The estimate
Build the construction estimate from a cost per SF, line items by trade, or both, with the region factor and a contingency.
The Estimate tab works out what the building costs to build. Design-build, the pro forma and any Fees estimate linked to it all use its numbers.
The four numbers at the top are the Low, Mid and High estimates, each with its cost per SF, and the Owner's budget with how far the mid is over or under it.
Estimate from #
The Estimate from card picks what the estimate adds up:
- SF tiers: a cost per SF for each kind of space.
- Line items: one line per item or trade.
- SF tiers + line items: both, with the lines as adds.
Apply the region factor to the $/SF tiers multiplies the tier costs by the project's region factor. The card's corner shows the factor in use.
Contingency #
Contingency is a percent added on top of the subtotal, for what you can't price yet. The table under it shows the Subtotal, the Contingency and the Estimate at low, mid and high. Everything else uses the estimate, contingency included.
Region factor #
The factor comes from the Region in the left column, or from Your own factor if you type one. It's a rough relative index of building costs by location, from a public government source; open Where the region factors come from in the left column for the source and its limits. If you know the local market better, type your own.
Cost per SF tiers #
One row each for Conditioned, Unconditioned and Exterior built spaces. The areas come from the left column. Type a low, mid and high cost per SF for each; the row shows the low, mid and high totals.
The starting tier costs are placeholders, not market data. Set them from your own work.
Line items #
Click + Line item for each item or trade you want to price on its own. Each line has a Location, Label, Description, Unit (SF, LF, CY, lb, Unit or Lump sum), Qty, and a low and high cost per unit. The row shows its low and high totals and its share of the total. Move a line up or down with the arrows.
For a budget by trade, use Lump sum with a quantity of 1 and type the low and high for each trade. The Renovation budget by trade template starts that way.
Line items you type are used as typed. Items you add from the cost library are moved to this project's region.