Unit Cost Basics

NOTE-- MacNail estimating was replaced by Goldenseal construction estimating software back in 2000. There are still die-hard MacNail users, so we keep the MacNail manuals online for them! Goldenseal also includes accounting, job costing and project management features. Goldenseal unit cost info is stored in Cost Items and Assemblies.

Unit Price Estimating Basics

The MacNail construction management software uses unit price estimating to figure the cost of construction on your projects. Unit price estimating assumes that the cost of an item per unit will be about the same over a fairly wide range of quantities. Unit pricing works very well most of the time, especially when an experienced estimator checks the numbers and adjusts them for special conditions, if necessary.

If you have been doing any kind of estimating at all, chances are that you already work with unit prices-- possibly without even knowing it! Even a simple rule of thumb like 'a buck a square foot for painted sheetrock' or 'one hour to hang a door' is a unit price, and it's not hard to translate it into The MacNail construction estimating software.

What are Unit Cost?

A unit cost (or unit price) is a pretty simple concept-- it is a cost per lineal foot, per square foot, per piece, or per some other unit that is easy to measure. Usually the unit price will be for a 'chunk' of work that you are likely to run into on many jobs-- for example, one lineal foot of 2x4 wall framing, one square foot of cedar siding, or one double-hung window installation.

To figure the actual dollar cost of a 'chunk' of construction work, you'll multiply its unit price by the number of units that are included in the project. In MacNail Estimating, that is done in the Specifications section. You can use the 'suggested' quantities that come from the Dimensions section, or your own quantities that you type into the 'units used' column.