Fixed Cost House Building in Lancashire: What to Ask For

What a fixed price quote actually needs before it can be fixed

A builder cannot fix a price against a sketch. To quote a genuinely binding figure on a new build or a large extension, we need building regulations drawings rather than just planning drawings, a structural engineer's calculations for beams and foundations, and a written specification that names the products going in.

The gap between planning approval and building regs approval is where most "fixed" prices quietly turn into estimates. Planning drawings show shape and position. They do not tell a builder what the floor build up is, what insulation thickness the SAP calculation demands, or how thick the raft needs to be.

• Building regs drawings, not planning drawings alone
• Structural engineer's calcs and steel schedule
• A written spec naming windows, boiler, kitchen and sanitaryware, or a stated allowance for each
• Confirmed drainage connection point and, ideally, a CCTV survey
• Site access and where materials and skips can go

Where the ground still moves, and how to handle it honestly

Around Burnley, Padiham, Nelson and the Rossendale valley, ground is genuinely unpredictable. Old mill workings, made ground, clay over sandstone and steeply sloping plots all mean the foundation depth you get can differ from the foundation depth you were quoted. Building control can also instruct a deeper dig on site with no warning.

An honest builder handles this with a stated assumption rather than a silent risk. For example: the price assumes trench fill foundations to 1.0m, with additional depth charged at an agreed rate per cubic metre, evidenced by building control's inspection record. That way the bulk of the job is fixed and the one genuinely unknown item is priced in advance instead of becoming an argument in week three.

Trial holes cost a few hundred pounds and are worth every penny on a sloping or previously developed plot. They convert the biggest single unknown in a Lancashire build into a number.

Provisional sums, allowances and variations

A quote with a long list of provisional sums is not a fixed price. A provisional sum is a placeholder for work that has not been fully described, and it will be adjusted at final account. An allowance, by contrast, is a budget you control: a kitchen allowance of, say, £8,000 supply only means you can spend less and take the saving, or spend more and pay the difference.

Ask for the two to be clearly separated on the quote, and ask what proportion of the total is provisional. If it is more than around ten per cent on a new build, the design is not finished and the price is not really fixed yet.

Variations should be confirmed in writing before the work happens, with a price attached. Verbal changes on site are the single most common cause of a final bill that surprises people.

Payment structure and what protects you

Fixed price does not mean paid up front. On a house build, expect a staged schedule tied to completed and inspected milestones rather than to dates, so payment follows progress you can see.

Reasonable stages are foundations complete and passed, damp proof course level, wall plate, roof watertight, first fix, plaster, second fix, and completion. Deposits should be modest and generally cover ordered materials such as windows or steels, not weeks of labour in advance.

Also check the quote states whether VAT is included, how long the price is held open (steel, timber and plasterboard prices have moved sharply in recent years, so 30 to 90 days is normal), and what insurance is in place. For a full new build, a structural warranty and the corresponding building control route need agreeing at the outset, not retrospectively.