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.
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