Ask why a build ran over budget and you will usually hear that materials became expensive. Look closely at the records and a different story appears: the estimate was never complete. Items that were always going to be needed simply were not written down.
This checklist is organised by stage. Quantities depend on your drawings, your soil and your specification, so treat it as a list of things to price rather than a bill of quantities.
Substructure
Setting-out pegs, lines and profile boards
Hardcore or laterite fill, and sand blinding
Cement, sharp sand and granite for foundation concrete
Reinforcement to the bar schedule, plus binding wire and spacer blocks
Damp-proof membrane and damp-proof course
Anti-termite treatment
Blocks for foundation walling up to DPC
Superstructure
Sandcrete blocks — confirm whether 6-inch or 9-inch, and for which walls
Mortar sand and cement
Reinforcement for columns, lintels and beams
Formwork: planks, props, plywood, nails — and allow for reuse losses
Concrete for columns, lintels and any suspended elements
Roofing
Wall plate, rafters, purlins and noggins
Roofing sheets or tiles, with ridge caps and valley pieces
Fasteners appropriate to the covering
Fascia, soffit and ceiling noggins
Gutters and downpipes
Services first fix
This is the stage most often missing from early estimates, because it disappears into the walls before anyone photographs it.
Conduit, back boxes, cabling and the distribution board
Pressure pipework, waste pipework, fittings and inspection chambers
Water storage tank and its support
Finishes
Plaster and screed: cement and plaster sand
Floor and wall tiles, adhesive and grout — add a cutting and breakage allowance
Doors, frames, windows and ironmongery
Primer, filler and paint for internal and external surfaces
Sanitary ware, taps and connections
Light fittings, switches and sockets
Three things to add to any estimate
First, a wastage allowance. Blocks break, tiles are cut, and mortar is dropped. Second, transport and offloading, which are rarely trivial and almost never included in a quoted material price. Third, storage and security, because materials that arrive too early tend to spoil, walk, or both.
A contingency is not padding. It is the acknowledgement that no drawing survives first contact with a site.
Prices move, and any figure quoted in an article like this would be wrong before you read it. Price the list against current supplier quotes, and re-price the long-lead items before you commit to a programme.
