A project back from the dead
A client paused a scheme two years ago after planning. Now funding is back and they want an updated cost within the fortnight. The last cost plan is a workbook with a base date two years old, allowances for things that may or may not still apply, and a note in cell B3 that says 'inflation to be reviewed'.
The surveyor who wrote it has left. Rolling it forward means understanding every assumption first, then applying tender price movement, then re-examining the risk allowance, preliminaries and any market changes in specific trades.
Meanwhile the client, who remembers the old figure, is expecting a small uplift, and the design team wants to know whether the scheme still works before they restart. Everyone is waiting on the cost plan.
Why rebasing is painful
- The base date and the index used are often not recorded clearly in the workbook.
- Allowances and exclusions are in notes scattered across tabs.
- Inflation and tender price movement have to be applied carefully so they are not double counted.
- Some elements need more than an index update, such as trades with specific market pressures or changed regulations.
- Nothing shows the client a clean path from the old figure to the new one.
What doing it by hand costs
Surveyor time spent reverse-engineering an old workbook. A risk of applying movement twice or not at all. A client who struggles to follow why the number rose, which leads to more meetings. And the same work repeated if the project stalls again.
| Part of the plan | Rebasing by hand | With the tool |
|---|---|---|
| Base date | Hunted for in notes | Recorded and shown |
| Tender price movement | Calculated in a new tab | Applied from the index your surveyor picks |
| Trade-specific changes | Added ad hoc | Entered as named adjustments |
| Allowances and exclusions | Scattered | Listed for review |
| Explaining the change | Written from scratch | Reconciliation from old to new generated |
The rebasing tool
- The old cost plan is read and its structure, base date, allowances, exclusions and notes are extracted, with a language model helping to find assumptions hidden in text cells. A surveyor confirms what was found.
- The surveyor selects the index series and dates to use, from the data sources your practice subscribes to, and enters any trade-specific adjustments with a reason.
- The tool applies the movement and adjustments to the right elements and shows the result line by line.
- Allowances, exclusions and risk are listed for the surveyor to keep, change or remove.
- A reconciliation from the old total to the new one is generated, showing movement by cause, ready to explain to the client.
- The updated plan exports to your Excel template, with its new base date and assumptions recorded for next time.
Choosing the index and the forecast view is professional judgement and depends on the market at the time. The tool applies the choices and keeps the record straight.
A cleaner restart
The updated figure goes to the client with a clear bridge from the old one. Assumptions are written down for the next surveyor. If the project pauses again, the next rebase starts from a documented base rather than a mystery.
The same record helps during a live project too, when the cost plan has to be updated for a later start date or a change in procurement route.
Recognise the restart problem?
- Old cost plans lack a clearly recorded base date.
- Assumptions are buried in cell notes and hidden tabs.
- Rolling a plan forward takes longer than it should.
- Clients struggle to follow why a restarted scheme costs more.
- The surveyor who knew the job has left.