Building Costs

Estimating Building Cost Work

It is understandable that one should have to go through a tricky phase of time, while approximately calculating the costs that would be incurred once the building is raised. People all over the world regard it as an intimidating task, because they will have to consider almost every aspect that has an impact on the building that is being raised. Therefore, the duty of a contractor is to identify the costs based upon their priority in relevance to the process of construction. Additionally the contractor has to make out the trivial aspects that might add up to the total cost.

In order to estimate the costs associated with the construction of a house, a person needs to carry out a comprehensive analysis on this matter. By making use of the methods that are presented below one can achieve high precision in estimating the total costs of a building. One should give importance to every aspect that has to be taken into consideration, so as to arrive at the estimated figure in an accurate fashion. Preparing an estimate, from all the approximation that have been done already, is another task that makes the job more complicated. So what should we wait for now? Let us get the estimating brains on!

Get in touch with the builders nearby

Take measures to discover the ideal way to initiate the process of estimation by meeting the engineers and the planners who are renowned in the field of construction. Let them know about your plans and preferences that you have to raise the building. When a person talks about his preferences it will, in reality, help those builders to come about with an imprecise cost, which may largely vary with the observed total costs. Some of the building contractors might even issue the list of the materials that you would possibly require. At the same time the costs linked with the materials that have been mentioned in the listing, would also be stated. 

Calculate the building area

Have a look at the buildings that are present in your neighborhood which bear resemblance to the building that you are about to construct. The size, features and the quality of that structure might be pretty much similar to your preference. So estimate the cost by subtracting the price of the land from the price of the building and then divide that sum by the area of the building (which is usually measured in terms of square feet).

For instance if the building is offered at $3,30,000 and the land is valued at $30,000 then the cost of construction would be around $3,00,000. If the building is said to be of an area that is found out to be 3000 square feet then the cost per square feet is $100.

Enquire and know about the cost per square feet of several buildings in your locality. With this data you would be finding the average square feet price, which can be useful to determine the cost of the building that you are raising. Multiply the average cost with the estimated square feet area of the building and arrive at the total estimated cost.

Some features might bring about increase in costs:

There are lots of auxiliary factors that have to be considered, so as to keep the total costs of the building that is being raised under check. Let us get to know about some of them and how they have the impact on the structure's total cost.

Size of the Building Structure

While constructing a building, working with even numbers would be the best strategy. Always have the size or any other feature of the building approximated for two feet. It may be a modification of two feet that is greater than or lesser than the original measurement. Reduction of costs is achieved in this mode as people feel that it is an economical way of constructing a building. This reduces wasted materials. It is a common notion that the building should not be more than 32 feet. Once it crosses that mark, special structures have to be erected which, would have an impact on the total costs!

Building Size and Shape Shape

Simple shaped buildings are cheap. Contrastingly, if there are more angles and corners in the outline of the building would make the costs go up. The Labor and the raw materials, which are essential to build these special structures, would make the cost shoot up.

Building Site Preparation

The process of site preparation has a direct impact on the costs that one might incur on the completion of the project. This is because, loads of work have to be completed in the form of clearing the site, blasting the rocks and cleaning the site before you get down to erect the building. Contrastingly, raising a building on a flat will generally cost less.

Building Cost Overruns

Builders feel that the cost overrun have a significant part to make the prices shoot up. Squandering the allowances, doing necessary changes and facing unanticipated issues are the attributes that are behind the increase in price. Generally it is a fine proposal to permit an extra 10% to cover up the unanticipated costs. Suitable planning may let you decrease these unexpected costs but still it is normal for the cost of an erected structure to be greater than the original offer price.

Inflation and Market Conditions


Every year the cost of a building is expected to increase in the order of 3% to 6%. Always have inflation as a considerable aspect while estimating the cost of the structure .So the costs that you may determine during the initiation of the construction process may not be the same as that of the costs that you finally incur after the completion of the project. For you to make an approximately precise estimation know about the cost of the building by identifying the cost of any building that has been raised in the recent times.