Provisional Sum....?

[sythai]

Could anyone please give the correct meaning of a provisional sum (or sometimes think it may be called a PC sum) ?

And a an example or 2 would also be good where it may be used in the electrical contracting business (domestic / commercial)....

Got an idea of what I think it is, and have heard the term mentioned a fair bit so just want to be clear.

Many thanks and have a good day,

Sy

 

[malcolmsanford]

It's basically an agreed sum between the customer and the contractor on work that is often not specified for any reasons.

On larger projects when you set up your baseline costs you factor all sorts of things in such as transport, custom duties, cost of equipment, labour etc etc.

Now one I just did here was we had a Provisional Sum agreed and it was used for storage of materials that had arrived and should have gone straight to site, but because of the site not being ready due to unforeseen circumstances the material had to be stored for about 5 weeks ...............this was taken out of the unspecified sum

 

[sythai]

I see thank you for that was sort of thinking along those lines

So there is no set figure as such - just clause stating extra money may be required for 'any unforeseen circumstances'

Maybe a similar thing to what I put on my estimates... would this be a provisional sum ?

[FONT=&amp]It is a requirement that all existing circuits and equipment to be worked upon need to comply with current regulations, and should any underlying faults and non-compliances be present, then these will need to be rectified as an extra at £30/hour + any materials required + VAT. RCD protection and earth bonding being of up most importance.[/FONT]

 

[topquark]

Have a read here Sy:

Provisional sum - Designing Buildings Wiki
Examples here: ENGINEER NOT NEGLIGENT FOR RELYING UPON SPECIALIST SUBCONTRACTOR’S ADVICE - Alway Associates
and section 43 here: http://www.nadr.co.uk/articles/published/AdjudLr/ABBEYvBRICKWORK2003.pdf

 

[sythai]

Have a read here Sy:

Provisional sum - Designing Buildings Wiki
Examples here: ENGINEER NOT NEGLIGENT FOR RELYING UPON SPECIALIST SUBCONTRACTOR’S ADVICE - Alway Associates
and section 43 here: http://www.nadr.co.uk/articles/published/AdjudLr/ABBEYvBRICKWORK2003.pdf

Thank you... will have a read

 

[alarm man]

I see thank you for that was sort of thinking along those lines

So there is no set figure as such - just clause stating extra money may be required for 'any unforeseen circumstances'

Maybe a similar thing to what I put on my estimates... would this be a provisional sum ?

not sure if its the same terminology but was called dayworks years ago,contractors used to go in low on price to get the job and make their money on dayworks,if anything was not as the specd drawing as things do change mid way through a job they would charge £xx to do that bit of work,could be something simple as a room on the original spec is now 2 rooms not a huge problem,but they used to charge a lot to do it

 

[durhamspark]

Provisional sum or provisional cost as it's sometimes referred to is where a client wants a budget for a job but may not have a spec for a particular part of the contract. ie there may be intruder alarm works but the extent of which are unknown so the consulting engineer will state a pc sum to cover these works. The works are then carried out and the money is taken from the pc sum. It means that when you carry out the works and put the bill in you already have an order in place.

 

[RISElectrical]

Provisional sum or provisional cost as it's sometimes referred to is where a client wants a budget for a job but may not have a spec for a particular part of the contract. ie there may be intruder alarm works but the extent of which are unknown so the consulting engineer will state a pc sum to cover these works. The works are then carried out and the money is taken from the pc sum. It means that when you carry out the works and put the bill in you already have an order in place.

Care must be taken to not go over the PC Sum in cases like these as the order will not cover the extra. (an obvious point but just so you know)

 

[sythai]

Provisional sum or provisional cost as it's sometimes referred to is where a client wants a budget for a job but may not have a spec for a particular part of the contract. ie there may be intruder alarm works but the extent of which are unknown so the consulting engineer will state a pc sum to cover these works. The works are then carried out and the money is taken from the pc sum. It means that when you carry out the works and put the bill in you already have an order in place.

Just thinking whether I should use one...

I price quite a few jobs off plan e.g extensions, loft conversions , where a pre-site visit isn't possible (via builder who is also tendering for the works himself.)

So I normally add a footnote :

Dependent upon the loadings of the existing electrical installation and spare capacity within the existing consumer unit. An upgrade to a larger unit may be required, or alternatively a secondary unit could possibly be an option. Without a prior site visit and survey these items cannot be accounted for.

If I then stated an amount with this (of a maximum £450), would this be classed as a PC sum ?