Understanding Preliminaries
The Costs That Keep Your Build Running
What Are Preliminaries
Preliminaries (or “prelims”) are the behind-the-scenes essentials that keep your build running smoothly, safely, and legally. They don’t form part of the bricks and mortar, but they are critical to delivering your project.
Prelims Typically Include:
Site management and supervision
Scaffolding – erection, adaptations, safety checks, hire costs
Waste removal – skips, grab lorries
Site welfare – cabins, rest areas, washing facilities
Security – hoardings, fencing, lighting
Temporary services – power, water, access
Insurances - site insurance, structural warranty
Quick Answers
What are preliminaries?
The essential behind-the-scenes costs like scaffolding, skips, and site management that keep your project running safely and smoothly.
Why do they matter to cost planning?
Prelims are often time-related. If your programme isn’t accurate, costs like scaffold hire or site management can quickly escalate.
How does Plan It help?
We provide a customisable preliminaries template in our guided pathway, showing you how to adapt generic lists to your project, spot missing items, and budget with confidence.
Why Managing Prelims is Essential to your Budget
Prelims can make up a significant part of your budget. Many are time-related, which means delays directly increase costs. A project programme that overruns by weeks or months can cause site management, scaffolding, and welfare costs to spiral.
Understanding preliminaries is not about paying for “extras.” It’s about being in control, knowing what you’ll need, for how long, and how it impacts your overall cost plan.
Prelims aren’t one-size-fits-all. They vary by project type, scale, and duration. For example, scaffolding on a two-storey extension may need multiple lifts and alterations as works progress, each requiring additional labour and safety checks. On top of that, scaffold hire is time-based, so if your project runs over, costs rise week by week.
This is why it’s essential to think about prelims early, alongside your scope of works and cost planning. Together, they give you a clear picture of what’s needed and help you manage these items proactively.
We don’t just list prelims, we take you on a deep dive in our guided pathway. You’ll learn how to identify what’s required, when it’s needed, and how to keep time-related preliminaries under control.
Common Pitfalls
Accurately forecasting build duration – If your build programme isn’t thought through at a high level, budgeting for time-related prelims like scaffolding or site management will be inaccurate. Because cost planning is started early in Plan It, we show you how to build a realistic programme that allows for accurate prelim budgeting.
Generic inclusions – Many builder quotes include vague allowances, for example “rubbish removal” without any detail. In reality, you may need multiple skips or grab lorries depending on the scale and sequencing of works. Budgeting for waste removal is important, and in Plan It we show you how to estimate this properly
Exclusions – Sometimes certain prelims aren’t included in quotes, whether that’s by oversight or because assumptions have been made. This can create surprises later. In Plan It, we show you how to check what’s there, what might be missing, and how to address it early so you stay in control.
Plan Smarter, Control Costs
In our Plan It pathway, we:
Provide a Preliminaries Checklist and Template to adapt to your project.
Show you how to link prelims to your project programme for accurate budgeting.
Show you how to avoid paying for unnecessary prelims while ensuring the essentials are covered.
This way, you go into your build prepared.
Bonus Deep Dives
Inside our Plan It pathway, we go further with short deep dives into specific preliminaries, like hoardings, utilities, and scaffolding. These extras help you understand when they’re needed, how they impact your cost plan, and how to avoid common traps.
Guided Pathways
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Plan It
Plan It equips you with the knowledge, tools, and structured processes to confidently design, budget, and prepare your homebuilding project, ensuring a smooth and well-managed build.
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Build It
Build It equips you with the expertise, guidance, and step-by-step processes to manage your construction project effectively, ensuring quality, cost control, and timely completion.
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Certify It
Certify It equips you with the knowledge and processes to navigate final inspections, compliance, and certification, ensuring your project is completed with the documentation needed to validate your investment.