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Delay cost calculator
Approval delays don't announce themselves as a bill — they arrive as interest you're still paying, rent you're still paying, and a house you can't live in yet. Put your numbers in and see the figure.
Fill in the costs on the left to see what a delay is worth.
Estimate only. This is a simple arithmetic tool using the figures you enter — it doesn't account for tax, capitalised interest, escalating build costs, contract variations or liquidated damages, all of which can make a real delay cost more than this. It is not financial advice. Check your own numbers with your accountant or broker.
Reading the number
The figure on the right is the part people don't budget for. It runs whether or not anything is happening on site — which is why an approvals delay is more expensive than it looks.
A condition requiring an acoustic, arborist or geotechnical report, discovered late. The report takes a week. Getting into the consultant's diary takes three.
The construction drawings drifted far enough from the consent that the certifier can't issue. Now there's a separate application with its own assessment period.
The waterproofer finished eighteen months ago and has changed phone numbers. The work is fine. The evidence isn't there.
Put your weekly figure next to what it costs to have the documentation prepared properly the first time. For most Northern Beaches projects the whole package costs less than a handful of weeks of delay — which is the entire argument for doing it once, correctly, up front.
How the maths works
Weekly cost is the sum of your loan interest (balance × rate ÷ 52), your weekly rent or accommodation, your annual rates, insurance and utilities divided by 52, weekly storage, weekly site costs, and any rental income you're not receiving. Multiply by the number of weeks. That's the whole calculation.
Deliberately conservative. It ignores capitalised interest compounding, build cost escalation between quote and start, contract price rises, and any liquidated damages in your building contract. A real delay usually costs more than this figure, not less.
The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your figures aren't transmitted, stored or seen by us — there's no form submission behind it.
Send us your consent. The free assessment tells you which conditions are on your critical path and how long each realistically takes — which is the input this calculator can't guess for you.