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Provisional Sums, Prime Costs and Contingency

Three tools for handling the parts of a job where the scope or price isn't fully nailed down yet — without baking guesswork into your fixed prices. Use them when you need to give your client a real number to work with but you can't be 100% certain about the cost yet.

When to use each

  • Provisional Sum (PS) — for work whose scope you can't fully pin down at quoting. Things like asbestos removal where you can't tell how much is in there, site cuts on uneven ground, sewer connections, or piering on unknown soil. Reconciled against actual cost when the work is done.
  • Prime Cost (PC) — for a product the client hasn't picked yet. Tapware, appliances, tiles, light fittings, vanities. You allow a budget; the actual product cost gets reconciled when they choose.
  • Contingency — a buffer for everything else that might come up. Adds a percentage on top of the whole job for unforeseen issues. Can be built into your prices invisibly or shown to the client as a recommended reserve.

You can use all three on the same estimate. They cover different risks.

Marking a Line as a Provisional Sum

  1. In the estimate editor, hover over the line you want to mark
  2. A dashed + Allowance chip appears at the end of the line's qty/rate row
  3. Tap it — the Line type sheet opens
  4. Select Provisional Sum
  5. Fill in the Scope description (what the allowance covers — e.g. "Asbestos removal in laundry ceiling — reconciled against actual cost at completion")
  6. Optionally adjust the Disclosed margin (the % shown to your client on the proposal — see below)
  7. Tap Save

The line now shows a small dashed PS chip next to its category. The dollar amount stays the same; what changes is how it's presented to the client and how it gets reconciled.

Marking a Line as a Prime Cost Item

  1. Hover over the line in the estimate editor
  2. Tap the dashed + Allowance chip
  3. Select Prime Cost Item
  4. Fill in the Product specification (e.g. "Chrome single-lever mixer — client to select")
  5. Optionally adjust the Disclosed margin
  6. Tap Save

The line gets a PC chip and behaves the same way as a PS — extracted from the body of the proposal into a separate allowance section.

Tip: Don't roll labour for installing a PC item into the PC line itself. Keep the PC for the product cost only (e.g. "$400 allowance for kitchen mixer") and add a separate fixed labour line for installation ("Install kitchen mixer — 1 hr labour"). That way labour is committed and only the product is the allowance.

The Disclosed PS/PC Margin

When you reconcile a PS or PC item at the end of the job, you charge your client the actual cost plus a disclosed margin. That margin is set per estimate (and inherited from a default you set on your profile).

To set your default disclosed margin across all new estimates:

  1. Go to Settings → AI → Basic trade
  2. Scroll to Default disclosed PS/PC margin
  3. Enter your percentage (e.g. 20)
  4. Tap Save

To change it for a single estimate:

  1. Open the estimate editor
  2. Open the Financials panel
  3. Under Markups, find the PS / PC Disclosed margin row (only appears when your estimate has at least one PS or PC line)
  4. Drag the slider or type the percentage

To override it for a single line item, set the Disclosed margin field inside that line's Line type sheet.

If you don't set anything, Sammy uses 20% as the default.

Setting a Contingency

Contingency is estimate-level — it applies to the whole job, not to individual lines.

  1. Open the Financials panel in the estimate editor
  2. Expand the Contingency section
  3. Choose a mode:
  4. None — no contingency applied
  5. Internal — the percentage uplifts every line price proportionally; your client sees slightly higher rates but never sees the word "contingency"
  6. Advisory — your line prices stay exactly the same; the proposal shows a "Recommended Reserve" section telling the client to hold the percentage as their own buffer
  7. If you picked Internal or Advisory, enter the percentage (typically 5–15% for renovations)
  8. Optionally add a custom note (Advisory only)

Internal vs Advisory — which to pick?

Pick Internal if you want to protect your own margin without showing the contingency to the client. They see line prices that are slightly higher than they otherwise would be, and you keep the buffer. The bottom-line total ties out cleanly even if per-line rates are visible on your proposal.

Pick Advisory if you want to be transparent with the client. Your line prices stay as quoted; the proposal includes a separate "Recommended Reserve" section explaining that they should hold X% in case of variations. Common on commercial tenders and projects where the client expects to manage their own contingency.

Pick None if you don't want a contingency on this job at all (or if you'd rather add a visible "Contingency" line in your estimate manually — just use a normal line item for that).

What Your Client Sees

When you send the proposal:

  • PS and PC items are pulled out of the main body of the estimate and shown in a separate Schedule of Allowances section near the end. Each allowance shows the description, the scope (PS) or product spec (PC), the dollar amount, and the disclosed margin.
  • Internal contingency is invisible to the client — they just see slightly higher per-line rates. Lines sum to the bottom-line total exactly.
  • Advisory contingency appears as a Recommended Reserve section on the proposal: "We recommend setting aside an additional X% ($Y) contingency reserve for this project."

On the takeoff (your internal view), PS and PC lines stay where you put them with small PS or PC chips next to the description. Contingency shows up as a transparency line in the totals block so you can see the dollar uplift.

Using Sammy

You can do all of the above by asking Sammy in the chat panel. Sammy understands the difference between PS, PC and contingency, and will pick the right tool based on your wording.

Add a Provisional Sum:

  • "Add a $5,000 allowance for asbestos removal in the laundry — we don't know the exact scope yet"
  • "Add a PS for $8,000 for site preparation — soil conditions unknown"
  • "Throw in an allowance for tree removal, $3,000"

Add a Prime Cost item:

  • "Leave $400 for the kitchen mixer — client choosing"
  • "PC item: $2,200 for the cooktop"
  • "Allow $1,500 for tiles, client to select"

Convert an existing line:

  • "Make the asbestos removal line a PS"
  • "Turn the cooktop into a PC item"

Set contingency:

  • "Add a 6% buffer to the whole estimate" (Sammy applies Internal — "buffer" signals you want it hidden in line prices)
  • "Recommend the client holds 10% in reserve" (Sammy applies Advisory)
  • "Remove the contingency"

If you just say "add a 6% contingency" without specifying internal vs advisory, Sammy will pause and ask which one you want, with a quick explanation of the difference.

Change the disclosed margin:

  • "Set the PS margin to 18%"
  • "Change the disclosed margin to 22%"

What Sammy won't do via chat:

  • Per-item disclosed-margin overrides — open the line's Line type sheet and set it there. Not common enough to warrant a chat tool.
  • Reverting a PS or PC back to a fixed line — open the line's Line type sheet and switch back to Fixed. Quicker than a chat round-trip.
  • Convert a locked line — Sammy never modifies locked items. Unlock the line first, then convert.

Tips

  • PS and PC are about contractual commitment, not about cost type — a PS can be labour-heavy (asbestos removal), materials-heavy (an unknown earthworks volume), or a mix. The PS/PC chip lives alongside your normal Materials/Labour/Other type chip — both designations apply at once.
  • Internal contingency is the safer default for residential work — most homeowners aren't sophisticated about contingency. Building it into your line prices avoids the awkward conversation where they ask why your estimate is "10% higher than the quote".
  • Advisory contingency is more common in commercial — commercial clients (builders, project managers, body corporates) often expect to manage their own contingency. Advisory lets them see your real prices and add their own buffer.
  • Disclosed margins are typically 15–25% for residential — go higher (e.g. 25–30%) for jobs with complex logistics or supplier risk.
  • The Schedule of Allowances is a legal disclosure — in NSW, VIC and QLD, residential contracts require PS and PC items to be itemised separately with their allowances and margins disclosed. Sammy does this automatically.

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