One lump-sum number with contingency, contractor protection, and harder-to-read margin already blended inside.
Proof Page
Traditional Fixed Price vs VBCD
A simple side-by-side example showing where the extra money can appear in a traditional contract, and why VBCD can leave more of that money with the owner.
Case baseline
The same project, priced two different ways.
This example uses the same residential scope under two delivery models: a 1970s house in Nanaimo with a full main-floor renovation and an approximately 800 square-foot second-storey addition. The owner's starting expectation is around $480,000, and the important point is that the physical work is the same in both examples.
The difference is not in what is being built. The difference is in how risk, markup, contingency, and savings are handled inside the pricing structure.
The cost of work and fixed management fee remain easier for the client to separate and understand.
An illustrative difference the owner can identify more clearly when the pricing structure is open instead of protected.
Delivery-model comparison
This is the same physical project in both scenarios. What changes is whether contingency, markup, and upside stay buried inside one protected number or remain visible enough for the client to follow.
| Line item | Traditional fixed price | VBCD |
|---|---|---|
| Initial framework | One lump-sum price that already includes contingency, overhead, and profit protection for the contractor. | Open-book cost of work plus a clearly stated fixed management fee. |
| Structural reinforcement | $28,000 because the contractor prices risk and markup into the allowance. | $23,500 based on the actual trade cost presented openly. |
| Foundation / load path | $18,000 with contingency and margin built into the number. | $15,500 at actual cost without hidden lump-sum padding. |
| Electrical upgrade | $16,100 with markup and risk protection added in advance. | $14,000 based on the real quoted cost of the work. |
| If a trade comes in lower than expected | The owner may never clearly see that saving because it stays buried inside the fixed contract amount. | The lower trade cost is visible, so the owner can keep the benefit or redirect it elsewhere in the project. |
| Shared incentive / owner upside | There is usually no clear shared incentive because the savings are already absorbed into the lump-sum structure. | The structure makes it easier to define how savings are shared or returned, because the owner can see the target basis and the real cost basis. |
| Final total paid | $540,400 after hidden contingency, contractor margin, and marked-up change pricing have accumulated. | $470,500 cost of work plus fixed-fee management, producing a materially lower owner total in this scenario. |
Where the difference in profit and cost really comes from
The main difference is not that VisionBuild removes profit from the job. The difference is where the profit sits, how visible it is, and who benefits if the job performs better than expected. In a traditional fixed-price contract, profit is often blended together with contingency, overhead, and risk pricing inside one total number. If some of that risk never happens, the owner may never see that money again because it was already absorbed into the contract amount.
Under VBCD, VisionBuild's earnings are clearer: the management fee is stated openly, while the trade and supplier costs are shown more directly. That means the client can understand the commercial structure much more easily. If trades come in lower, scope gets refined, or risk does not fully materialize, there is a more credible path for that upside to stay with the client or be shared by agreement instead of silently becoming extra hidden margin.
Client takeaway
If a project has hidden conditions, changing scope, or important decisions that still need to be made, VBCD gives the owner a clearer way to move forward. Instead of paying for uncertainty through a heavily protected lump-sum price, the owner pays for the real work and a defined management service.
That does not mean every VBCD project will always be cheaper than every fixed-price project. It means the owner can understand the money better, see where costs are rising or falling, and avoid paying unnecessary profit on risk that never actually materializes.