Construction Codebooks > Estimating Guides > 2011 BNI Facilities Managers Costbook 17th Edition

You can use this book for developing budgets, checking contractor's prices, calculating change orders - any instance where accuracy is key.

Are you responsible for the construction, repair, remodeling, or maintenance of commercial, industrial, or institutional facilities (e.g., government and commercial buildings, schools, medical facilities? If so, you need this cost data resource.

These accurate costs are based on the latest national averages and standard labor productivity rates. Over 20,000 material and labor prices provide accurate data for detailed estimates, budgets, price checks, and change orders.

The book also includes man-hour tables (to help determine labor costs), reference tables, and regional cost modifiers for over 200 metro areas.

The 2011 BNI Facilities Managers Costbook 17th Edition is the first place to turn, whether you're preparing a preliminary estimate, evaluating a contractor's bid, or submitting a formal budget proposal. It puts at your fingertips accurate and up-to-date material and labor costs for thousands of cost items, based on the latest national averages and standard labor productivity rates. What's more, the book includes detailed regional cost modifiers for adjusting your estimate to your local conditions.

• Material costs for thousands of items based on current national averages (including allowances for transport, handling and storage).
• Labor costs based on the prevailing rates for each trade and type of work, PLUS man-hour tables tied to each unit costs, so you can clearly see exactly how the labor cost was calcuated and make any necessary adjustments.
• Equipment costs - including rental and operating costs.
• Square-foot tables based on the cost-per-square-foot of hundreds of actual projects - invaluable data for quick, ballpark estimates.
• Over 20,000 material and labor prices provide accurate data for detailed estimates, budgets, price checks and change orders.

An Affordable Costbook for Facilities Estimating

• New Construction and Remodeling Costs
• Commercial
• Industrial
• Institutional

Preface

For over 60 years, Building News has been dedicated to providing construction professionals with timely and reliable information. Based on this experience, our staff has researched and compiled thousands of up-to-the-minute costs for the Building News 2011 Costbooks. This book is an essential reference for contractors, engineers, architects, facilities managers — any construction professional who must provide an estimate or any type of building project.

Whether working up a preliminary estimate or submitting a formal bid, the costs listed here can quickly and easily be tailored to your needs. All costs are based on your company's labor rates. Overhead and profit should be included in all costs. Man-hours are also provided. All data is categorized according to the MasterFormat of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). This industry standard provides an all-inclusive checklist to ensure that no element of a project is overlooked.

The data provided in this book is for estimating purposes only. Check all applicable federal, state and local codes and regulations for local requirements.

• Author: BNi Building News
• Format: Softcover
• Copyright: 2011
• Pages: 805

• CSI MasterFormat.
• Features in this Book.
• Sample Costbook Page.
• Costbook Pages.
• Man-Hour Tables.
• Supporting Construction Reference Data.
• Geographic Cost Modifiers.
• Square Foot Tables.
• Index.

The construction estimating information in this book is divided into two main sections: Costbook Pages and Man-Hour Tables. Each section is organized according to the 16 divisions of the MasterFormat as shown on the previous pages. In addition, there are extensive Supporting Construction Reference tables, Geographic Costs Modifiers, Square Foot tables and a detailed Index. Sample pages with graphic explanations are included before the Costbook pages and ManHour tables. These explanations, along with the discussions below, will provide a good understanding of what is included in this book and how it can best be used in construction estimating.

The material costs used in this book represent national averages for prices that a contractor would expect to pay plus an allowance for freight (if applicable), handling and storage. These costs reflect neither the lowest or highest prices, but rather a typical average cost over time. Periodic fluctuations in availability and in certain commodities (e.g. copper, lumber) can significantly affect local material pricing. In the final estimating and bidding stages of a project when the highest degree of accuracy is required, it is best to check local, current prices.

Labor costs include the basic wage, plus commonly applicable taxes, insurance and markups for overhead and profit. The labor rates used here to develop the costs are typical average prevailing wage rates. Rates for different trades are used where appropriate for each type of work.

Taxes and insurance which are most often applied to labor rates include employer-paid Social Security/Medicare taxes (FICA), Worker's Compensation insurance, state and federal unemployment taxes, and business insurance. Fixed government rates as well as average allowances are included in the labor costs.

However, most of these items vary significantly from state to state and within states. For more specific data, local agencies and sources should be consulted.

The costs as presented in this book attempt to represent national averages. Costs, however, vary among regions, states and even between adjacent localities. In order to more closely approximate the probable costs for specific locations throughout the U.S., a table of Geographic Cost Modifiers is provided. These adjustment factors are used to modify costs obtained from this book to help account for regional variations of construction costs. Whenever local current costs are known, whether material or equipment prices or labor rates, they should be used if more accuracy is required.

The good news is there are many ways you canincrease energy-efficiency without huge, expensive projects. Many energy-savings measures are free or low-cost, if incorporated into the design and construction of new buildings or renovation projects. And some of those are free or low-cost even as retrofit projects.And, as a bonus, they are often easy projects.

Just to whet your appetite, let's take a quick look at the electrical aspect of your facility.

The two most common electric bill reduction techniques barely scratch the surface of what's inexpensively doable. These are the installation ofenergy-efficient lights, and installing power factor correction capacitors at the service entrance for a utility rate reduction. Actually, not putting these capacitors at the service entrance is smart. Instead, perform PF correction on each large load individually. So instead of getting just a utility rate reduction, you also get an actual reduction in power consumption. Just don't do PF correction on motors with electronic drives. Instead, replace the old drive with a newer, PF-corrected and harmonics-corrected drive.

Service entrance

Let's look at that service entrance, since we've now removed those capacitors and done PF correction where it should be done. For new construction, the location of your service entrance can make a huge difference. So really do a thorough analysis. For existing installations, it's usually too expensive to relocate.

Once you have a short list of potential locations that apply with the applicable clearance requirements, maintenance access, security requirements, and other issues that might rule out a particular location, examine each candidate lcoation such that you can locate the service entrance:

• Away from large heat-radiating surfaces (e.g., parking lots), hot processes, and overly moist processes (e.g., cooling towers).
• Near natural ventilation, but away from problems like cottonwood trees.
• Where later expansion with reasonable access is possible.

If you have an existing installation, you may be able to ameliorate less than optimum conditions through landscaping or equipment relocation.

Grounding vs. bonding

Facilities that have "noise problems," high harmonics, and other power anomalies nearly always have a situation where equipment is grounded rather than bonded. Consult IEEE-142, the NEC Article 100 to understand what grounding is. It means connecting to the earth.

Grounding doesnot establish an equipotential plane. It's vital to lightning protection. But on the load side of your service, you should not have any grounding connections. Such connections create ground loops. With ground loops, you get energy waste and potentially lethal touch voltages. For your lightning protection system, consultNFPA 780 and LPI0175.

For your load side, you want bonding. For bonding requirements, see NEC Article 250, Part V and IEEE-142. Bonding deficiencies createhazards to people and equipment. They also create various conditions thatdecrease energy efficiency.

Internal power distribution

It's farmore efficient to distribute at 480V than to distribute at 120V. To optimize efficiency and minimize energy loss, run the 480V distribution as close to the 120V loads as is practical. Today's CAD programs allow you to experiment and see what works best. So, do that. Try various locations for the various 208/120V panels to see how you can get the shortest runs. It may be worth breaking up things into snaller transformer and panel arrangements fed by longer 480V runs than to use one large central 208/120V panel in abuilding or large room. Yes, you'll incur higher engineering costs, but you may easily earn those back throughconstruction cost savings. Smaller switchboards, breakers, conductors, and raceway cost less and are typically easier to install.

You might be using 277V forHVAC reheat boxes or lighting. If possible, change these out to 480V. Else, use small 480-480/277V transformers to derive 277V as close to these loads as is practical. Follow a similar strategy with 120V loads.

Generally in a commercial building, 480/277Vfeeds the infrastructure, and 208/120Vfeeds everything else. Generally in a factory,480/277V feeds thethe infrastructure (including plant air) and production equipment, while 208/120Vfeeds controls and offices. If you have 120V lighting, start thinking about upgrade projects.

Now at this point, there is more we could discuss about feedercircuits. And we haven't even started on branch circuits.

Going beyond electrical, you can also address such things as (and this is only a partial list):

• Building envelope.
• HVAC.
• Mechanicals other than HVAC.
• Plant systems (plant air, plant steam, chillers and cooling water, etc).
• Process systems.

With just the HVAC, for example, you can dig energy savings from a thorough examination of:

• Central chilled water plant.
• Evaporative cooling units.
• Heat pumps.
• Package and unitary systems.
• Rooftop vs. grade condensers.
• Variable speed/volume units.
  

Don't forget maintainability issues, comfort, security, and landscaping concerns when making changes. Failure considering these issues can result in behavior that costs more energy than you save. For example, you may remove a vent to reduce energy loss. But then operators will prop a door open.

• Obviously, you need to know what the regulations and requirements are. That's why you should buy this standard.
• As you apply a requirement, look at the principle behind it. If you satisfy the principle, you won't be subject to "interpretation revisions" being forced on you later.
• To understand a particular provision, understand its context. So rather than look up a sentence and try to parse out its meaning, look at the entire code and how it's arranged. Where does the provision fit within this framework, and what is that chapter or section trying to accomplish?
• Remember that members of all code-making bodies write the codes in respect to the laws of physics, and to the body of knowledge in the respective trade or skill area addressed by the code. If you also understand these things, then you will be able to more properly apply a given code requirement.
• Codes are nearly always written as minimum requirements. You may need to go beyond the code requirements for optimum operational efficiency or to satisfy engineering requirements based on best practices. The codes almost never limit you from going beyond the requirements.