These are items you always need to be considering as they will take away (usually not negotiable) costs from your job, and, if the budget available is therefore reduced, may reduce building area or even compromise your architecture / design.
Site penalties are things such as:
- Rock
- Contaminated soil
- Lead paint removal
- Underpinning
- Sloping site
- Filled ground
- Piers and piles
- Retaining walls… excavation
- Damp, rot, termites… etc.
- Repairs & maintenance to your building or adjacent spaces
- Poor access
- Car stackers (due to site area constraints)
- Fixing or upgrading existing services – sewer, water, power supply
- Old air conditioning plant that needs replacing
- Moving a power pole
- Staged handover / construction…
When starting a cost plan, these are the items to ask about before considering the fridge or the tiles … And they can be significant and may be a huge chunk of your budget.