The exact timeframe depends on the nature and size of the project. For a typical complete house refurbishment and extension project, during the technical design stage, we believe it should be possible to complete the detailed design (Stage 4A) in 3–4 months.
At the technical design stage, we would then typically allow a further month for coordination of all the consultants’ information and the production of the Tender package by the QS (Stage 4B). By the end of this technical design stage, we would have finalised:
- a detailed design package fully coordinated with your other consultants
- a detailed Schedule of Works to define the project for Contractor pricing
- an up-to-date project costing from the QS
Following the technical design stage, we then typically initiate the Tender Action. In this phase, we send the Tender package of information to 3 or 4 main contractors to price for the works and to agree on an appointment, construction cost, and start date for commencing works on site. The tendering contractors will usually need a 4-week tender period, and we would subsequently allocate 2-3 weeks for tender analysis and clarifications leading to the contractor’s appointment.
This is a compact timeframe reflecting the efficiency of the technical design stage. We will always send you a program in advance with an estimated cash flow and additional explanations once we have a clearer perspective on your timeline. Besides XUL’s design input, the timeframe also hinges on consultants and clients being available to make decisions.
