Formula
Soft costs ≈ 12–18% of construction cost
WhereIndicative range for Australian residential apartment projects. Build line by line for a real feasibility.
Why it matters
Soft costs are routinely understated in early feasibilities. They sit between hard cost (construction) and finance cost, and they have the same first-order impact on profit on cost.
Worked example
For the Waterloo scheme with $12.18M of construction cost:
- Professional fees (architect, engineers, planners): $974,000
- Statutory contributions and authority fees: $1,150,000
- Marketing and selling: $580,000
- Legals, valuations, surveys: $180,000
Soft costs ≈ $2,884,000, or 23.7% of construction.
Related terms
Connected ideas in the glossary.
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