09 / LANDSCAPE
Cost estimating specialist Colm Kenny counts the cost of budget overruns in the Irish landscape
W
ith improving conditions in the construction industry the financial reigns are slowly being released by clients and developers. Ireland’s design community is finally getting its teeth into projects with substance. The diversity of large scale projects requiring huge resources and hundreds of man hours to develop that have passed across my desk in the last few months has been staggering. When I open these proposals I’m often conflicted, on one hand I’m inspired by the creativity while on the other I’m filled with disappointment. More often than not these schemes will end up being scaled back, reduced and ultimately compromised. Why? Because when they’re actually priced they’ll exceed allocated budgets, often set by clients and other consultants who only look at the bottom line and don’t value the proposed landscape scheme.
“What all designers need to do is specify, specify, specify” The overrun invariably means the designer has to return to the drawing board, and allocate additional resources to revise the design in order to ensure it comes within budget. Nobody's a winner in this scenario. The entire design team is affected and so too is the client as the project is delayed going to site. The designer won’t make a profit on the project unless they get paid an additional fee, but it’s very hard to get paid twice on the same project. In the end, everyone loses.
With a reputation among other design professionals for not sticking to a budget, it’s important for Landscape Architects and designers to have clear instructions on the client’s financial commitments to landscape proposals to prevent cost overruns on projects. Cost overruns and contractor variations are huge causes of conflict for all parties and can lead to tensions from the client and contractors. This is especially true if the landscape contract is to be carried out under a RIAI Blue form of contact (where quantities do not apply) as the drawings and specifications take precedence over the pricing document. There are a number of steps that landscape design professions should undertake on each project to ensure that variations are omitted and cost overruns are minimised. Once the initial design is carried out, following through with a cost estimate before you spend any more time on detailed design drawings can save time and money. If you’re not in a position to undertake such a service with confidence, ask the client for assistance. They may have a quantity surveyor employed as part of the design team who could review the scheme and provide an order of magnitude cost. If not, an experienced contractor may give you an indication of the likely costs associated with your scheme. Once this cost estimate is carried out, you will be in a better position to confirm if you are within budget. The added advantage of early contractor involvement is that you can get expert advice from the contractor on the ‘buildability’ of your scheme. This may help reduce costs as they might suggest a more effective way of constructing elements of the scheme. Likewise, check in with the nurseries to ensure proposed plants and trees are
Spring 2017 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED
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