The verdict in three sentences
For an engineering firm handling 1,800 energy and compliance assessments a year, a custom client portal costs between £40,000 and £80,000 in London in 2026, driven mainly by local day rates of £700 to £900. Ongoing application support adds £700 to £1,400 a month, UK hosting included. The payback comes from the 9 hours of status-chasing calls avoided every week and from incomplete submissions caught at upload, which cuts roughly a week from the production cycle.
What an engineering client portal includes in 2026
Developers, housebuilders and architects want three things: upload their documents in the right place, see project status without calling, and download the compliance certificate at planning and at completion without asking by email. The portal is built around these three uses, then grows with volume.
| Module | Purpose | Indicative 2026 cost (£) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client area and multi-user accounts | Developer, architect and site manager on one project | 6,500 to 11,000 | 2 weeks |
| Drawing and document upload | PDF/DWG/IFC upload, mandatory document checklist, completeness check | 8,000 to 15,000 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Milestone tracking | Received, modelling, review, issued, automatic email notifications | 6,500 to 13,000 | 2 weeks |
| Certificates and deliverables | Download of compliance certificates, calculation notes, version history | 5,000 to 9,000 | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Per-project messaging | Traceable technical questions, no more scattered email threads | 5,000 to 9,000 | 1 to 2 weeks |
| ERP or practice management connector | Sync of jobs, quotes and invoices | 6,500 to 15,000 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Internal dashboard | Workload per engineer, delays, blocked projects | 3,000 to 8,000 | 1 week |
A core scope (client area, upload, milestones, certificates) lands around £40,000 and ships in 10 to 12 weeks. The full version with messaging, connector and dashboard approaches £80,000 over 14 to 16 weeks.
Custom build, generic extranet or plain file sharing
Many firms start with a shared folder or a generic extranet. These tools help, but they do not know what a compliance milestone or a missing document is.
| Criterion | File sharing (Drive, SharePoint) | Generic SaaS extranet | Custom portal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | £0 to £1,500 | £2,000 to £5,000 setup | £40,000 to £80,000 |
| Recurring cost | £8 to £22 per user per month | £300 to £1,000 per month | £700 to £1,400 support per month |
| 5-year cost (estimate) | £8,000 to £16,000 | £20,000 to £65,000 | £82,000 to £164,000 |
| Milestone tracking per project | No | Partial, manual | Yes, automatic |
| Document completeness check | No | No | Yes |
| Multi-project client access | Fragile | Yes | Yes, role-based |
| Data ownership and exit | Good | Contract-dependent | Full, code and database handed over |
Custom costs more over five years than file sharing, but it is the only option that truly removes status calls, because the developer sees the exact state of the project.
The payback calculation
The direct gain is engineer and administrator time freed up. With 9 hours a week of calls avoided over 46 working weeks, the firm recovers 414 hours a year. At a loaded cost of £60 an hour in London, that is about £24,800 a year. Incomplete submissions add more: if 20% of 1,800 assessments arrive missing a key document and each costs 1.5 hours of chasing, the upload check saves another 540 hours a year.
| Item | Before portal | After portal | Estimated annual gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status-chasing calls | 9 h per week | 1 h per week | 368 h, about £22,100 |
| Chasing missing documents | 540 h per year | 110 h per year | 430 h, about £25,800 |
| Manual certificate sending | 1,800 sends | No manual sends | 150 h, about £9,000 |
| Average production time | 15 working days | 10 working days | 15 to 20% more capacity |
| Total time freed | About 950 h per year |
Mini case study
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James, director of a 14-person MEP and energy consultancy in London, produces 1,800 assessments a year for about forty developers. He selects a portal at £58,000 with checked uploads, milestones, certificates and a practice management connector, plus £1,000 a month of support. First-year cost: 58,000 + 12,000 = £70,000. Taking a prudent half of the estimated gain, 475 hours at £60, he recovers £28,500 a year, and the freed time absorbs a 15% volume increase without hiring. Net of support, the gain is £16,500 a year, so break-even comes around month 42 in this prudent case, or around month 16 if the full 950 hours materialise. For comparison, the same scope built by a nearshore team in Lyon would cost €25,000 to €40,000.
FAQ
How long does it take to launch an engineering client portal?
Allow 10 to 12 weeks for a core scope around £40,000 and 14 to 16 weeks for a full version near £80,000. A 3-week pilot with 3 to 5 developers before general launch avoids most late changes.
Can the portal pick up certificates from the energy modelling software?
Yes, in practice generated PDFs are dropped automatically into a watched folder or via an export, which adds £3,000 to £6,000. Direct API integration depends on the software vendor and is confirmed during scoping.
Where are drawings and client data hosted?
We recommend UK or EU hosting at £80 to £250 a month depending on storage volume. The contract covers UK GDPR compliance, daily backups and data return at the end of the engagement.
What does £700 to £1,400 a month of support cover?
Security updates, monitoring, bug fixes and a bundle of 3 to 8 hours of enhancements per month. Larger new features are quoted separately, at London day rates of £700 to £900.
Will developers actually use the portal?
Adoption usually exceeds 80% within 3 months if certificates are only available on the portal and login uses a magic link with no password. An automatic email at each milestone removes most of the calls.
Let's scope your project. Send us your assessment volume, current tools and key milestones, and we will price a core portal with a 10 to 16 week plan, in London rates or with a nearshore team. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
