Construction Cost Estimate
Construction Cost Estimate
(OP)
I'm facing another dreaded Construction Cost Estimate. This is for a Water Treatment Facility in the Northeast U.S.
Here are my installed unit costs:
Foundation Wall Concrete: $430/yd3
Retaining Wall Concrete: $430/yd3
Slab on Grade (Finished): $350/yd3
Footings: $260/yd3
Reinforcing: $0.70/lb
Steel Roof Deck ((22 Ga): $1.30/ft2
Steel Joists (Up to 50ft): $.75/ft2
CMU (8" Reinforced): $8.00/ft2
Honestly, I don't have a lot of confidence in these numbers. So, I'm wondering what others in my vicinity are using for these items.
Here are my installed unit costs:
Foundation Wall Concrete: $430/yd3
Retaining Wall Concrete: $430/yd3
Slab on Grade (Finished): $350/yd3
Footings: $260/yd3
Reinforcing: $0.70/lb
Steel Roof Deck ((22 Ga): $1.30/ft2
Steel Joists (Up to 50ft): $.75/ft2
CMU (8" Reinforced): $8.00/ft2
Honestly, I don't have a lot of confidence in these numbers. So, I'm wondering what others in my vicinity are using for these items.
RE: Construction Cost Estimate
Another thought is to use the DOT prices to correlate prices from other sources (Means, etc).
RE: Construction Cost Estimate
RE: Construction Cost Estimate
1. I would compare these to RS Means published data? You can correct for your locale.
2. Is this a union job or non-union> this makes a difference.
3. Is Davis-Bacon wage determination applicable?
4. How is the locale economy in the construction area?
5. IO live in Florida, for a period of almost two months, no one could get concrete. Lots of job sites shut down and the price of a yard hit near $100!! Are you having similar crises in the construction site?
Regards,
Regards,
Lutfi
RE: Construction Cost Estimate
RE: Construction Cost Estimate
I agree that rebar seems low, same with masonry.
Of course, costs are also tied to the size of the job, complexity, non-pay items that are lumped in with the bid items as well as how busy your local economy is. For example, around here, the contractors are so busy, they are not inclined to lowball the bids just to get it. Therefor, the bids are coming in quite high. Be careful because the rising fuel costs are really playing havoc on all construction costs.
RE: Construction Cost Estimate
As a contractor, we never use unit prices to prepare bids, it is simply the output required by the agencies. We do use them for a reality check but the most important aspect for us is the MH/Unit. The risk is in the labor (usually), and provided your have your takeoff correct, the job costs will come from labor productivity, not unit cost. Material costs are what they are, call around and see what the market is, and subcontractor quotes are an unknown until bid day. It is always a little bit of a competition to see whos subcontractor "plugs" were closest when bid day comes around.
Also, most estimating manuals seriously underestimate the overhead and profit. It's usually 15% (+/-) of total cost, which include field indirects. That means that the project manager, engineers, superintendent, field office, etc. are not inlcuded in the 15%, so add them in.
Regarding your specific costs...in California, on a union water treatment plant, we did the following...
Concrete: we averaged $850 / cy concrete in-place (not including excavation)so I think your costs are low. (our plant was half retrofit/half new construction. $600/cy may be closer for a new plant.
Reinforcing: Go up to $1/lb, $2/lb if it is epoxy coated.
Steel Roof Deck ((22 Ga): Not sure, but it usually costs about $1.5 just for the materials.
Hope that helps.
RE: Construction Cost Estimate
Means is a good gude if used properly. They provide a lot of info on the the price breakdown, incuding enough to adjust for specfic projects. For examle if their model wall has a form factor of 12 and yours has 24, double the cost of the carpenters.
RE: Construction Cost Estimate