Journal

Which suppliers can price and deliver your project?

Prefabwise Editorial Desk

The suppliers worth contacting are those that can serve your destination, deliver components to your actual plot, arrange or coordinate the required installation, and price the same finish and site-work boundary. Screen those points before comparing headline prices. Send the remaining suppliers one project brief and ask them to confirm what they can include, what they exclude and which site facts they still need to price. A supplier that cannot yet confirm access, utilities or installation may still be viable, but its offer is not yet comparable.

Start with a project brief suppliers can price

Give every supplier the same facts before asking for a quote. Include the site’s country and postcode or equivalent location, intended use, planning status, target delivery period, preferred model or room schedule, floor area definition, and required finish level. State whether you want a shell, a weather-tight structure or a completed home, and list the work you expect outside the building package, such as foundations, utility connections and external works.

Attach the current site plan and available access information. Mark the entrance, road approach, boundaries and proposed building position. Note known limits such as narrow lanes, sharp turns, overhead lines, bridges with weight limits, steep gradients, soft ground or restricted delivery hours. Label unknowns as unknown rather than guessing. Ask each supplier whether this is enough for a budget price or whether it needs a route check, site visit, crane assessment or other survey before giving a firm figure.

For a project in England, the government’s self-build and custom housebuilding planning guidance defines a serviced plot as having access to a public highway and electricity, water and waste water connections, or as having those services provided within the development permission period in the opinion of a relevant authority. Highway access may include a guaranteed right over a private or unadopted road, and the services need not already be physically connected when permission is granted. This definition supports the self-build register and planning duty; it is not a supplier or delivery standard. Check your plot’s access and service position separately before treating a supplier’s price as a delivered project cost. [2]

Check whether the supplier covers your destination

Ask the supplier to name the countries or regions it serves and confirm that it will deliver to your location. Get the delivery point in writing: a price to a regional depot is different from delivery to the plot, and neither necessarily includes unloading. Ask who arranges transport, who books permits or escorts if needed, what happens if the delivery vehicle cannot reach the site, and whether waiting time or a failed delivery creates extra cost.

List local approvals and services as separate items in the brief. Requirements depend on the site and jurisdiction, so ask the supplier to distinguish what it supplies from what you must arrange with local authorities or network operators. For example, Uisce Éireann’s connection guides for single domestic projects describe stages including a pre-connection enquiry, connection application, quality assurance where applicable, diversions where applicable and delivery of the connection. That process is specific to Ireland and water services; it does not establish that a connection is available at a particular plot. Ask the relevant local provider to confirm your own requirements and status. [1]

Make installation and lifting responsibilities explicit

“Installation included” is too broad to compare on its own. Ask which crew erects the home, which tasks the crew performs, how long it is allowed on site, what equipment it brings, and what must be ready before arrival. Clarify who provides foundations, temporary power, storage, access preparation, waste removal and protection from weather, and who signs off the completed work.

If a crane or other lifting equipment is needed, ask for the proposed lift arrangement and the party responsible for planning and supervision. The UK Health and Safety Executive says lifting operations must be properly planned by a competent person, supervised appropriately and carried out safely. It also says crane-hire responsibilities are usually shared, and that planning, supervision and carrying out the lift rest with the user unless a contract lift explicitly transfers those duties to the hire company. This is UK guidance, so confirm the applicable rules and responsibilities for your project’s jurisdiction. [3]

Compare written offers on one scope

Use a simple comparison sheet with one row for each supplier and columns for: destination and delivery point; model and specification; finish level; included transport and unloading; installation tasks; site works; utility connections; taxes and currency; exclusions and allowances; assumptions; open questions; and offer date. Record “not stated” where the offer is silent. Do not treat silence as inclusion.

Keep provisional and firm amounts distinct. A supplier may be able to price the home while leaving transport, ground conditions, crane access or local connections subject to checks. Ask what evidence would turn each allowance into a fixed price, who obtains that evidence, and whether the offer expires or changes if the delivery date moves. Where one supplier excludes foundations and another includes them, request a revised scope or show the excluded work separately before comparing totals.

Send these questions with your enquiry

Ask each supplier: Do you deliver to this country and location? What is the delivery point in your price, and does it include unloading? What access information do you need to confirm vehicle and crane suitability? Which installation tasks are included, and who is responsible for planning and supervising any lift? What site works, utility connections, approvals, taxes or local contractors are excluded? Which parts of your price are allowances, and what would you need to make them firm?

Shortlist suppliers that answer these questions against your actual plot and state their assumptions in writing. Then compare the offers on a shared scope. If a supplier needs a survey or local confirmation first, record that as the next pricing step rather than treating its early estimate as a delivered project cost.

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