It is incredibly monumental knowing about the insights to estimate HVAC work for residential, commercial, and industrial systems. Creating accurate construction estimates for various projects is the most crucial part on which all the stakeholders have to agree on cost expectations. This way unexpected mistakes or unforeseen situations are avoided. The whole process is fully outlined because it consists of several steps starting with a thorough review of the project scope.
Commercial and industrial contractors have to be exceptionally correct while estimating costs due to hefty invested outlays. Chances of errors must be “NIL” because inaccuracies can derail your projects. To achieve spot-on results, they hire experts for HVAC estimating services from well-known companies. Because high-profile projects require advanced systems from refrigeration units to heat pumps. Additionally, they have to look into various factors such as energy efficiency ratings, the subcontractor’s expenses, and the project management itself. without any further duo, let’s jump right into our topic!
DIVE IN TO GAIN INSIGHTS ABOUT THE STEPS TO ESTIMATE HVAC WORK AND IMPLEMENT THEM IN YOUR NEXT ESTIMATION PROCESS TO AVOID BUDGET OVERRUNS AND DELAYS!
Step-by-step guide to estimate HVAC work
Step 1: Review the Bid Request
In the first step, you need to review what is the builder or a contractor’s requirements from you. Second, can you meet their expectations or not?
If they are requesting any warranty period, you have to provide them. Also, in case of any change orders or adjustments, discuss the policies before starting the project.
Remember, if you’re not exceptionally thorough while doing the Detailed review of the project scope, you will end up making mistakes.
Step 2: Review the Drawings and Plans
Reviewing the drawings and plans means that you must be prepared for the builders’ propositions. This means that the builders or contractors may have more than 10 models of plans to discuss. So, in any case, you have to. Review all the plans to prepare bid proposals.
In addition to that, HVAC estimating projects demand high-level accuracy which deeply analyses the unique features of the project. If you fail to account for all these features then expect less or no profit margins!
Step 3: Perform a Quantity Takeoff
After understanding the project scope, the most crucial step is to perform a quantity takeoff. In this step, you have to count for the HVAC units, HVAC systems, and other equipment or HVAC materials e.g. ductwork and other materials required for the job.
To achieve accurate takeoffs, you have to use paid and advanced software such as PlanSwift, Trimble, etc. After getting the results they write them one by one into the Excel sheets. Using digital software is the best approach because if you do it manually it can take you weeks to finish the quantity takeoff process.
Step 4: Estimate Your Material Costs
When you reach this step, you have the right quantification of materials because of the takeoff process. Now it’s time to estimate them according to the up-to-date cost. Remember, be careful while estimating the HVAC cost, it must be according to the market conditions.
To achieve accurate estimates, you can use the latest software to update your spreadsheets according to the current costs. The software can help you integrate directly with top supplier catalogs for HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and more. make sure, in this tab there is no room for error while calculating the materials prices to write the final bid.
Step 5: Determine Your Labor Costs
Next comes the evaluation of the labour expenses for the overall HVAC project. First, you need to make sure what pricing system is being used. Second, what are you paying to your manpower and subcontractors?
For pricing systems, you can evaluate by the unit rate system which means rather than paying on the basis of our, the pay is decided on the basis of the task output. Whereas, the second factor involves whether you are paying your own manpower or a subcontractor. If it is your own employee, then you will have to pay for everything including gas, insurance, etc. In case, you choose a subcontractor you may have to pay more but you do not have to worry about the additional burden of expenses like vehicles, etc.
Step 6: Overhead Costs
Keep one thing in mind, if you have no sense of handling overhead, then you are not going to make profitable money. so, you have to be careful enough to evaluate the overhead percentage which includes all the additional expenses. make sure to include it in your estimates because if you don’t, you may end up over-budgeting.
Step 7: Estimate for Profitability
When you are done with the evaluation of material, labour, and overhead, you now have to calculate the overall cost. The most common ways are the multiplier method and the divisor method.
Let’s assume:
Net profit= 20%
Total cost = $200,000
Multiplier method=
Bid price = Costs x (1 + Profit percentage) = $200,000 x (1 + 0.20) = $240,000
Divisor Method=
Bid price = Costs / (1 – Profit percentage) = $200,000 / (1 – 0.20) = $250,000
FOLLOW ALL THE STEPS CAREFULLY AND SAFEGUARD YOUR HVAC PROJECT’S FINANCES OR SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP FROM OUR ESTIMATORS TO COVER POTENTIAL RISKS EFFICIENTLY!
Final Words!
To sum it up, to estimate HVAC cost it all depends on how you follow the steps. In case, not following the right l approach, the estimates will always be opposite to your desired ones. It is recommended to choose the right estimating company for your needs! Why? To avoid budgetary issues or unexpected scenarios during the construction phase.