Your job estimate uses unit rates but the accepted offer may be a lump sum
Establish whether accepted project pricing is lump sum or remeasurable unit rates when quantities exceed estimate, without treating internal estimate rates as contractual rights.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
A losing estimate can expose a pricing assumption
The job requires more material than the estimator allowed, and someone proposes billing the extra quantity at the rates in the estimating sheet. First establish what pricing basis the customer actually accepted. Internal unit rates can help build a lump-sum quote without becoming an agreed method for changing the final account whenever quantities differ.
Collect the signed offer, schedules, customer acceptance, incorporated terms and later agreed changes. Distinguish the version sent to the customer from an internal worksheet. Record any inconsistency for the lawyer. Do not add a quantity schedule to the contract file retrospectively because it would make the current overrun easier to recover.
Business.gov.au describes different fee structures and recommends specifying calculations and payment arrangements. Ask the adviser how the actual documents establish the price for this work. This article does not interpret a particular lump-sum or remeasurement clause or decide entitlement to a variation. The commercial label used by the team cannot replace the accepted wording.
Imagine an estimator using a per-metre allowance to produce a total offer. The completed quantity is greater, but the customer says it always bought the defined work for one fixed amount. Give the adviser the measurements, original scope and relevant instructions. Do not assume the extra quantity proves either a customer change or an estimating mistake before the evidence is examined.
Show the additional actual cost separately from the amount you believe may be recoverable. Ask the accountant to avoid treating a proposed invoice as confirmed income. If the documents permit a measurement-based adjustment, establish the required measurement and approval process with advice. If they do not, the operational loss still needs attention rather than being hidden in an unsupported receivable.
Have any proposed account or explanation checked against the agreed pricing basis before sending it. Preserve the original estimate so future quoting can improve without rewriting the contractual history. The practical decision is whether the business has evidence for an adjusted price, not merely a spreadsheet capable of multiplying a larger quantity by a familiar rate.
