For the last 10 years we have been sharing useful information to guide you on the costs for your construction project in Ireland.

Calculating the construction costs for your project is not an easy task. Every year we publish some guidelines and average prices to help you getting an approximate figure.

You can check our other articles in this series here.

The big news this year is the publication of the Building/Construction Cost Guidelines 2019 by the RIAI. This was long due an update and it provides a good overview of the current construction costs.

Construction in Ireland continues to boom, with all sectors showing significant growth.

Tender prices are still increasing in 2019, with construction inflation levels running well ahead of general inflation rates. This is fuelled by increased activity, pressure on wage rates, increases in material prices and regulatory changes.

 

Linesight’s reported that this year prices will be back to where they were at the peak of the boom.

 

Linesight’s research shows that, on average, tender prices rose by approximately 7.5% during 2018 while construction input costs rose on average by 3.5%. Due to high ongoing demand this level of increase is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

During 2019 Linesight  predicts that tender prices will increase by 6.5% on average. Their report emphasises the importance of budgeting for future construction inflation when evaluating proposed construction projects.

The rate of increase is not the same around the country – construction prices in the Greater Dublin Area and other major urban centres are increasing at a faster rate than provincial locations.

 

Average Irish Construction Prices 2019

To provide clients with guidance on building costs, the RIAI (The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) has compiled the Building/Construction Cost Guidelines 2019. The information contained in this document is for guidance only using average costs for the building types as set out, current at April 2019.

The tables below are a summary of the RIAI Cost Guidelines 2019. The Guidelines highlight a number of exclusions and conditions and the summary below should be read in conjunction with the full document. The document can be downloaded here.  

(Click images to enlarge)

 

Isabel Barros Architects Wexford

 

The table below shows the average construction costs as generated by Linesight’s Cost Database and sets out typical building construction costs:

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Isabel Barros Architects Wexford

Isabel Barros Architects Wexford

Average Irish Construction Costs 2019. Source: Linesight

 

 

Turner & Townsend‘s annual construction cost survey also provides an overview of construction costs in Ireland:

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Isabel Barros Architects Wexford

International building costs per m2 of internal area, in 2019. Source: Turner & Townsend

Isabel Barros Architects Wexford

Percentage change based on last year’s Turner & Townsend International building costs per m2 (Available here: https://isabelbarrosarchitects.ie/blog/building-costs-ireland-2018/)

 

 

Labour Rates and Construction Materials Prices

Turner & Townsend‘s annual construction cost survey provides labour costs and also the prices for some materials.

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Isabel Barros Architects Wexford

Labour and Materials Prices, 2019. Source: Turner & Townsend

 

 

The latest monthly data from CSO recorded that building and construction materials prices showed a decrease of 0.7% in July 2019. The annual percentage change showed a decrease of 5.9% in the year to July 2019. (Price Index July 2019: 94.1; Price Index June 2018: 100).

 

Isabel Barros Architects Wexford

 

The most notable yearly changes were increases in Sand and gravel (+5.9%), Cement (+5.7%),  Ready mixed mortar and concrete (+4.9%) and Timbers (+3.2%-7.9%) while there were decreases in Glass (-18.5%), Stone (-2.6%), and Bituminous emulsions (-1.9%).

 

Guide to Rebuilding Costs in Ireland

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) provides a House Rebuilding Cost Calculator here. This calculator can be used as a guide to give you a minimum base cost for your construction project.

Isabel Barros Architects Wexford

Table of Rebuilding Costs September 2018. Source: Society of Chartered Surveyors.

 

SCSI House Delivery Cost Calculator Tool

SCSI have developed a useful online calculator for developers to perform an analysis tailored to their own developments.

Private/individual users should use this calculator cautiously. Professional fees, for example, will be considerable higher for private developments than they are for developer built schemes where the level of repetition is often high.

SCSI highlights that the actual construction costs or hard costs made up less than half of the total costs. The online calculator allows users to adjust each elemental component of both the hard and soft costs for themselves.

 

Typical Exclusions

There are a number of other expenses that you should also consider when estimating your project. See some of the exclusions that may apply to your project here.

Architect’s fees will vary based on a number of factors ranging from size and complexity to level of the service required. These two articles provide some guidelines:

Additionally, you may also need to allow for:

  • Design Certifier Fees
  • Assigned Certifier fees

Check out our other articles in this series

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