R142m
Saved vs. the approved cost plan
A targeted value-engineering exercise on the façade, vertical transport spec, and basement excavation pulled back roughly 10% on the cost plan without compromising the A-grade specification.
A 28,000 m² premium-grade commercial tower with three retail levels and seven basements — delivered six weeks ahead of programme, R142m under the approved cost plan, and 5-Star Greenstar certified.
The developer needed a premium-grade tower that could pre-let to a blue-chip anchor — without breaching a hard-set funded budget and a non-negotiable practical completion date tied to the anchor's lease commencement.
We were appointed at concept stage and stayed through final account. The brief, in essence: deliver an A-grade product, on programme, on budget, with a 5-Star Greenstar target — and let nothing move backwards once the team committed to it.
Scope of servicesFour results that closed the loop on the brief — each one tied to a deliberate intervention by the QS team, not an accident of the programme.
A targeted value-engineering exercise on the façade, vertical transport spec, and basement excavation pulled back roughly 10% on the cost plan without compromising the A-grade specification.
Forward-looking cost reporting flagged sequencing risks on the slab pours nine months out — letting the contractor recover float we'd otherwise have lost.
17 of 18 trade packages came in within or below the elemental cost plan. The single overrun was a known specialist trade we'd flagged and ring-fenced contingency for.
Cost-modelled every Greenstar credit through design to confirm which delivered the best yield per Rand. Final certification matched target without late-stage spec changes.
Site re-measure ran in parallel with construction, not after it. Final account agreed and signed within 11 weeks of PC — no escalation, no formal dispute.
Cost certainty through the build let the leasing team commit headline rentals 14 months before PC. The tower opened fully let.
“The first cost report we got showed us what was about to happen — not what had already happened. That changed every decision after it.”
From concept estimate to final account close-out, ten checkpoints over 38 months — with the BHA principal team unchanged from start to finish.
Order-of-magnitude estimate against five reference comparables. Feasibility modelled to test rental assumptions at three viability thresholds.
Cost plan tied to the developing design, with anchor-tenant fit-out cost ring-fenced from base build. Greenstar credits cost-modelled credit-by-credit.
Two-week intensive across façade, MEP, vertical transport and basement excavation. R142m identified and locked into revised cost plan without specification regression.
Measured BoQ across 18 trade packages. Pre-qualified tenderers vetted for technical capacity, balance sheet, and ESG compliance.
17 of 18 packages returned within cost plan. Adjudication report and recommendation issued; main contract awarded inside the lease-trigger window.
Monthly cost reports begin — forward-looking against committed and projected expenditure, not historical actuals.
Cost report 8 identified a programme risk on slab pours 14, 17 and 21. Re-sequencing plan agreed with main contractor and PM — float recovered.
Structure complete on revised, accelerated programme. Variations agreed and priced inside the month they were raised — no carry-forward.
PC achieved 6 weeks ahead of the contract programme. Anchor tenant fit-out commenced inside the contractual handover window.
Site re-measure completed in parallel with construction. Final account agreed within 11 weeks of PC. Zero disputed items, zero formal claims.
A 5-Star Greenstar A-grade tower, fully let on opening, sitting inside the original budget envelope set at concept stage.
BHA led cost — alongside a senior delivery team across architecture, engineering and project management.
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