×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Cost Estimate Website/Tool?

Cost Estimate Website/Tool?

Cost Estimate Website/Tool?

(OP)
I'm working on an Asset Management task where I need to price the replacement cost of different pieces of equipment for a municipality, specifically their water/wastewater treatment facilities. I have been using USA blue book to get individual prices and plotting their relationship to certain qualities (like how the price of a pump is related to the Horsepower). However, the books I have (RSMeans, USA Blue Book) don't always cover the equipment I need.

My boss did send me two sample websites that give equations other people have determined (http://www.matche.com/equipcost/Fan.html and http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/civil/CVEN4434...).

Does anyone know of websites similar to the ones listed above? Any websites that give equations of cost estimating based on one or two pieces of information about an object? Again, I'm focused on water/wastewater treatment facility equipment & parts.

RE: Cost Estimate Website/Tool?

The only way you can trust the numbers (especially important if your going to use these prices in contracts) is by making your own database within your company. If you can work with some VBA, you can easily make a database and grow it along the way when you receive quotes from suppliers.

No company likes sharing this kind of information, so it's hard to find on the internet.

RE: Cost Estimate Website/Tool?

Here's my advice. Call either an equipment vendor like Coombs Hopkins or whoever is local to your area or call a company like mine who does nothing except water and wastewater design. We have in our house, somewhere, every piece of water/wastewater equipment on earth. You probably won't have to pay us unless you work for a competitor or you become a nuisance. Of course, I'm not going to give you our name, because that would be too easy.
I can almost guarantee you're not going to find a database. If there was one, I'd know about it.
Hopefully you don't work for us.

RE: Cost Estimate Website/Tool?

Depending on the parts, you may get catalogues with prices (usual for smaller components, less usual for pumps but I've seen that too). Since you are estimating/calculating the replacement costs of specific parts, look at original offers. Seconded Blutooth and JedClampett: Talk to vendors, hoard offers and make a database or just a filedump on your server where you gather all offers. I've been doing cost calculations for years and I find nothing beats havein actual offers before you or actual vendors on the phone.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources