How do you estimate fire sprinkler design hours?
How do you estimate fire sprinkler design hours?
(OP)
Well here's the deal. I came from the field straight into design. I've been in design for 15 years but have recently been asked to estimate design hours for upcoming bids. I don't really have a quick and dirty way to figure my design time as I haven't been tracking over the years to see how much per pendent/upright/fire pump/standpipe/attic head etc... it takes me to design.
I can do a calc in less than an hour if not too crazy and I know that if it's a survey job it's sort of guess.
But does anyone have a good base for estimate standard project design wise? Many opinions are welcome and appreciated!
TIA
I can do a calc in less than an hour if not too crazy and I know that if it's a survey job it's sort of guess.
But does anyone have a good base for estimate standard project design wise? Many opinions are welcome and appreciated!
TIA





RE: How do you estimate fire sprinkler design hours?
Start by figuring the designer's cost per hour (annual salary + benefits while accounting for sick days, vacation time and non-billable hours worked).
Determine an acceptable labour factor per sprinkler. After 15 years of design, you should have a good idea of how long certain types of projects take. Play around with the labour factor until it expresses an accurate amount of design hours.
Express your designer cost as hrs per sprinkler x number of sprinklers x dollars per sprinkler
Next, add in your fixed costs:
-Engineer's review and seal
-flow test
-designer time for periodic site inspections
-Engineer's sign off at project completion (don't forget per diem)
-office supplies (plotter ink, paper, equipment amortization and ongoing software costs)
Note that I'm in Canada, so the Engineer's requirement may not apply to you like it does to me.
All this cobbled together should give you a fairly accurate design cost. No inclusion of overhead and profit or value added taxes until the end of the estimate.
RE: How do you estimate fire sprinkler design hours?
equate should be:
hours per sprinkler x number of sprinklers x dollars per HOUR
RE: How do you estimate fire sprinkler design hours?