How We Quote a Reclad: Investigations and Provisional Sums

Most of what goes into a reclad price can be pinned down before we start. One part can't. This post walks through how we get from your first call to a signed contract, and what we do about the part nobody can see until the walls are open.

Why a reclad can't be priced like a normal renovation

Most renovation quotes price a fixed scope: this kitchen, this deck, these materials. Recladding is different because the thing that drives the biggest cost swing, the condition of the timber framing behind your existing cladding, is invisible until the old cladding is stripped off. Two houses that look identical from the street can have completely different amounts of hidden damage. We cover why a fixed price off a photo doesn't tell you much, in our guide to what a reclad actually costs.

Step one: what's already been done

A lot of homeowners come to us after already engaging a building surveyor or similar consultant, who has been out, assessed the property, and produced a report. That report usually points straight at what needs to happen next: remediation plans and specifications, consent documentation, sometimes further testing. If that's where you're at, we start from where the report leaves off.

If you haven't had anything assessed yet, we'll tell you honestly what level of investigation your situation actually calls for. Sometimes that's a straightforward visual read. Sometimes it's a timber moisture assessment, or destructive testing that opens up a small section of wall to check what's really going on before anyone commits to a scope.

Step two: design and consent, priced two different ways

Some clients arrive with their own design and a clear run at consent already sorted. In that case, we simply price what's in front of us. Others need it built from the ground up, and for that we bring in a remediation architect we work with regularly, who takes the project from concept drawings through to a consent application Auckland Council will actually accept.

That second path matters more than it sounds. We've seen submissions come to us that were never going to get through council, because the plans weren't comprehensive enough to satisfy what a reclad consent actually requires. When that happens, the homeowner has already lost time and money on a plan that has to be redone properly, on top of the delay while council responds. Getting the documentation right before it's lodged is worth far more than it costs. We go into what a reclad consent specifically needs in our guide to getting a reclad through council.

Step three: the provisional sum for what we can't see yet

Even with a good report in hand, the true condition of your framing stays a guess until the old cladding is actually off the wall. That's true of every reclad. Our guide to what a weathertightness report covers explains what one can and can't tell you.

So before the contract is signed, we agree a provisional sum with you: an amount set aside for framing repair, based on what's typical for a property of that age, cladding type and any warning signs the investigation has already flagged. It's usually in the order of 10 to 20 percent of the frame value, though where it lands depends on the specific building. Once the cladding is off and we can actually see the framing, that figure is adjusted up or down to match what's really there, and you see exactly what changed and why.

The unknown has to land somewhere. Named in the contract as a specific sum, you can see it and question it before anyone lifts a tool. Folded quietly into one fixed number, you only find out what it covered once the walls are open.

What this looks like in practice

There's no single script every job follows, but two patterns come up often. A homeowner arrives with a building-surveyor report already showing defects and no Code Compliance Certificate (the council's sign-off confirming completed work meets the Building Code) on file: the report points straight at what to fix, so we move into remediation plans and manage the consent process from there. Or a homeowner starts with nothing done yet: we begin with whatever level of investigation the property actually needs, then move into design and consent before the price firms up.

In both cases the underlying pattern is the same: investigate, pull the documentation together, price what's known, hold a provisional sum for what isn't, and expect the final number to firm up as the picture does. That's a slower start, but it's the difference between a price and a guess. Our guide to how long a reclad takes covers the timeline once the job starts.

Want to know where your own house sits before you commit to anything? Send us three photos for a free visual inspection: a window corner, the wall just below a sill, and the spot where a deck or balcony meets the house. Text them to 021 701 664 or email info@adronconstruction.co.nz, and we'll give you a written read on what we see and what level of investigation we'd recommend from there. This is a visual read only, not a site visit or destructive testing, so there's no cost and no obligation.

Government guidance on remediation contingencies backs this approach directly: it recommends pricing the unknowable parts of a remediation as provisional sums with a contingency on top, precisely because the extent of decay can't be measured until the cladding comes off.

To see how this feeds into the actual dollar figures, read our guide to what a reclad actually costs, or find out more about our residential recladding services across Auckland.