Because of this a check should be made on the floor area content of the plans from time to time, as a part of the Cost Checking process.
This, of course, is neces- sary because changes in area affect the cost, and areas need to be con- trolled as much as other parts of the design. The quantity surveyor should, therefore, make it his sponsibility to draw the architect's attention to any serious deviations where the area is concerned.
Preliminary Cost Studies
re-
Before Cost Checking of elements commences it is often the case that the architect wishes to have a cost
This should be regarded as an ad- ditional "built-in" fire insurance. If fire protection was not provided then buildings would be. probably. uninsurable.
To sum up, these remarks pro- voke these thoughts: fire protection should be part of the architect's brief; regulations should be enforc `ed with imagination and with regard
appraisal of certain alternative de
These may be for sign solutions.
a complete element or for par of an element or indeed, ever for the building as а whole. These preliminary investigation should not be confused with Cost Checks. They are.
They are. in fact. Cost Studies and are done mainly to a sist the architect in finding a sensible design solution. To say that the should not be confused with Casi Checks does not mean that they ar unimportant. They are extremel important and essential to the de sign process. The point is that the are not instruments of control. It is checking the cost of the Element that provides us with the means of control.
Pricing BQs not a Cost Check
Similarly, at the other end of the scale, the pricing of bills of quanti ties is not a Cost Check. That is, it is not a cost check in the sense that it permits of control. And even if the BQ is only in d:aft form when the check is done it is still too late to be of any help to the architect during the design stage.
Conclusion
The Cost Checking phase is one where architect and quantity sur veyor must work very closely gether. They start off with a Sketah Plan and a Cost Plan. Then, as the design develops, the checks are made and the architect is able to maintain continual control. Thus, with some confidence they can move steadily forward, along a clearly charted course, so as to finish at the point they set out to reach with the and tender equalling the estimate with a balanced design in between
to the circumstances: the pub should be educated to a better derstanding of how protection sho be maintained for their own safet the inspection of existing priv buildings should be extended; and landlord. tenant, and the pub generally should be made aware of their responsibilities in this matter. particularly as population densities are now so high in Hong Kong,
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUMF 17, NUMBER+
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