The real name of "the price changed later" is usually this: the survey was incomplete. A fixed, reliable offer can only be built on a proper survey.
What do we look at during a survey?
- Ground conditions: Fill or native soil? Excavation class and shoring needs are the most volatile cost items.
- Utilities: Location of existing power, water and sewage connections; whether relocation is needed.
- Access and logistics: Can trucks and cranes enter the site? If not, transfer with smaller vehicles creates cost.
- Existing structure: In renovation, the real condition of the load-bearing system; works that do not match drawings.
- Quantity verification: On-site measurement of the drawing quantities.
What should a survey produce?
A photographed survey report, revised quantities, a unit-priced scope list and a clear exclusions list. An offer without an "exclusions" section means surprises later.
In our offers, scope and exclusions are written side by side on the same page — so nothing is left to argue about at the end of the job.
The numeric effect
Our experience is simple: spending half a day on the survey markedly reduces budget deviation risk and removes the most common cause of schedule overruns.
