Resources
Resources to Design and Build with Confidence
The Resources section brings together practical guidance, commentary, and reference material to help you make informed decisions throughout your building project. Rather than generic advice, each resource is grounded in real-world experience and professional practice, focusing on the areas where projects most commonly go wrong — cost, risk, quality, and decision-making.
Here you’ll find insight-led content such as Cost Planning & Cost Intelligence, industry commentary through our Industry Watch, practical Guides that explain how key constraints interact, and clarity around Industry Accreditations that genuinely matter. Together, these resources are designed to support the Plan It, Build It, and Certify It pathways by providing context, explanation, and confidence.
Cost Planning & Cost Intelligence
Making confident financial decisions throughout your build
Cost planning is not about fixing a single budget early on, it’s about understanding how costs develop as design decisions are made, risks reduce, and information improves. This resource introduces Homebuilding Essentials’ QS-led approach to cost planning and cost intelligence, focused on clarity, structure, and decision-support.
The page outlines how professional, stage-based cost planning supports better choices from early feasibility through to construction, and how this capability sits alongside the Plan It and Build It pathways as a financial thread running through the entire project.
Industry Watch
Our Industry Watch section highlights real, current events in UK construction, including builder misconduct, legal rulings, and insurance failures, so you can stay informed, avoid costly mistakes, and protect your project.
Each article includes commentary from Oliver Steele-Perkins and invited industry experts, along with links to relevant Homebuilding Essentials Insights for further learning and practical guidance.
Guides
Balancing Time, Cost, and Quality in Homebuilding
People often say you can’t have all three, but if managed properly, you absolutely can. In this Insight, we explain how realistic timelines, cost planning, and quality checks can work together, not against each other. Learn how to avoid common trade-offs and deliver your project with confidence.
Industry Accreditations
Choosing the right people to build or manage your project isn't just about who sounds convincing, it's about professional standards.
There are many badges, memberships and accreditations displayed on websites and vans across the construction industry. But which ones genuinely matter, and which ones are just marketing?
At Homebuilding Essentials, we help you cut through the noise. We’ve split the key accreditations into groups: those relevant for professional consultants, building contractors and trades.