Advice on understanding contractor bids

We are getting close to beginning renovation on our townhouse. We have an architect, confirmed plans, and 4 bids from contractors. The bids are all above our budget so we are trying to understand what is driving the costs and we are finding that to be difficult. Our architect did provide a format for the contractors but it is not that detailed so services are priced by trade instead of by room/item. Any advice on how to understand the contractors’ costs so that we can make some choices that put us closer to budget?

surplusvalue18

in General Discussion 6 years and 10 months ago

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resident2 | 6 years and 10 months ago

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Did your architect create a full set of construction drawings? IE exactly where every electric outlet will be & what type, where every plumbing riser & connections will be with exact specs on materials etc. If not then you will get prices all over the place. This was not probably done because it is expensive, so the contractors have gone by their own normal way of doing things, all to code, but can be different materials, maybe not as many 3 way switches as another etc .
Who chose the current batch of contractors to bid? If the architect is a townhouse architect and that architect referred the contractors, they should all be in the same range assuming there was open communication between architect & contractor to get specifics & expectations.
The trades always bid by the whole job; not by individual rooms. If you try to piece meal it, the prices will not change that much unless you eliminate an entire bathroom or an entire system : IE C/A, the custom mill-work moldings for example.
The best way to do it in my opinion is to take care the infrastructure and the envelope. Plumbing, wiring everything behind the walls as well as the exterior to keep the elements out. And then as you can later afford it as well as see how you really want it, take care of the higher spec kitchen or the better mill-work , you can come back to do it later.
But it is best to use an architect that has worked on many older townhouses to get the best costs & contractors bids. Architects that “do everything” just like any other profession do nothing properly. If most of their business is refurbishing condo’s or lofts etc., it is not the same as a whole house.

dfnsnmeoxyhm | 6 years and 10 months ago

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If your architect is not assisting you with this then you need find yourself another architect.

dfnsnmeoxyhm | 6 years and 10 months ago

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If your architect is not assisting you with this then you need find yourself another architect.