Calibrating MacNail Unit Costs

NOTE-- We retired the MacNail and BidMagic estimating programs in 2000, and replaced them with Goldenseal construction estimating software. We keep these instructions online for our die-hard MacNail users! Goldenseal is an integrated program that also includes accounting, scheduling and contract writing. It Includes greatly improved tools for calibrating and updating construction prices.

Adjusting Unit Prices

Since the MacNail construction estimating software uses a detailed line item approach to estimating, you can easily adjust any of our unit costs so they reflect your own actual cost of building.

All of our unit prices are stored in the Specifications section of the estimate. To get there, choose *Specifications from the MacNail menu.

NOTE: To get to a specific section of Specifications, choose *Go to Category from the MacNail menu, then choose the cost category from the scrolling list.

The three highlighted columns in the illustration above represent the price database for each line item. For example, for 1/2" gypsum wallboard, we figure .014 skilled person-hours, and .01 unskilled person-hours of labor to hang one square foot, plus a material cost of 22¢ per square foot (including materials, waste and hardware).

NOTE: Sometimes it's easier to relate to person-hour figures by looking at the inverse of the database number. If you divide 1 by .014, you'll see that we're figuring that a skilled worker can hang about 70 square feet of wallboard per hour.

When you are comparing our estimated cost for any line item against your actual cost, you'll look at the three calculated cost columns. For example, in the illustration above, for 1/2" wallboard we see a calculated cost of $2473 for materials and $4363 for subcontractors.

How you calibrate our database to match your own actual costs will depend on the kind of information you have for your test project.

• If you have good job cost data for the project, or at least a gut feeling for the actual dollar cost, compare your actual price against what MacNail estimates, and type in new labor and material costs until MacNail matches your actual costs. For example, if you really paid $2600 for materials and $4000 for subcontracted installation on this project, increase the material unit price and decrease the labor slightly (see illustration below).
• If you have a firm square foot cost from a subcontractor, a "rule of thumb", or a gut-feeling idea of what things should cost per square foot, start by typing 100 (or some other convenient number) into the units used column. You can then adjust the database so it gives you the number you normally use. For example, if you normally pay 35¢ a square foot for hanging when you provide materials, type new numbers into the skilled and unskilled labor columns until it shows you something close to that number (see illustration below).
• If you know about how long the labor took (in actual hours), divide the total hours taken by the skilled workers by the number of square feet installed, and type that number into the Man-hr/Unit skilled cell.

NOTE: When figuring your own labor costs, be sure to include coffee breaks, material handling, setup and cleanup, and other "hidden" labor.