Getting started

Two ways in before anything is committed: the Self Build Commercial Management Course, free, which teaches you to run the money side of your own build yourself, and Commercial Consultation - one session on whatever the build has thrown up, at any stage, as often as you need it.

Two doors in, read the course to learn to run the money side yourself - it is free - or bring one worry to Commercial Consultation: at any stage, as often as you need it, and a session's fee is credited against any self-build service taken within 90 days - once, against one invoice, never stacked.

Commercial Consultation. One structured session on whatever your build has thrown up, at any stage - a quote, a contract, a payment request, a final bill. You leave with a straight answer and the next step in writing, and you can book it again whenever the next question comes up, at the same fixed fee - and it is how the course gets taught: one session, one stage, on your own paperwork. A session's fee is credited against any self-build service you take within 90 days - once, against one invoice, never stacked.

Hover or tap a door or the house for what happens there. The arrows run left to right: two doors in, one build.

Getting started: the free course or Commercial Consultation, two doors into the same build.

Problems

Find the one that reads like your problem. Each page explains what is actually happening and the way out of it.

I know the build price but not what the whole project will cost

The builder's figure is only one part of the decision; the plot, professional fees, connections, finance and contingency still have to fit the same pot.

I have this problem

I'm not sure this plot works financially

The asking price is visible, but the ground, access, services and planning position can change what the plot really asks of your budget.

I have this problem

I have a worry but don't know which service I need

The question may be about the plot, a price or the next decision, but it is hard to choose a route while you are still working out what the problem is.

I have this problem

The course

The stage's main thing: a guide, with all twelve of its templates linked. Free, in exchange for an email address.

Self Build Commercial Management Course

Running the money side of your own build, from before the plot to the day your retention comes back.

See the course

Services

Commercial Consultation: one structured session on whatever your build has thrown up, at any stage, as often as you need it - the fee credited against any self-build service taken within 90 days. And if the whole subject needs learning, the Self Build Commercial Management Course is free.

Commercial Consultation

Fixed FeeFor Self Builders2 working days

The self-build service's general help line: one structured session on whatever your build has thrown up, at any stage - from we have just bought a plot to the builder has sent the final bill - with a quantity surveyor who acts only for you.

See how it works

Products

This stage owns no downloads of its own: the free templates live with the stages of the build they serve, and this page is the map to all fourteen.

Before the build

Total Project Cost Checklist

Everything a build costs that is not the building.

See the template

Before the build

Feasibility Budget Calculator

Can we afford to build this, answered before you buy a plot or appoint an architect.

See the template

Before the build

Plot Cost Risk Checklist

The twenty questions that separate a plot bargain from a plot trap.

See the template

Before the build

Budget and Cost Plan

Your total broken into the packages you will actually buy, with the contingency standing on its own line where every use of it has to be a decision.

See the template

Before the build

Cashflow and Drawdown Forecast

When money actually leaves, against when your funds arrive.

See the template

Before the build

Builder Enquiry Pack

The scope, the pricing schedule and the questions that make three builders price the same job.

See the template

Before the build

Quote Comparison and Levelling Sheet

Three prices rebuilt onto one basis.

See the template

Before the build

Contract Review Checklist

Twenty-five questions to answer about a building contract before you sign it, each from the document rather than from what you were told.

See the template

Before the build

Professional Appointment Comparison

What each consultant's fee actually buys, which work stages are in and which are not, and what nobody has been appointed to do at all.

See the template

Before the build

Deposit and Advance Payment Register

Every payment you are asked to make before you have the thing you are paying for, added up in one place, with the peak read off the dates rather than by adding the payments together.

See the template

During the build

Payment and Valuation Tracker

Never pay ahead of value.

See the template

During the build

Variation Register and Instruction Form

No change starts until its price is agreed in writing.

See the template

During the build

Site Diary and Photo Log

What happened, the day it happened, with dated photographs.

See the template

After the build

Final Account and Snagging Tracker

What it finally cost, what is still to fix, and the two dates your retention comes back on.

See the template

Tips

Money habits that cost nothing to adopt and protect a self build from its first day: a stated contingency, money behind work, everything in writing.

Before you commit

The cheapest lessons on a self build are the ones learned before anything is signed.

State the contingency and defend it

Read the tip

Before you commit

The cheapest lessons on a self build are the ones learned before anything is signed.

Learn the money side before the spade goes in

Read the tip

Habits that hold for the whole build

Two disciplines that cost nothing on day one and pay on every day after it.

Keep everything in writing, from day one

Read the tip

Habits that hold for the whole build

Two disciplines that cost nothing on day one and pay on every day after it.

Never pay ahead of the work

Read the tip

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to the questions self builders ask when deciding whether and when to get help with the money side, one question per page.

Before you start

Do I need a quantity surveyor for a self build?

Not always - and anyone selling you certainty either way is guessing. The bigger, less standard or less certain the build, the more one earns their keep.

Read the answer

Before you start

What does a quantity surveyor do on a self build?

Everything about the build that is money rather than design: the budget, the quotes, the contract's money terms, the monthly payments, the changes and the final account.

Read the answer

Before you start

When should I bring in help with the money side?

Earlier than feels natural: the cheapest moment to fix a money problem is before the design is frozen and the contract is signed.

Read the answer

Before you start

How do your fees work on a self build?

Every service is a fixed fee, quoted in writing before you book, and nothing is ever charged as a percentage of the build or of any saving.

Read the answer