Setting Up Unit Costs

NOTE-- We retired the MacNail estimating program in 2000, and replaced it with Goldenseal construction estimating software. There are still a significant number of die-hard MacNail users, so we keep the manuals online for them! Goldenseal is an integrated program that also includes accounting, scheduling and contract writing. It uses Assemblies and Cost Items to store data for estimating.

Basic Unit Price Items

Most of the 'stock' prices in the MacNail construction estimating software (and most of the unit prices you'll develop yourself) will be for a simple 'chunk' of construction work used on many types of projects. Many of the estimating 'rules of thumb ' that you might already have also will fall into this category.

Defining a Unit Price Item

Before you start customizing the price book in the MacNail construction management software, it's worth taking some time to decide exactly what items should be added, and how much they should include.

A good unit price item will be used more than once. Just because you installed a built-in brick sushi cooker on your last project doesn't mean you need to immortalize it as an item in your 'price book'-- unless you think you 'll be building more of them some day soon.

New unit prices should have a cost that is consistent from project to project. It would be hard to come up with a useable unit price for a doghouse, for example, since the next one you build will probably be different from the last.