What is a Commercial Construction Cost Estimator

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

A commercial construction cost estimator helps to determine the feasibly of the project and is very 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 engaged in preparing detailed project profiles at the design stage of a large commercial construction project to work out various cost factors and determine the budget for the project.

The cost of commercial construction is one of the factors that decides its fate. Hence, working with the best commercial construction cost estimator is very crucial for the overall success of the project.

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

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

For a commercial construction company, a cost estimator gives the complete scope of the project with break-up cost for the project and helps them place the lowest bid. As this adds more clarity to the cost of the project, 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 of the project.

This helps them exercise complete control of the project as they are well aware of the cost of its different aspects. Due to this, the construction project could be completed within the cost boundaries outlined by the commercial construction 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 cost impact on the project like

• Time required to complete the project

• The overall cost of the project with complete break-up values for each stage and each part of the project

• Materials required for the construction

• The cost break-up for each type of material used in the construction of the project.

• Quantity and types of labor required for each phase of the project

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

How to Employ A Cost Estimator :

Construction cost estimation has emerged as a separate line of the profession within the commercial construction industry. A cost estimator can be included as an in-house team member of the construction 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 to manage the project where he will be required to work out the cost as well as manage the project

3. A construction manager where will be in charge of the overall execution of the project

4. A member of the design team to work on the costing aspect of the project integrating costing factors into the design aspects

5. An independent commercial construction cost estimator is appointed by the owner of the project to prepare cost estimates for the project

Responsibilities Of A Commercial Construction Cost Estimator

The primary responsibility of a commercial construction cost estimator is to estimate and arrive at the overall cost of the construction project. Often, they work out the cost 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 project owner, or those in the design team for managing the project with accurate cost forecasts.

The cost estimators give accurate costing for the project and help all the stakeholders to see the project in all 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 involved getting forecasting the construction cost as 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 project’s scope, requirements, and financial feasibility. The cost estimate prepared professionally fulfills all the vital factors of the proposed commercial construction project.

The cost 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. At the same time, cost estimation helps the contractor not bid low amounts and lose money by working on the project.

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

The cost estimator and his cost estimates play a significant part in the project management team. The cost estimator acts as the guiding star from the start of the project and remains so till the end of it.

The construction of a large commercial construction project involves investing huge sums of money. With the services of an experienced commercial construction cost estimator, you can know the real cost of the project and how the money is to be spent.

Their services add the real basic structure and shape to the project. A cost estimator is an essential team member for new construction and remodeling and renovation projects of significant sizes. This provides the essentially important strategic tracking of the project both about the cost and time that determines the project’s final result.

Types Of Projects That Can Use Cost Estimates

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

• Development Projects: construction 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 cost 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.

Why Is Accurate Estimation Necessary?

With an experienced commercial construction 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 cost 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.

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

• The present market conditions and the expected changes in it during the entire project execution phase

• The type, size, scope, and objectives of the project

• The availability of necessary datasets and the generalized data available for the industry

• The experience, industry standing, and skill level of the estimator

• The level and thoroughness that the estimator can exercise during his estimation process

• The type, nature, and capability of the tools and procedures used by the estimator for costing

• The type and nature of the project plan

• The industry and the use for which the commercial construction is undertaken

Depending on factors like the size, type, and industry of the commercial construction project, the cost 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 cost estimation is becoming a specialized branch of the commercial construction process. Now we have highly trained, well-experienced independent cost estimators handling the estimate preparation as their primary function.

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 cost, they exercise strict control over the project work. They immediately find the issues and fix them promptly before the project becomes un-executable.

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 construction

• 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 cost estimation, your commercial construction 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

• The market deciding factors as they exist on the date of estimation

• The type and class of building materials used

• The final design and specifications of the building

• The 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

• The 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 costing 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 construction cost estimators, you may not get accurate cost 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 cost 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 commercial construction. He will bring in his specialized real-time knowledge of all the aspects of cost 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 in the construction

• 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 cost 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 costs and improved efficiency with a long-term perspective for better success in your line of activity.

Summary

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.

Our cost estimation service 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 cost estimation using the latest, time-saving tools.

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