Why use construction costbooks?
After all, the most accurate construction prices will be based on the manhours our own crews or subs used in the past. If we keep these construction costs we should be able to make accurate estimates of future costs -- provided that material prices haven't increased significantly and that crews productivity is the same.
But if you bid on a job that you've never done before then it becomes trickier. Instead of pulling figures from your head on what you think it might take, take a look at a few figures from a published construction costbook. Usually they breakout material costs, labor costs, and a total installed cost. See how they compare on jobs you have already done before before. If the prices are on the high side you can pretty much guess that the jobs you have no comparison for will be on the high side also.
You can find construction costbooks at most major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble. There are many types of constuction costbooks -- some for general construction, some for remodeling. Publishers include Saylor, Means, Craftsman and BNI. Usually, these books are published yearly. You can view the contents of the Saylor costbooks online at http://www.saylor.com The craftsman costbooks can be viewed at http://www.get-a-quote.net .
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2 comments:
Cost books are going to be a guide. Ultimately, cost is decided by the market place. It comes down to simple supply and demand. Quality costs more, we recommend great quality at reasonable prices.
I agree that cost books are just a guide for pricing construction. When bidding on work of which you have no past records, a cost book can help you define how long it "should" take your crews to do the work. Cost books can help you find material costs also. But as construction jobs become scarce, and more contractors bid on them, the competition can become fierce.
Quality may cost more, but in a poor economy, sometimes price on a job, unfortunately, trumps quality.
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