How does open-book, cost-plus pricing work?

Open-book, cost-plus pricing means you pay the actual cost of materials, labour, and subcontractors, plus a clearly defined management fee — and you see every invoice along the way. There are no hidden markups and no padded allowances.

It keeps our interests aligned with yours. We have no incentive to cut corners, because we do not profit from the difference between what a trade charges and what you are billed. If a supplier price drops, the saving is yours.

The alternative, a fixed-price contract, hides the same costs behind a single number. That number has to include a contingency for everything that might go wrong, and if nothing goes wrong, the contingency stays with the builder.