The Importance of CIF Project Costing
As part of a CIF project application, educational institutions must provide detailed costs to secure funding. It is incredibly important to give this section due consideration, as CIF project costing contributes to 25% of the overall score given to the full application.
Below, we will detail the different criteria that CIF judges will be looking out for within your application when it comes to costing.
Overall CIF Project Costs
Clear scopes with overall cost below industry expectations should be present in your application. This will help you to achieve a maximum score. Each cost element should be reasonable and explained thoroughly throughout your bid.
Where anomalies do crop up, however, these should be justified and explained clearly. Abnormalities are characterised as anything that is not a typical construction cost and that is project specific. Examples include costs associated with demolition, temporary accommodation, and asbestos removal. If these higher costs aren’t addressed, this could damage your score and affect the outcome of your bid.
+ Clear scope
+ Costs below expectations/industry benchmarks
– Costs above expectations/industry benchmarks
– No justification for high costs
CIF Project Cost Certainty
Within the costing section of your application, it’s important that you include and reference thorough quotes for the work. Fixed prices should be included with assurance from the contractor that these pricings will be stuck to. This is very important. Failure to include detailed, fair, and reasonable tenders in your application could lead to a lower overall score. This could hurt your chances of a successful bid.
+ Detailed & fair costings
+ Assurance from contractors
+ Fixed prices
– Unrealistic cost evaluation
Level of Contribution
The level of contribution you may receive will depend on how highly your application is scored. Typically, any bid that receives a score of one should receive between a 5% and 10% contribution. Meanwhile, scores as high as six will see a minimum contribution of 30%, with many projects receiving more than this.
Environmental Sustainability
Each year, new additions and modifications are made to the CIF scoring criteria. One of the more recent additions is an assessment on the project’s environmental impact and sustainability. This new criterion was added as a way to support the Governments new climate change targets.
This criterion is worth a total of four points, so it isn’t something you should ignore when writing your bid. Key things to consider when planning your CIF project are energy efficiency and carbon reduction.
Additional information to include in your application
Depending on the scale of your project, there are a couple of additional documents you can include within your bid to help your chances.
As we have mentioned above, cost plans and hard copies of estimates are key additions to your application. Additionally, it can also pay to include a detailed cash flow forecast (where this is appropriate) and information on your planned procurement route and how this stage is to be carried out. Where applicable, including confirmation letters from other funding sources will also go in your favour.
Contact Us
For more information on how Munday + Cramer can help you in the process of applying for a CIF project, or if you would like to find out more about our architectural services, operating in Essex, London, Kent, Norfolk, and Suffolk, then get in touch! Contact Munday + Cramer today on 01245 326 200.