Excluding one high price, the other five tender returns were quite close together.

We had decided to provide many of the basic building materials ourselves,

so when we added these costs to the builders tender figures we knew the total

construction costs. These ranged from £876 to £1323 per sq.m for the house

and £497 to £650 per sq.m. for the detached double garage. In addition to these

figures we had also set aside a portion of the budget for renewables.

John A Stephens Builders Merchants tel.0115 9412861, provide a very useful

estimating service that gave us costs for most of the materials needed, from bricks

and blocks to rainwater harvesting tanks.

The tender process was not just about cost however, as we also had chance to meet

the builders and get a feeling for which companies we felt most comfortable working

with.   Eventually we agreed to appoint Alan Fearn of Saxton Builders in Chilwell

tel. 07970 115126. Alan not only tendered a keen price and was available to start

very quickly, he had good references from other satisfied customers and took the

time and trouble to have several  long meetings with us to discuss the project.

We agreed the price, start date and signed a fixed price contract with Alan and our

Architect, making it official.

No turning back now !