Home Construction Cost Estimate - The Forms!

RECORDING THE RESULTS

Once you begin to accumulate quoted prices, you'll need some organized way to keep track of the results. Ideally the method you use to do this will provide a way of bringing everything together logically, so that you can accomplish your goal - arrive at a Home Construction Cost Estimate that is based on what you actually intend to do. We have developed a set of Estimating Forms to help you do this.

COST ESTIMATE FORMS
Use the Microsoft Excel based Home Construction Cost Estimate Forms to accumulate the information on your home. If you prefer to tally your estimates by hand, the forms are also available here in PDF format, viewable on the Acrobat Reader.

There is considerably more detail on some cost categories than you may want or need. For example, the framing materials show every stud and joist. It's OK if you want to consolidate and work with say a "framing package" instead.

You can massage it any way you want. There will certainly be items included in your home building project that aren't even listed on the forms. We've left some space. Add them in!

Let’s go through the Cost Estimate Forms now
and see how they work.

COLUMN HEADINGs for home construction cost estimate forms
Look at the example below. It illustrates the column headings used on the Home Construction Cost Estimate Forms, and shows an example of how information on particular cost items are to be listed under each column.

Here is what each column heading means:

Click here to open an example of how Page Two of the Home Construction Cost Estimate Forms could be filled out.

This sample form is included as an illustration only. The quantities and prices shown are not intended to represent an actual real-life situation. Your numbers will be different. The forms are Microsoft Excel based and can be filled out electronically. Your computer will do all the calculations for you.

In the example, you see on lines 52 and 53 that the owner builder of this home building project has a brother-in-law who owns a tractor with a bucket and a scraper.

The brother-in-law will prepare the lot - if he can get paid on the spot. He needs it to make a payment on the tractor!

WHY A SEPARATE COLUMN FOR OUT-OF-POCKET

Basically, the "Draw" column shows what you will be able to pay for out of a construction draw. The "Me" column shows what you will have to pay for out-of-pocket, before you get a construction draw!

SECTION AND PAGE TOTALS
At the end of each section in the Home Construction Cost Estimate Forms you will see a line designated for Totals. For example, see line 79. It totals all of the costs for Foundations.

At the bottom of each page is a line for Page Totals. So that there is no confusion, you are told which lines to add together to get each page’s totals.

SUMMARY PAGE
The final page of the Home Construction Cost Estimate Forms is a Summary Sheet to record your estimates for each basic cost category of expense. The figures from this page will be used in Cost Accounting, which is a part of your Construction Management duties . . . keeping up with all the expenditures and making sure they are all within your Budget.

For additional information on Cost Estimate Forms,
see Lesson Eleven of our online course
Successful Home Contracting.

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