What Is a Contingency? A contingency is a potential occurrence of a negative event in the future, such as an economic recession, natural disaster, fraudulent activity, terrorist attack, or a pandemic.
It provides a safety net for unexpected expenses and ensures the project stays on track, both in terms of budget and timeline. The recommended percentage for a contingency fund is between 5-10% of the total budget, but this may vary depending on project complexity and past experiences.
A contingency can cover a range of unexpected costs during a construction project. Some examples are unforeseen site conditions, changes in project scope, unplanned repairs, delays in timeline and regulation changes such as building codes or zoning requirements.
Project contingency is simply the process by which you account for uncertainty in that estimation by factoring in any risk. This is then added to the original estimate to ensure the company is prepped for a worst-case scenario that could otherwise derail a project.
This contingency is normally calculated as a percentage. If the phase is 100 days of effort, contingency at 20% would be another 20 days. As the project progresses, the level of risk reduces as the requirements and issues become known, so the percentage will be reduced.
The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice clarifies a contingency allowance as the amount, or percentage, included in the project budget to cover unpredictable changes in the work or items of work. It serves three core purposes: To account for errors and omissions in the construction documents.
Home builders and remodelers usually allocate between 5% and 10% of a project budget for a construction contingency. This amount creates enough breathing room for unexpected costs. Anyone tracking estimates and costs manually will calculate a contingency percentage on top of all costs before profit margins are applied.