Public Art & HealthResearch Repository

Public Art & Health

Whole-life budget calculator

Estimate the cost to acquire, install and care for an artwork over its planned life.

Build a budget from local quotations. Blank amounts count as zero. No benchmark prices, tax, inflation, discount rate or exchange rates are supplied. Include any applicable taxes in your entries.

Entries stay in this browser tab. Save a draft before leaving; there is no automatic storage.

Blank spreadsheet worksheet (CSV) · Budget planning guidance

Project assumptions

Total cost of ownership

One-off costs
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Annual costs × ownership years
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Periodic costs over the period
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Cash subtotal
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Contingency
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Total cash cost
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Non-cash gift valuation (excluded)
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Annual costs apply in every year. Periodic costs occur at each full interval, including an occurrence in the final year. Example: every 3 years over 10 years means 3 occurrences. Contingency applies to the full cash subtotal; gift value is excluded.

Cost lines

Enter a zero when a cost does not apply. Amounts in one-off, annual and periodic columns are added separately; do not repeat the same cost in multiple columns.

Artist fee or purchase price
Design development and site-specific adaptation
Structural and engineering assessment
Foundations, plinth, fixings or suspension
Lighting, including energy and replacement
Landscaping, seating and surfaces
Accessibility measures (routes, viewing positions, tactile or audio information)
Transport, lifting and specialist installation
Site protection, traffic management and out-of-hours work
Planning, building and heritage permissions; professional fees
Legal review of commission, gift or loan agreement; rights and credit
Transit, installation and ongoing cover
Plaque, signage, printed or digital information
Photography with publication permission; records for the collection
Routine cleaning (frequency and method agreed with the artist or a conservator)
Conservation inspection and condition reports
Repairs, refinishing or replacement of parts
Anti-theft fixings, monitoring and response
Reserve for relocation during building works, or decommissioning
Evaluation design, data collection, analysis and publication

Budget worksheet: cost lines

Use local quotations. Record a donated work’s valuation separately from expenditure.

CategoryCost line
ArtworkArtist fee or purchase price (cash)
ArtworkValuation of a donated work (non-cash; record separately, not an expenditure)
ArtworkDesign development and site-specific adaptation
SiteStructural and engineering assessment
SiteFoundations, plinth, fixings or suspension
SiteLighting, including energy and replacement
SiteLandscaping, seating and surfaces
SiteAccessibility measures (routes, viewing positions, tactile or audio information)
InstallationTransport, lifting and specialist installation
InstallationSite protection, traffic management and out-of-hours work
ApprovalsPlanning, building and heritage permissions; professional fees
AgreementsLegal review of commission, gift or loan agreement; rights and credit
InsuranceTransit, installation and ongoing cover
InterpretationPlaque, signage, printed or digital information
DocumentationPhotography with publication permission; records for the collection
CareRoutine cleaning (frequency and method agreed with the artist or a conservator)
CareConservation inspection and condition reports
CareRepairs, refinishing or replacement of parts
SecurityAnti-theft fixings, monitoring and response
FutureReserve for relocation during building works, or decommissioning
EvaluationEvaluation design, data collection, analysis and publication
ContingencyContingency for unforeseen site conditions