Regional Cost Differences

What about regional differences in Goldenseal's prices?

Construction prices vary quite a bit in different parts of the country. However our Assemblies are based on the actual labor hours and material quantities needed for each type of constructione work, so you can easily calibrate them to your own local conditions.

Here are some general regional differences for the US which have been reported by users of Goldenseal construction estimating software:

  • Our labor hours seems to be about 5% too high for some parts of the Midwest, and in some rural areas elsewhere in the country. Apparently the Puritan work ethic is especially strong in those parts! You can handle this condition by reducing the cost of labor.
  • Our labor hours are anywhere from 5 to 30% too low for major metropolitan areas such as Boston, New York City, Miami and Los Angeles. You can increase the cost of labor, or add additional line items to cover the additional time spent on commuting, parking, navigating large buildings and other big city overhead.
  • Our starting lumber material costs are too high for the Pacific Northwest and some other parts of the country that have nearby lumber mills. The normal calibrating process will adjust for cheap materials.
  • Our material costs are too low overall for islands (Hawaii, Nantucket, etc.), for Manhattan, and for certain very remote areas where delivery costs are high. If you live in any of these zones, you can either calibrate the material costs so they include delivery (if you do all your work in a high-cost area), or else add delivery charges as a separate line item in the specifications part of each estimate (if you sometimes work in other places, too).
  • Many of our prices are too low for "ritzy" areas-- for example, southern Connecticut, Westchester County NY, Marin County CA, and other expensive parts of California. This cost difference is more a matter of fancier specifications than an actual productivity factor, and it is easily handled by the usual calibrating process.

HINT-- Whether you should handle special conditions by calibrating all prices, or using a separate adjustment, depends on the details of your business. For example, if you always work in an expensive area, then you might as well adjust all your costs to fit that region. If you work in a variety of areas, then it works better to have a "base price" for your standard work, and then add for the additional cost of working in an expensive area.

Click here to return to estimating topics.