There have been some startling projections of the cost of the congestion charge on London sites.
If the average project lasts 18 months and has 15 deliveries a day then, yes, the charge would be about £30,000. This assumes that every driver makes only one delivery in the congestion zone per day. Clearly that is nonsense. Most deliveries are multiple and with the increased ease of delivery in the zone this is likely to rise. Even assuming an average of two a day, you halve the projected charge to £15,000.

Think of the average cost of a building project in the zone: how infinitely small a percentage of an increase in overall contract sums does this £15,000 represent?

On the other hand, if charges are being passed on by delivery firms in the form of increased costs, there will almost certainly be many people who will charge two, three or four times for the same charge – an easy way to increase profit.

Postscript

Stephen Allaire, via email.