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Published: 16/10/2025
calfordseaden is an award-winning multi-disciplinary consultancy with a reputation to match.
Its portfolio, which covers an impressive range of sectors and services, includes acting as a New Engineering Contract (NEC) Supervisor for the University of Cambridge’s North West Cambridge Development – an extensive, 150-hectare district comprising residential property, student accommodation, and multiple community facilities.
Other feats include the practice’s role as an Employer’s Agent for Hallsville Quarter – a major inner city regeneration scheme in Newham, London – and providing multi-disciplinary services for a Southall, residential-led development comprising apartment buildings up to 22 storeys high.
Its diverse portfolio is one that BCIS has long-played an integral part in.
For example, access to reliable construction costs means calfordseaden’s teams can deliver informed financial planning and ensure projects stay within budget.
Benchmarking tools in the service also enable its projects to be compared against industry standards – an ability that affords competitive pricing and high-quality services.
‘BCIS has streamlined our advice to clients on benchmarked costs and inflation. We regularly cite information from BCIS alongside other sources to give clients well-balanced, construction-specific data.’
~ Adam Reeve, Associate, calfordseaden
Functionality, feedback and fire safety
calfordseaden makes broad use of the BCIS service, from numerous BCIS indices and tender price studies to life cycle costs and the duration calculator.
According to Adam Reeve, an Associate at calfordseaden, the service’s functions are easy to navigate and using BCIS means calfordseaden can always keep a finger on the pulse of the market.
It’s a way of tracking cost movement and ensuring the practice’s surveyors stay up to speed on the challenges that fluctuating construction costs can throw up.
This includes wider issues, such as inflation, global events, and the impact of new building regulations on design criteria, as well as more local challenges including a project’s scope, scale, location, and procurement route.
‘From the period of recent market volatility, we have countless examples of BCIS indices allowing us to stay up to date with the latest cost trends.
‘Access to BCIS means our surveyors can navigate cost challenges and provide our clients with accurate and up-to-date cost information earlier in the project. This information is crucial to the overall success of any scheme.’
Further, BCIS data ensures calfordseaden can provide its clients with reliable feedback on likely cost impacts. This informs mitigation planning to regain project viability.
BCIS also hosts the company’s internal cost database and analyses its tendered projects so that they can be used in benchmarking reports.
And that’s not all. BCIS has even helped the practice address new fire safety regulations for some high-rise buildings (HRBs).
In certain projects, regulations require a secondary staircase to be included in the design which can affect cost-efficiency.
Adam says calfordseaden’s BCIS subscription has enabled them to account for this impact early on in projects, rather than it causing significant disruption further down the line.
A partnership of mutual benefits
The benefits of the company’s relationship with BCIS don’t end there.
calfordseaden is a member of the BCIS Tender Price Index Panel and has regularly provided live cost data to BCIS on its tendered projects alongside first-hand market intelligence on everything from contractor appetite to procurement methods.
In return, the practice can learn about market trends and challenges from other panellists – updates it additionally gleans from BCIS’s quarterly briefings.
As of October 2025, the practice has also shared data on more than 100 projects and counting with BCIS.
It’s a relationship both calfordseaden and BCIS continue to draw great value from. The former through access to credible data and industry insights, and the latter through the time and resource investment of professionals with extensive technical expertise.
‘Being part of the BCIS community fosters collaboration with other professionals, enhancing our knowledge and approach to construction practices. More than that, our connection to BCIS supports our commitment to delivering high-quality, data-driven services that truly benefit our clients.’
