Contingency and hidden-condition checks for a Vancouver student housing renovation

H

hearth.able

Property investor
I can either carry a lean contingency and risk concealed work exhausting it, or reserve more money and reduce what is available for the planned renovation. Neither feels comfortable without better evidence about the building.

The preliminary budget is C$402,500 for 2,530 sq ft of student housing in Vancouver. The work covers the kitchen, bathrooms, floors, painting, electrical checks and moderate energy improvements; no extension is proposed. Before settling the reserve, which surveys, access checks or bidder questions would best reveal wiring, plumbing, moisture, structural and permit-timing risks?
 
I would start with a 15% contingency, but keep it outside the contractor’s working budget so it does not quietly get allocated. That may need to rise if walls and ceilings must be opened before the electrical and plumbing scope is clear. Ask every bidder to list exclusions, assumptions and allowances separately—not just provide a total.
 
Is the building occupied during the work, and do you have a fixed date when students need the rooms back? That changes the sequencing risk substantially. A reasonable construction allowance can still fail if bathroom shutdowns, inspections or delayed materials push the project past the available window.
 
Before settling on a percentage, I’d pay for targeted investigation. Identify where plumbing can actually be accessed, inspect wet areas for moisture, and have the electrical scope described as specific tasks rather than “checks.” Also ask what happens if existing circuits cannot support the intended kitchen or energy work. A vague base scope makes any contingency largely guesswork.
 
I disagree slightly with putting too much emphasis on opening things up early. Investigation can itself trigger patching and disruption, especially in occupied housing. Start with records, visible inspection and non-destructive moisture assessment, then choose a few strategic openings only where the likely cost consequence is high. The aim is not to eliminate every unknown.
 
That is fair, but the contractor comparisons still need identical boundaries. I’d issue a simple scope matrix covering demolition, disposal, wall repairs after trades, temporary protection, testing, permit responsibility, cleaning and reinstatement. If one bid includes those and another excludes them, the apparent price difference tells you very little.
 
Material lead times deserve their own conversation before demolition. Ask the contractor which items must be selected and ordered first, what substitutions require approval, and whether dimensions depend on completed demolition. Kitchens and bathrooms can become sequencing bottlenecks when cabinets, fixtures or flooring arrive in the wrong order.
 
Also split contingency into money and time. The C$402,500 budget may absorb a concealed repair while the programme cannot absorb waiting for access, approval or a replacement item. I’d request a room-by-room sequence showing plumbing shutdowns, electrical isolation, inspections and when each area becomes usable again. Any permit assumptions should be written down and confirmed for Vancouver rather than left implicit.
 
The main scope is clear. The uncertainty is whether bidders have priced access, making good and concealed-condition delays in the same way.

Send each bidder an identical schedule asking for exclusions, allowances, responsibility for repairing opened walls and floors, conditions that would halt work, the change-pricing process and the selections required before mobilisation. Compare those written answers with the targeted moisture and access investigations before fixing the contingency. A tidy total is not safer if the quote leaves those responsibilities unresolved.
 
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