Cost Plans

What a Cost Plan is

A Cost Plan estimates and allocates the anticipated construction cost of a project, usually broken down by building element. Rather than producing one number, it distributes cost across the parts of the building, so it becomes clear where the money sits and which decisions carry the most weight.

That structure is what makes a cost plan useful during design development. When something changes, whether a material, a floor area or a specification, the effect can be traced to the element it belongs to instead of being absorbed invisibly into a total.

What the cost plan covers

• Elemental breakdown — cost distributed across the building's elements.
• Preliminaries — the contractor's time-related and site-wide costs.
• Contingency — an allowance for what is not yet known at this stage of design.
• Escalation — an allowance for cost movement through to construction.
• Professional fees and other project costs — where these fall within the agreed scope.
• Exclusions — what has deliberately been left out, stated plainly.

Cost plans through the project

A cost plan is not a single document produced once. It is normally revisited as design develops, with the level of detail increasing as the information available improves.

• Early estimates, prepared when little more than area and use are settled.
• Concept-stage plans, once a design direction is established.
• Developed elemental cost plans, as documentation progresses.
• Pre-tender estimates, prepared as a benchmark against which tenders can be judged.

Who it's for

Developers, financiers and project stakeholders who need independent cost advice before and during construction, and anyone who needs to hold a budget against a moving design.

What you receive

• The estimated cost, allocated by element.
• The basis of the estimate and the documentation it was prepared from.
• Rates and quantities support appropriate to the stage.
• Assumptions, inclusions and exclusions, made visible.
• Commentary on risk areas and where the estimate is most sensitive.

Who prepares the report

Asset Scope's reports are prepared by a Certified Quantity Surveyor (CQS) and Member of the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (MAIQS). See our accreditations →

How the work runs

Scope and purpose are confirmed first, then drawings and project information are reviewed and assessed, with assumptions and allowances checked before issue. The full sequence is set out in how we work.