Editors SPON'S 2010

Davis Langdon LLP

MidCity Place
71 High Holborn
PRICE BOOKS
London WC1V 6QS
Tel: 0207 061 7000
UPDATE
Fax: 0207 061 7061
e-mail: spons@davislangdon.com
www.davislangdon.com
NR. 1
Publishers
Taylor & Francis
2 Park Square
Milton Park, Abingdon
Oxon OX14 4RN
Tel: 0207 017 6001
Fax: 0207 017 6699
www.pricebooks.co.uk

INCORPORATING CHANGES UP TO 31st NOVEMBER 2009

This Update covers the Architects' and Builders' Price Book, the Civil Engineering and Highway Works
Price Book, the External Works and Landscape Price Book and the Mechanical and Electrical
Services Price Book. Details of changes in material prices, wage rates etc. are given and the various
indices and adjustment factors presented in the books are brought up to date.
Each of the Price Books is dealt with separately in its own section of the Update. Information on
changes to the Architects' and Builders' Price Book appears on pages 5 and 6, the Civil Engineering
and Highway Works Price Book on page 7, the External Works and Landscape Price Book on pages 8
and 9, and the Mechanical and Electrical Services Price Book on page 10.
Corrections are headed 'Erratum' and boxed to distinguish them from updated information.
Spon's 2011 Price Books are planned to be published in August 2010.
Unless otherwise stated, wages and prices within the four books are still current.
The Construction Climate
Despite signs of the recession abating in some quarters, 2010 will remain tough for the building
industry, particularly with public sector work likely to shrink.
The downward trend of building prices accelerated in the third quarter of 2009. Average prices
received for work between July and September was 15% lower than the year before and 16% below
the peak in the second quarter of last year.
Allowances for preliminaries continue to fall as contractors’ staff numbers are trimmed and salaries
cut.
Corrections seen on some projects have been severe, and in cases substantially below those reported
in editions of Spons 2010 price books. The Architects’ and Builders’ Price Book 2010 has a tender
price index of 509. We are currently forecasting a tender price index of 460 for the third quarter of
2009 – an inferred fall of over 8%.

Indices
DAVIS LANGDON INDEX SERIES

900
Tender Price Index
Tender Price Index - Maximum Forecast
Tender Price Index - Minimum Forecast
800
Building Cost Index
Retail Prices Index

700
Index (1976 = 100)

600

500

400

300
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

The decline in tender prices accelerated in the third quarter of 2009 with a 5% drop over the second
quarter, leaving prices 15% lower than a year ago.
The decline in the Building Cost Index halted in the third quarter and even recorded a tiny (0.1%) rise.
However, over the year, the index dropped 1.3%, the first year-on-year decline ever recorded.
Although materials prices have fallen over this period, the major influence has been the freeze in
labour rates, only the second time in 40 years that this has happened.

Labour
Building and civil engineering operatives expected a wage increase at the end of June, but pay levels
have been frozen. There was hope of resuming negotiations in the autumn, but there seems little
likelihood of any increase in rates this year. Asphalt workers’ wage rates were also frozen in June. In
Northern Ireland, a 6% pay rise that was to have come into effect in August has been postponed until
January 2010. Meanwhile heating and ventilating operatives will have to wait until October 2010, when
their rates will rise 2%. Plumbers’ rates rose 5% in January 2009 and will not increase in 2010, while

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 2

rates in 2011 will be limited to changes in the Retail Prices Index. Engineering construction workers
may be more fortunate: employers and unions agreed a 2% wage increase from 1 January 2010 but
employees rejected the offer in a ballot and the deal is now in limbo.

Materials
Figures from the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) show that materials prices rose in
July and August after eight continuous months of decline. Prices fell by more than 5% between
October 2008 and June 2009 before recovering by 1% over the following two months. The recovery
has been led by the cost of imported materials, which rose by 2.5% between July and September as
the value of the pound began to slip again.
Since the book material prices were collated in May 2009 the following changes to key materials have
been identified:
Percentage change
May 2009 – September 2009
Imported softwood 19.7%
Sawn softwood 2.3%
Paints, non-water based 0.4%
Paints, water based 0.1%
Pre-cast concrete products -0.2%
Clay bricks -0.4%
Ready-mixed concrete -0.5%
Windows & Doors: Softwood -0.7%
Plastic pipes – flexible -1.1%
Plastic pipes – rigid -1.2%
Concrete reinforcing bars -1.5%
Cement -3.1%
Sand and gravel -7.7%
Fabricated structural steelwork -12.4%

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 3

National Wage Awards between editions
Below we include a schedule indicating current wage awards and when the next reviews are expected.

Agreements Next review Notes

(in books)

1. Building and Civil Engineering Industry June 2010 Wages frozen in June 2009
wages
(Spon’s A&B 2010 pp 161-162,
825-826)
(Spon’s CE 2009 pp 33-38)
(Spon’s Landscape 2008 p 383)

2. BATJIC wages June 2010 Wages frozen in June 2009

(Spon’s A&B 2010 p 826)

3. The Joint Industry Board for Plumbing January 2010 Basic rates rose by 4.5% in
Mechanical Engineering Services in January 2009
England and Wales
(Spon’s A&B 2010 pp 163, 827)

4. Scottish and Northern Ireland Joint June 2010 Basic rates rose by 4.6% in
Industry Board for the Plumbing Industry June 2009
(Spon’s A&B 2010 p 828)

5. Agricultural Wages Order 2009 October 2009 Grade 1 pay rate increased
(Spon’s Landscape 2010 pp 453-456) by 1.2%
Grade 2–6 pay rates
increased by 2.2%

6. The Joint Conciliation Committee of the October 2010

Heating, Ventilating and Domestic
Engineering
(Spon’s M&E 2010 pp 131-134, 612-
618)

7. The Joint Industry Board for the January 2011 Basic rates rose by 5.0%
Electrical Contracting Industry
(Spon’s M&E 2010 pp 488-489, 619-
623)

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 4

SPON’S ARCHITECTS’ AND BUILDERS’ PRICE BOOK 2010
Costs and Tender Prices Indices

Building Costs Indices

p 59
The table of building cost indices may be updated as follows:
First Second Third Fourth Annual
Year
quarter quarter quarter quarter average
2009 773 770 771 (P) 772 (F) 771
2010 773 774 787 788 781
2011 789 791 806 807 798
2012 809 811 828 829 819

P = Provisional; F = Forecast thereafter

Tender Prices Indices

p 60
The table of tender price indices may be updated as follows:
First Second Third Fourth Annual
Year
quarter quarter quarter quarter average
2009 500 485 460 (P) 451 (F) 474
2010 443 436 430 425 473
2011 427 429 432 434 431
2012 437 440 443 445 441

P = Provisional; F = Forecast thereafter

Please ensure that you apply these indices correctly. A worked example can be found on page 62 of
the Architects’ and Builders’ Price Book.

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 5

Regional Variations
p 62
The table below indicates how building prices vary around the country. The figures are averages and,
inevitably, not all trades or items of work will vary exactly in line with the differences shown. The
principal driving force behind the variations is differing labour rates between the regions.
The table indicates our provisional third quarter 2009 tender price index for each region, based upon
an outer London forecast figure of 460, and the percentage adjustments advised to the Major Works
measured rates section of Spon’s Architects’ and Builders’ Price Book 2010, with an index of 509
(1976 = 100).
Region Forecast third quarter % adjustment to Spon’s
2009 Major Works section
Tender Index = 460* Tender Index = 509
Outer London 460 -9.6%
Inner London 501 -1.5%
East Anglia 373 -26.8%
East Midlands 359 -29.5%
Northern 368 -27.7%
Northern Ireland 253 -50.3%
North West 359 -29.5%
Scotland 409 -19.6%
South East 423 -16.9%
South West 391 -23.2%
Wales 382 -25.0%
West Midlands 363 -28.6%
York/Humberside 363 -28.6%

* Mid-point of forecast range from the Davis Langdon Tender Price Forecast published October 2009.
The figures represent broad averages for the regions. Differences will occur within regions and further
adjustments will be needed for city centre or very isolated locations.
Erratum
The Landfill Tax
p 33
Calculation for inactive waste should read:
Spon’s A & B 2010 net rate £12.69 per m3 (not £17.96)
Tax, 2 t per m3 (un-bulked) @ £ 5.00 per m3
Spon’s rate including tax £17.96 per m3 (not £22.96)

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 6

SPON’S CIVIL ENGINEERING AND HIGHWAY WORKS
PRICE BOOK 2010

Cost Indices
Price Adjustment Formulae Indices
pp 538 to 543
The table of Price Adjustment Formulae Indices on p 539 may be supplemented as follows:
Index nr 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11a
2009 Q1 1869 1239 1785 2181 1688 2240 4381 4630 1183 663
Q2 1867 1250 1853 2178 1719 2379 4430 4494 1150 580
Q3 (P) 1867 1250 1902 2161 1690 2368 4540 4796 1164 573

P = Provisional
Note: The figures published relate to the third month of each quarter.
A Constructed Cost Index based on the Price Adjustment Formulae Indices
p 540
The table of the Constructed Civil Engineering Cost Index may be supplemented as follows:
Year First Second Third
quarter quarter quarter
2009 2099 2129 2169 (P)

P = Provisional

Prices for Measured Works

Materials Prices
Reference should be made to the material prices changes notified on page 3 of this Update.

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 7

SPON’S EXTERNAL WORKS AND LANDSCAPE PRICE
BOOK 2010

Cost Indices
The Constructed Landscaping Cost Index
p 19
The Constructed Landscaping (Hard Surfacing and Planting) Cost Index may be updated as follows:
Year First Second Third
quarter quarter quarter
2009 789 792 796 (P)

P = Provisional
Regional Variations
p 20
The table may be updated as follows:
Region Adjustment factor
Outer London 1.00
Inner London 1.06
East Anglia 0.87
East Midlands 0.84
Northern 0.86
Northern Ireland 0.68
North West 0.84
Scotland 0.92
South East 0.95
South West 0.90
Wales 0.88
West Midlands 0.86
Yorkshire and Humberside 0.85

Prices for Measured Works

Materials Prices
Reference should be made to the material prices changes notified on page 3 of this Update.
Rates of Wages
p 453
Minimum wage rates for agricultural workers in England and Wales came into force on 1 October
2009, at the same time as the 2009 National Minimum Wage rates.
The changes by the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales in July are as follows:
• an increase in the Grade 1 (Initial Grade) pay rate for workers over compulsory school age of
1.2%, from £5.74 to £5.81 per hour (£0.01 more than the new NMW)
• increases in the rates for Grades 2 to 6 of 2.2%, lifting, for example, the Grade 2 Standard
Worker rate from £6.26 to £6.40 per hour

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 8

 • an increase in the daily Accommodation Offset rate from £4.46 to £4.51 (to match the new
NMW increase)

The wages table on p 454 may be adjusted as follows:

Minimum rates of pay for Grades 1-6 Weekly Pay Hourly Pay Overtime Pay
£/week £/hour £/hour
Grade 1 of compulsory school age - 2.91 4.37
Grade 1 above compulsory school age 226.59 5.81 8.72
Grade 2 249.60 6.40 9.60
Grade 3 274.56 7.04 10.56
Grade 4 294.45 7.55 11.33
Grade 5 312.00 8.00 12.00
Grade 6 336.96 8.64 12.96

Full details are set out in the Agricultural Wages Order 2009.

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 9

SPON’S MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL SERVICES PRICE
BOOK 2010
Cost Indices
p 70
The tables of cost indices for Mechanical Services and Electrical Services should be revised as
follows:
Mechanical Installations
Year First Second Third Fourth
quarter quarter quarter quarter
2009 581 578 577 (P) 577 (F)
2010 578 579 580 589

Electrical Installations
Year First Second Third Fourth
quarter quarter quarter quarter
2009 720 721 723 (P) 735 (F)
2010 755 756 756 767

P = Provisional; F = Forecast thereafter

Regional Variations
p 71
The table may be updated as follows:
Region Adjustment factor
Outer London 1.00
Inner London 1.06
East Anglia 0.87
East Midlands 0.84
Northern 0.86
Northern Ireland 0.68
North West 0.84
Scotland 0.92
South East 0.95
South West 0.90
Wales 0.88
West Midlands 0.86
Yorkshire and Humberside 0.85

Prices for Measured Works

Materials Prices
Reference should be made to the material prices changes notified on page 3 of this Update.

Spon’s 2010 Price Books Update: Nr. 1 page 10