An additional 10% on Builders Costs - for the Builder???

 We have been offered 18% discount(Marche) as opposed to 10-12% a year ago. Not sure on your builders 10% although it does seem odd because as you say that is what you pay your project mangement fee for. We have not payed the builders an on cost so I would definetly query it. Good luck!

 We have been offered 18% discount(Marche) as opposed to 10-12% a year ago. Not sure on your builders 10% although it does seem odd because as you say that is what you pay your project mangement fee for. We have not payed the builders an on cost so I would definetly query it. Good luck!

 You should ask the architect about this 10% on the builder's estimate, (and I'd also recommend you to make sure you have a detailed contract/terms of agreement with the architect). In a large job such as yours, various other professionals will almost certainly be involved - an engineer for the structure, a geologist for the land conditions, a heating engineer to design and prove the thermal performance of the building and of the installation (and maybe even more experts, especially if you've gone green!) It could be that the builder has put these fees onto his estimate (it makes the architect look less of a robber). That is fair enough, but clearly (I imagine) you will want to deal just with the architect while the building work is being done, so you should all be clear that the architect will be the one who liaises with all the other specialists, rather than the builder. So your first port of call is the architect, he will not be offended by your query of "what's this 10% the builder wants?" As to 'discounting' - you should certainly get at least 10% off a 'computo metrico' produced by the architect using 'book prices'. Do you have a detailed book priced 'computo metrico' (bill of quantities) to compare with the builder's offer?

Your geometra/architect should produce the computo metrico. This should then be given (without prices) to several builders who all quote for the job based on this document. It is a very important document in any renovation as without it, how do you know what work is included and what isn't? They run to several pages and are very detailed.

The 10% The 10% may be the IVA you should query as to whether IVA was included in the original quote

I dont know if it was us or our Geometra but confusion has arisen. The 10% that the Geometra put on the top of the builders quote was his fees (even though we queried this before we put on the posting).  I suppose the moral of this tale is to query something and if you dont like the response, query it again!!!!! Many thanks to all of you who reponded - Happy New Year