Professional desktop and on-site rebuild cost assessments for houses, blocks of flats, commercial premises, listed buildings and property portfolios. Our assessments are prepared by RICS-qualified surveyors using current BCIS cost data and property-specific evidence, helping you establish an appropriate reinstatement value for buildings insurance.
Rebuild Costs is a family-run surveying practice led by Gill Winfield. We specialise in reinstatement cost assessments for buildings insurance, working with homeowners, commercial property owners, managing agents, insurance brokers and insurers throughout the UK.
Our assessments consider the property’s size, construction, specification, location and site constraints, together with demolition, debris removal, professional fees and other relevant rebuilding costs. Each instruction is assessed individually to determine whether a desktop assessment or on-site inspection is appropriate.
A rebuild cost assessment, also known as a reinstatement cost assessment, provides a professional opinion of the likely cost of reconstructing a building following a total insured loss.
The assessment is separate from the property’s market value. It considers the cost of rebuilding the structure, together with appropriate allowances for demolition, debris removal, professional fees, statutory requirements, site constraints and other property-specific factors.
The resulting figures can help the property owner and their insurance adviser establish an appropriate declared value and building sum insured. The precise figure required for the insurance policy should always be confirmed with the insurer or broker.
Depending on the property and agreed scope, the assessment may consider:
The report will identify the information relied upon, material assumptions, limitations and the assessment date.
Our reinstatement cost assessments are prepared by RICS-qualified surveyors with reference to the RICS professional standard, Reinstatement Cost Assessment of Buildings.
Current BCIS cost information is used where appropriate, together with professional judgement and property-specific adjustments. BCIS data is a starting point rather than a substitute for considering the individual building and the circumstances of the instruction.
Reinstatement cost assessments are not normally Red Book market valuations. However, RICS members remain subject to the RICS Rules of Conduct and relevant professional requirements.
Assessments for standard houses, period properties, high-value homes, listed buildings, non-standard construction and properties that have been extended or substantially altered.
Reinstatement cost assessments for purpose-built apartment blocks, converted buildings, mixed-use developments and managed residential portfolios.
Assessments for offices, shops, industrial units, warehouses, hospitality premises, mixed-use buildings and other commercial property.
Individual and portfolio assessments for managing agents, freeholders, residents’ management companies and right-to-manage companies.
A desktop assessment is completed without visiting the property. It uses information supplied by the client together with available plans, photographs, mapping, aerial imagery and other appropriate sources.
Desktop assessments may be suitable where the building’s size, construction, specification and site characteristics can be established with sufficient reliability. The report will clearly identify the information relied upon, assumptions and limitations.
An on-site assessment includes a physical inspection by a suitably qualified surveyor. It may be more appropriate for listed, historic, unusual, extensively altered, high-value or complex buildings, and where reliable property information is unavailable.
The inspection is undertaken to obtain information required for the reinstatement cost assessment. It is not a building survey, structural survey or assessment of defects unless separately agreed.
The declared value should normally be adjusted annually in accordance with the insurance policy’s index-linking provisions. A full reassessment should generally be undertaken at least every three years, or sooner following:
Property owners should discuss indexation, the declared value and the required building sum insured with their insurance broker or insurer.