We also have an invoice for base stage: $5000 more than contracted because the Provisional Sum items were way over. That's 29% over!!
Needless to say, we weren't given notice of the extra. As far as I know, whilst there were problems with the slab, these were rectified by the concrete company, and there were no other unforeseen or site related issues that arose.
Three questions:
- What is a reasonable percentage above PS?
Roughly at what percentage above PS is it good politics for the builder to advise the client of the increased cost?
Is it reasonable for us to see the original quotes, or at least to ask where the variations occurred? (builder has supplied copies of the invoices for all PS items but only one includes the original quote -- that was about right)?
We are of course in a flurry of worry ... if every PS ends up this much over, we are in trouble. We put aside a contingency fund (in consultation with the builder), but it's nowhere near big enough to cover cost blowouts of this size.
Thoughts? Oh, I should say, we're with a small, custom builder, not a biggie.
e.