Commercial Construction Cost Estimator : What They Do and Why You Need One

A commercial construction cost estimate is crucial for the completion of any commercial construction project. With an accurate commercial cost estimator that forecasts the price required to complete a project, you can proceed confidently and complete it successfully.

A commercial building cost estimator helps to determine the feasibility of the project and is effective for:

1. Business owners planning their commercial constructions
2. Project managers effectively manage the cost factors of a large commercial construction
3. Construction design teams to work out various price factors and determine the budget.

The cost of commercial construction highly impacts the outcome of a project, and hence, working with an expert commercial construction cost estimator is detrimental to its overall success.

A cost estimator considers all the necessary aspects of the project and determines its scope to calculate the price factor for each part. It becomes the determining factor to decide whether the owner has the necessary funding to complete the work.

The commercial construction estimator comes into the project early in time and considers each phase. He gives a clear picture of all the basic requirements to complete the project. Because of this, the owner and his design team can make suitable changes even before the project starts and enhance the chances of its success.

For a commercial construction company, a cost estimator gives the complete scope with break-up cost for the project and helps them place the lowest bid. As this adds more clarity to the overall cost, it helps them decide if they can work on the project. With this knowledge, they can know how much profit they can expect at the end.

Due to a greater level of contractor control, the building project could be accomplished within the price boundaries outlined by the commercial building cost estimator.

Factors Considered By A Commercial Construction Cost Estimator

A commercial construction cost estimator takes into consideration all the relevant factors that have a price impact like,

• Time required to accomplish the project
• The overall cost with complete break-up values for each stage and each part
• Materials required for the building work
• The cost break-up for each type of material used/
• Quantity and types of labor required for each phase

Construction Cost Estimator Qualifications

A commercial construction cost estimator is a unique line of professionals well-versed in a particular type of construction. Hence, they can give the most accurate type of pricing details for the project. Though a bachelor’s degree is enough to work as a cost estimator, a person with years of hands-on experience can work with higher efficiency and precision.

How to Employ A Cost Estimator :

Construction cost estimation has emerged as a separate line of the profession within the real estate industry. A cost estimator can be included as an in-house member of the project team or hired based on a contract as and when needed.
As such, you can hire and retain a cost estimator as,

1. An owner’s representative to help the owner decide on the feasibility of the project
2. A Project Manager will be required to work out the cost as well as manage the teams
3. A construction manager where he/she will be in charge of the overall execution of the building plans
4. A member of the design team to integrate costing factors into the design aspects
5. An independent commercial construction cost estimator is appointed by the owner to prepare price estimates

Responsibilities Of A Commercial Construction Cost Estimator

• The primary responsibility of a commercial building cost estimator is to estimate and arrive at the final cost.
• Often, they work out the price of the project and justify the budget allocated as a part of the design team.
• They are also responsible from the start of the project with an accurate cost estimate for its successful completion.
• A cost estimator also helps the sub-contractors, general contractors, the owner, or those in the design team for managing the project with accurate cost forecasts.
• The cost estimators give accurate pricing and help all the stakeholders to see the project in all of its reality so that they can conduct it with more confidence and competence.
• Thus, the professional knowledge and careful research of every aspect of the project by an experienced cost estimator removes all the uncertainties for completing the project within the time and budget.

How Does Construction Cost Estimating Work?

The project owner and others are involved in the construction cost estimation which is the overall budget required to build the physical structure. This process is started at the onset of the project for determining the project’s feasibility and scope.

The cost estimation for the commercial building helps you understand and decide on the scope, requirements, and financial feasibility. The price estimate prepared professionally fulfills all the vital factors of the proposed commercial project.

The price estimate helps the project owner in deciding the right bid for the project. He understands the real financial implications and avoids overpaying for the project. Cost estimation helps the contractor not bid low amounts and lose money by working on the project.

In modern times price estimating has become an important project management technique. This is used to track the progress of a project against the price and time estimates. Thus it ensures effective performance for easy and successful completion of the project.

A cost estimator is an essential team member for ground-up construction, remodeling, and renovation projects of significant sizes. They act as a guide from the start of the project and remain so till the end of it. As large commercial construction project involves huge investments, the services of an experienced cost estimator can help in fathoming the real cost of the project and how the money is to be spent.

Types Of Projects That Can Use Cost Estimates

The commercial cost estimator must be associated with all types of projects, including:

• Development Projects: building projects with budgets and timeliness with an obligation to pay back lenders and generate revenues as soon as the project is completed.
• Large Civil Projects are funded out of public funds and are mega in size and volume. These projects must have accurate price estimates to comply with regulatory controls to safeguard and account for the public funds used in them. The cost estimates in these projects satisfy the requirements for accountability and provide transparency and show how capable the project management team is in managing the project.

Reasons to Hire a Commercial Cost Estimator

1. Monitors Your Finances

With an experienced building cost estimator, you can have accurate estimates as he knows the factors to include in the costing process. He includes all the variables that contribute to the overall price of the project with his specialized knowledge. He also anticipates the probable future contingencies depending on the nature and scope of the project and will provide for them in his costing estimates.

2. Accurate Budget Estimates

The costing estimator provides the most accurate estimates by considering the following relevant factors:

• Present market conditions and the expected changes in it during the entire project execution phase
• Type, size, scope, and objectives of the project
• Availability of necessary datasets and the generalized data available for the industry
• Experience, industry standing, and skill level of the estimator
• Level and thoroughness that the estimator can exercise during his estimation process
• Type, nature, and capability of the tools and procedures used by the estimator for costing
• Type and nature of the project plan
• Industry and the use for which the property is undertaken

3. Specialized Branch in Construction Industry

Depending on factors like the size, type, and industry of the commercial project, the price estimation can be prepared either by a person or a team of cost professionals. In some cases, a contractor or a sub-contractor plays the role of a cost estimator.

In some cases, cost estimate preparation will be entrusted to the construction salesperson, while some architectural companies have their costing estimators. But in the present day, commercial construction price estimation is becoming a specialized branch of the real estate development process. Now we have highly trained, well-experienced independent cost estimators handling the estimate preparation as their primary function.

4. Early Issue Detection and Solution

Good cost estimation offers many benefits for both the project owners as well as the construction companies. An accurate costing estimate helps contractors win projects by placing the bids at the right price. They can get the projects at the correct prices and execute them with confidence.

When they are clear about the price, they exercise strict control over the project work. They immediately find the issues and fix them promptly before the project becomes un-executable.

5. Benefits for Construction Companies

A contractor with accurate costing estimations can beat the competition easily by bidding at the prices with a clear definition of the project scope. Hence the time and effort you put into your costing estimate is an investment you are making for your business. The ability to prepare accurate costing estimation quickly gives an edge over competitors and wins more projects.

Free Vs. Paid Cost Estimators

There are a few free commercial construction cost estimator tools available online. These are very user-friendly. These applications take inputs from you like:

• The type of building
• Square footage
• Location of the project
• And other factors that have a costing impact on the project give a free estimate of the project’s overall cost.

Though these free cost estimators seem to give you good results, they do not provide all the details you need. But they cannot take in highly complex inputs for large commercial projects and process them to deliver accurate cost estimation. These are good only for simple projects. They work based on basic inputs like the area and the proposed type of construction etc.

To get accurate price estimation, your commercial building cost estimator must consider many other factors apart from the basic information like the size of the project, type of the project, location, etc. It should also take into consideration various additional factors like,

• Market deciding factors as they exist on the date of estimation
• Type and class of building materials used
• Final design and specifications of the building
• Environmental factors at the site of the commercial building
• Local building codes that are in force on the date of the estimation and the expected changes that may come into force during the execution of the project
• Site conditions prevailing at the time of the construction
• Type of use intended for the commercial building

In addition to these factors, the following factors also have a strong influence on the overall cost estimation like,

• The building is constructed for immediate sale, or the owner intends to hold it
• The type of materials you want to use in the building based on their lifetime and the type of components you want to use

The Disadvantages Of Free Online Cost Estimator Applications

When you use free online commercial building cost estimators, you may not get accurate price estimations as they cannot apply the current market knowledge that is emerging now for the industry under consideration.

Though these free estimators work out the price for the project based on the factors like “luxury,” “semi-luxury,” “best standard,” “good standard,” “average standard,” and “minimum standard”, these are only subjective classifications. They do not correspond to real-life factors or their actual variations that impact the cost required for the project.

Advantages Of Paid Online Estimator Services

For getting 100% accurate estimates get your costing estimate prepared by an expert who has a complete understanding of the needs of a large nonresidential construction. He will bring in his specialized real-time knowledge of all the aspects of price estimation like,

• Type of the proposed commercial construction
• Prevailing market factors
• The building regulations and codes that must be complied with
• The types of building technologies used
• The extent of the building technologies used in the execution of the project work

Our paid commercial construction cost estimator service is one of the best in the industry. It offers high-quality cost estimator services. It safeguards you from pitfalls that seriously affect how the price estimation is done and its accuracy. Moreover, our service offers you a seamlessly integrated project management perspective, and hence it is one of the most indispensable resources throughout the project.

Our cost estimation service helps you use the latest tools and technologies specific to the industry you are in and the type of construction project you want to start. This tracks every stage of the project professionally and helps you save time and money for you and the project owner. You can easily achieve a significant reduction in prices and improved efficiency with a long-term perspective for better success in your line of activity.

Conclusion

The preparation of the construction cost estimate is a time-sensitive and time-consuming process that needs a higher level of skill, knowledge, and technical expertise. For saving on your bottom line, you should select a cost estimator with proven efficiency within your industry.

Why Choose Us?

The cost estimation service at Constructive Solutions, Inc. is a valuable tool for streamlining your commercial construction workflow.
It provides all the tools you need to do your project work effectively, reducing the time required to prepare the most accurate price estimation using the latest, time-saving tools.

This completely streamlines the workflow in the office of a contractor or other professional and helps prepare price estimates within the shortest period in an effortless manner.

Contact us today to receive a quote.

FAQs

What are the various types of commercial construction estimating?

The four main types of commercial construction estimating are preliminary estimates, detailed estimates, material quantity estimates, and bid estimates.

How does the Commercial Cost Estimator ensure accuracy?

In addition to the fundamental aspects of the project, a construction cost estimator will also factor in additional requirements such as the logistics, phasing, dust containment measures, security barricades, site supervision measures, off-hours work requirements, and other items.

What are the top paid and free online construction cost estimators?

Best Paid Construction Estimating Software:
ProEst, Procore, RedTeam, and UDA ConstructionOnline.

Best Free Construction Estimating Software:
Excel spreadsheet templates, Stack, Buildxact, Contractor Foreman, and PlanSwift.

Relevant Resources:

• Commercial Construction Cost Per Square Foot in the US
• Construction Budgeting: How To Stay on Track and Under Budget