It is a word that is often taboo to speak of when meeting with Clients and Architects. But it’s the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed. That word is BUDGET.

Some people like to dance around this word and avoid mentioning it until literally the last moment when they submit their quote. When that occurs, more often than not, the figure is met with a knee-jerk reaction. Usually it’s a response of ‘Oh wow! That’s outside of my budget’. So why not just address this upfront? Why not just have an honest and open discussion regarding the budget and the numbers upfront? I’ve witnessed so many shocking construction projects and been told so many horror stories, all of which usually stem from having an unrealistic budget to begin with.

If you’re an Architect reading this, I encourage you to have this open discussion with the Client. Early #Builder involvement helps not only to provide the Client with cost estimates, but more importantly in identifying construction solution/s which are project-specific. At the very least, we encourage you to a Quantity Surveyor in order to obtain a BOQ which most banks will require in order for the Client to obtain funding.