Pre-Construction Consultation Process Frequently Asked Questions

  • You may have heard some builders, designers, and the ‘Undercover Architect’ Amelia Lee speak about the PAC (Paid-As-Consultant) Process and we’re really pleased to be officially ‘PAC Process Trained’ with Live Life Build.

    We think it’s a great model that prioritises collaboration between client, builder and designer right from the outset - which leads to a more efficient design/estimating process with fewer surprises and better project outcomes!

    Rather than describing our process as a ‘PAC Process’ (which can be a little confusing if you haven’t come across the term before), we prefer ‘Pre-Construction Consultation Process’. But essentially, they’re the same thing.

    Put simply, as part of this process, you (the client) pay us (35 South) a fee to provide consultation services during the design phase. It’s a stand alone agreement for the pre-construction phase only and is separate from any construction contract. It’s also separate from your agreement with a designer/architect.

    You can read a bit more about how this collaborative process works on our website here.

  • Our main role is to provide advice on costs and buildability to support your decision-making during design.

    You can find an example of our Pre-Construction Consultation Agreement which lists all the inclusions/exclusions here.

    Note that this Agreement can be tailored to each project depending on project type (reno / new build), scale, complexity, and how progressed your design is.

  • Typically the cost for Pre-Construction Consultation is between $5,000 - $10,000 ex GST. Once we’ve gathered a little more information from you during our initial conversation we can provide a price specific to your project.

  • We’re open to working with any architect or designer that’s open to pre-construction collaboration, but the following are ones that we feel share our 35 South values. All have different styles and fee structures so we recommend reaching out to a few to see who might be the best fit for your project.