Construction prices do vary quite a bit in different parts
of the country. Because our labor database is stored in person-hours, however, you'll find that most of the
difference is accounted for when you type your own local wage rates into the Fixed Costs section
of the MacNail or HyperEstimator construction estimating software.
NOTE-- We retired the MacNail and BidMagic
estimating programs in 2000, and replaced them
with Goldenseal construction
estimating software. Goldenseal is an integrated program that
also includes accounting, scheduling and contract writing.
We keep these instructions online for our die-hard MacNail
users! Goldenseal
estimates also include a quick adjustment factor that you can
use for regional differences in prices. You can also use the
Replace All command to adjust some or all material costs
by a fixed amount.
Nevertheless, there are a few
regional price differences that we 've noticed, based on reports from our users:
- Our labor database seems
to be about 5% too high for most of the Midwest, and in many rural areas elsewhere
in the country. Apparently the Puritan work ethic is especially strong in those parts!
- Our labor database is anywhere
from 5 to 30% too low for major metropolitan areas such as Boston, New York City
and Los Angeles.
- Our lumber material costs are too high for the Pacific Northwest and some other parts of
the West. 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 may
want to use MacNail
Customizing first
thing to figure in your own local lumber prices. If excessive delivery costs are the main
difference between your costs and our database, you may want to add delivery charges as a separate line item
in Specifications,
or in the soft costs
section of the Summation.
- Many of our prices are too low for "ritzy" areas-- for example,
southern Connecticut, Westchester County NY, and many parts of California. This cost difference is more
a matter of fancier
specifications than an actual productivity factor.
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