How much does it cost: how to make an estimate for apartment renovation

Recommendation points

• What is an estimate and what is it for
• How is the estimate documentation compiled
• Scheme for the development of estimates for apartment renovation
• Determination of the scope of work
• State and company standards of labor assessment
• Simplification of calculations

In our today’s review, we will touch on one of the most sensitive topics. The question of estimate documentation unites the organization of work, the choice of contractors and suppliers of materials and determines, in general, whether it is time to start repairs at this moment or whether the project budget will turn out to be unaffordable over time?

What is an estimate and what is it for

In the construction business, the compilers of the estimate documentation are condescending, considering their work superficial and not requiring special knowledge. Nevertheless, a good estimator always knows the repair business in the smallest details, which allows him to keep track of working time and materials comprehensively, down to the last ruble, completely avoiding unforeseen expenses.

As a first approximation, the estimate is a table in which the types of work are sequentially listed, and the division is carried out to the degree of primitiveness when the amount of work performed can be determined with maximum accuracy. For each item of the estimate there is an assessment rate per unit of volume, the required number of man-hours and materials is indicated, the total amount is summed up and the required correction factors for working conditions are adopted.

A well-prepared estimate excludes the possibility of freezing the object due to lack of funding and brings the project to a new, qualitatively higher level of organization. Independent preparation of estimates for apartment renovation will help determine the required amount of costs and compare the pricing policy of different contractors.

How is the estimate documentation compiled

For the development of estimates there are many software tools, but almost all of them are paid and require special training, sometimes very long. Fortunately, the estimate for the renovation of an apartment is usually simple, and anyone who wishes can “bring credit to debit” at least in general terms..

Usually, in determining the cost of each type of work, they are guided by the GESN reference books, where the costs of labor and materials are described in detail. This is necessary for the performance of work by special organizations that monitor labor and wages for their employees. With private contractors, everything is easier: they have their own price list with company prices, where all overhead costs of transport are already included, or these costs are taken out as separate items.

For the most part, estimates for apartment renovation are documents of a fairly high degree of standardization. The network has a huge number of sample spreadsheets with prepared formulas for calculating the total amount and built-in functions for applying additional coefficients. All that remains for the developer is to fill in the table with the necessary content for the type of work, indicate the volumes and prices from the price list of a certain contractor.

Scheme for the development of estimates for apartment renovation

When drawing up estimates manually, they are guided by the principle of sequential dialing. In the classic version, the estimate (table) consists of two parts. Work is added to the upper one in the planned order of their execution, and the necessary construction and consumables are simultaneously entered into the lower one..

As you already understood, when making an estimate, the presence of a project is strictly required. But what is even more important, the compiler of the estimate should not only have the project on hand, but also understand all its ins and outs, know which works and how they will be performed. From redevelopment, demolition and erection of partitions, filling the screed and ending with finishing – everything should be described in as much detail as possible..

Since most renovation projects have a sequential structure of presentation, it is not difficult to determine the scope of work. It is much more difficult to correlate the required scope of work with the content of the contractor’s quotation sheet, where the wording can be very, very ornate.

When all the works and materials provided for by the project are entered in the table, they are calculated in volume according to the measurement plans of the project. Next, the total cost of each type of work is established according to the available prices, after which the total cost column is summed up and the total cost of the work is displayed according to the estimate. After a similar calculation of the cost of materials, special items can be added to the estimate, such as insurance against damage to materials, wear and tear of equipment and tools and other overhead costs, if they are made as a separate item in the price list.

Upon completion of the calculations, the estimate is submitted for agreement with the contractor. The beauty of spreadsheets is that any inconsistencies can be easily corrected by changing the rate of payment or adding the desired ratio, taking into account the difficult working conditions..

The main difficulty in accompanying the estimate is the need to constantly clarify whether the prices or the cost of materials have changed. About 4-5 different contractors and more than a dozen suppliers of building materials can participate in the average renovation of an apartment. Despite the fact that an individual estimate is agreed with each of them, the customer is interested in a general, summarizing table. And it’s not so easy to bring it down.

Determination of the scope of work

The complexity of determining the volume of each type of work directly depends on the units of calculation set by the contractor. At best, concepts such as square meters and running meters, units and mounting points are used. If the contractor himself cannot (or does not want) to clearly ration the services provided, measurement by workdays comes into play, or even more abstract concepts such as the number of mixers of a concrete mixer or the cost of materials used. Such ambiguity should be avoided, either by negotiating more specific valuation standards individually or by consulting another contractor..

The easiest way to evaluate such work as the dismantling of partitions and finishing coatings, concrete work, applying finishing coatings and laying communications. All of them are evaluated either by volume in cubic meters (construction waste from dismantling, concrete for pouring), or by square meters (putty, screed, painting), or by running meters (pipelines, electrical network, baseboards, etc.). All these works are very easy to calculate in volume using the measurement plan from the project.

It is somewhat more difficult to calculate brick and block masonry: you have to translate the physical volume of the wall into the number of masonry elements of a certain size, in parallel calculating the volume of the binder at the specified joint thickness. A special installation can have an even weirder cost estimation system, which takes into account the height of the ceilings, number of storeys, the number of connection lines or the weight of the products to be mounted. All these points need to be discussed directly with the contractor, seeking maximum specification.

State and company standards of labor assessment

It is worth touching on two popular pricing systems in more detail, because many construction and repair companies operate precisely according to state standards and a preliminary estimate from them costs money or requires a contract. Whereas small contractors have fixed rates in their price lists and remain so with very few exceptions, the price for the work of large firms is subject to completely different rules..

First of all, the cost of work is determined by the wages of the craftsmen who directly perform these works. For each type of work, logistics costs are provided, the size of which is determined by the distance of the object from the warehouses of the supplier of materials and the construction company itself.

In addition, the estimate includes such things as coefficients for harmful work (dusty, with toxic materials), the remuneration of the administrative department and, finally, the estimator himself. Also, a separate item indicates the estimated profit – a percentage of the cost of work that the contractor will put in his pocket.

It will not be possible to accurately calculate the cost of such an estimate, because the work is crushed very much, up to drilling holes and driving dowels into them. In addition, the corporate structure of the company and the number of people involved in the work on the object in one way or another are not known for certain. Therefore, independently duplicating estimates for a preliminary cost estimate should be carried out at deliberately inflated prices, otherwise the risk of a budget shortage is very high.

Simplification of calculations

It is because of the complexity of such calculations that all kinds of programs and tables with automatic calculation are used. Even a self-made estimate can be very detailed and it is at least silly not to use the available software tools. Especially if the contractor himself offers his own pivot table template for a preliminary cost calculation.

As a conclusion, we add that even a small contractor, before starting the repair, can provide an estimate, the prices in which differ from the price list and, in general, the cost of the repair is even less than the planned one. This is due to the fact that the price list indicates the average cost of work based on the experience of previous objects: everything so that a potential customer could better navigate the prices.

There is nothing to be done: high-quality capital estimates are used by builders more and more often due to the high benefits for organizing work, at the same time the customer needs to have at least some certainty for the competent distribution of his own funds.