Quick & dirty build calculator

[Dean Heighington]

Is there such a thing?

I'm after something into which you can input basic data, such as dimensions, extension or standalone, roof type, number of doors/windows, construction material (brick/block or timber framed), drainage, etc and get a rough idea of total build cost.

It's so I can give "off the top of my head" estimates, before embarking upon the lengthy process of a written quote, confident that the final figure won't be too far out.

It would be great to test how serious and committed customers are to a project without spending hours putting a price together only to be told "oh! We thought it might be half that!"

Any suggestions? Cheers, D.

[John Williamson]

Not in my experience. All construction jobs are different, with different access problems, different site problems...

The way I tried to do it was on a spreadsheet which produced a basic Bill of Quantities as I designed the structure, using figures representing the area of each item. After doing this on a couple of jobs, I decided it was easier to actually generate the orders for materials and labour while working out the quote. It's more work up front, but it saves time later.

It depends on what and where, but you can put a rough guess together by working out what previous similar jobs have cost you to do, and use that as a rough cost per square metre, not forgetting to add in your profit margin, and about 20% for contingencies. Which, if the client is happy, and you don't need to spend it, you can give as a refund or discount, depending how they are paying you, to encourage recommendations.

If you don't know what previous jobs have cost you, then you may have a nasty surprise when you work it out.

BCIS do a range of books with prices in:-

they are not cheap, and you still need to do a fair bit of work to get a usable figure.

[Dean Heighington]

usable figure.

Thanks chaps. Some useful stuff for me to look into when I get home. At work at the moment reading this on my iPhone. I also had a quick look at buildingsheriff.com this morning which I thought was pretty good and seems to be on the money for prices for previous jobs I've done. What do you think?