Getting Started With Pricing Building Work as a Home Owner

Yes, of course. But the more information that you can provide Price Doctor, the more accurate the price it generates will be.

We collect prices from leading building merchants, retailers and wholesalers every week, so no price is more than a week old. We will also alert you if the prices have changed since your started your project. Prices are also regional so the prices of labour will be reflective of those in your area.

As you start out on your project you might not have or may not have decided on many of the fixtures and fittings; this is where Price Doctor helps to you make changes, experimenting as you go, so you can see in real time the effect these changes have on the price. If you asked your builder to do this, he'd probably not thank you – at best!

Price Doctor is free to use. All you need to do is put a little information about your project in and we can make assumptions on your behalf to come up with a price.

We assume no prior construction knowledge so we have tried to make Price Doctor simple to use. This does mean that some more complicated and larger projects will be challenging for someone with no building experience to design and price. For these we recommend you send us the plans which our Quantity Surveyor (QS) service will price and add to your account to edit and experiment with. We will also return you our Build Pack, which includes the full QS report with itemised labour and materials which you can use as part of your tender pack to give to prospective contractors.

The Quantity Surveyor (QS) Pricing Service attracts a fee, but you do not have to use this unless you want us to price your plans. If you would like to export the price lists and other information and documents created by Price Doctor there is a small charge also (all this information is included in the QS Pricing Service).

We assume that everyone using Price Doctor has little to no building or design experience, so you shouldn't get stuck. That said, it will be new to you, so we have got lots of help boxes with useful tips, ideas and explanations to help you.

Don't be embarrassed if you do get stuck; it'll be because we have not explained something properly, and why we have a support team to help you and answer any questions you might have. We don't charge or limit support to anyone; if you're using Price Doctor your can have all the help you want.

We draw prices from numerous sources including the Pricing manual created by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (compiled by AECOM), which provides regional pricing data, which is especially good for labour rates.

We also get material prices directly from a range of national and large regional builders merchants, wholesalers and retailers on a weekly basis. This means that no price will be more than a week old!

Even better it allows us to inform you if the prices for your project has changed substantially between now and when it was first priced.

In short, this approach allows us to be sure that the price for every individual item is accurate and updated frequently so that the overall price will be accurate to the region where the project will be complete and up to date.

We have a version designed for builders (more information here), so we know that they find value in it too.

Price Doctor was developed by www.diydoctor.org.uk who are a group of builders who now run a website helping people do home improvement. We wanted to make something that helped homeowners communicate with builders (and vice versa) more easily.

The aim of Price Doctor is to ensure that you are ready for when the builder comes to price your job. You have an idea of what it will cost, so won't be too mortified at the expense and will actually go ahead with the project. You will have experimented and understood the compromises you might have to make to stay in budget, and you'll have a good idea of all the huge number of decisions he'll need you to make with you.

In short, you'll be ahead of curve (even if you know nothing about building) and will present yourself as an organised and serious customer. These are always the customers that get the good builders at a good price.

Yes, it is very helpful if you have already had plans drawn up, as you will have covered many of the things that Price Doctor will need to get an accurate price – but not all.

There will be information about your interior design and layout that Price Doctor will prompt you to consider before giving you an accurate price.

Plans on their own don't give you a price for your project, nor do they allow you to interrogate and understand your builders quote. In around half an hour you will have a feel for the cost of your project and where you can make compromises to stay within your budget.

With plans you will be able to use our Quantity Surveyor (QS) Pricing Service where we will price the work up for you. This is ideal if you have a large or complex project, or simply don’t have time to price the project yourself.

There are some projects that use new and innovative materials that we have not incorporated into Price Doctor yet (or made available in the user interface).

For these situations, Price Doctor will not allow you to price the project, although in most cases our Quantity Surveyor (QS) Pricing Service will be able to do this for you. We are confident that we cover 90% of the designs and plans that people use. If you have any concerns please get in touch. If you have any concerns or don't think that Price Doctor is work for you, just get it touch and we will try and help.

Currently you can use Price Doctor for Extensions (including L-shaped or side return extensions), Driveway, Decking, New Build and Patio projects. We include all types of renovation and refurbishment projects, including interior finishes and decoration. We also cover a wide range of external and landscaping projects also. If it can be built, we can price it!.

We are constantly working on Price Doctor and adding calculators all the time. New calculators including Fencing, Loft Conversions and Garages have been added along with construction methods such as timber and steel frames and SIPs.

Because we have created an itemised and accurate price for your project you can also use Price Doctor to manage your tender process when selecting the contractor you will use.

Price Doctor also has some simple and intuitive project management tools which allow you to measure progress, record changes and control costs and payments.

The aim is to assist you - and your contractor - to get to the end of your project, on time, on budget and with no surprises – as far as it is possible!