Construction Planning and Estimating Construction Technology I Module 2 part 2

Planning the project Things to consider in planning a construction project Cost (Generally not more than 25% of gross income of buyer) Location (shopping, schools, community services) Lot Shape (room for design) Special conditions (flooding, mining, industry) Zoning (single family, multi family, commercial) Deed restrictions (special conditions that apply to the site because of neighborhood city requirements)

Legal Documents  The purchase/construction of a house is a legal transaction requiring protection through official written, signed and dated documents Official survey (defines the building site) Deed ( defines evidence of ownership) Abstract of title (history of who has owned and transactions of the property) Contract of sale (all the details of the sale and the specifications of a build)

Type of House Plans  Stock Plans – Catalog plans  Custom Plans – Start from scratch drawn by an architect with input from client  Builders Plans – Plans that a builder has used or uses on a regular basis as a specialization

Financing a construction project  Choose a builder  Obtain a construction loan (80% of house cost)  Builder is paid in “draws” from the construction loan  Complete house  Buyer takes ownership of home and opens a mortgage loan which converts the construction loan to a year long term payment loan

Estimating costs for construction  Estimating cost of project is important to borrowing process Pre-design estimate (cost per square foot based on average local costs) Quantity Takeoff (Every piece of material is counted and priced – most accurate method) Unit-cost estimate (uses components such as walls, roof, paint, cabinets as units and estimates based on per foot average costs of each component) Allowances ( costs that can’t be estimated because buyer wants to select after construction begins like lighting, appliances etc. so an estimator will include allowance costs to cover these items)

Sources of cost information  Material suppliers  Prior Bids  Pricing guides

Checklist  To ensure that every item in a project is estimated an estimator will use checklists Construction order checklist (uses the construction process order to itemize the needed materials CSI MasterFormat checklist (Construction Specifications Institude developed list of specifications used for commercial construction)

Scheduling the project  Material Delivery Scheduling Delivers materials only when needed to prevent damage, or theft on site  Activity Scheduling Schedules work to be done in order of need  Bar chart using calendar days and grid system to schedule work and duration of time in which to complete  Critical Path Method (CPM Show tasks through a flow chart diagram uses a system of arrows and nodes to organize work and time