Estimation and Specification Cost Estimation Constructiion Specification Model Specification Checkliststablishing a budget early in the programming or design process 15 ne of the most important aspects of design because it influences any design decisions and can help determine whether a project 1s en feasible. Once a budget 15 set, the interior designer must work thin it and keep the chent advised about any changes that might fluence final costs. itial budgets can be set in several ways. In most cases, the clent 5 already estimated the amount of money available and simply gues iS figure to the interior designer. Corporate clients or organizations th on-going building programs usually have a good idea of what new - remodeled facilities cost, and their budgets are usually realistic. esidential clients or people who are contracting for interior design ervices and construction for the first time may have very poor idea of e costs involved. The maximum project costs are set long before e design or construction begins. other cases, the client will describe the extent of work he or she ould like and ask the designer to develop an anticipated budget ‘om this preliminary figure, the client and designer can determine if ere 1s enough money to do the job or whether the budget must be creased or the scope of work be decreased 1ere 1s always a relatiorship among quantity, quality, and money. hanging one affects the others. For example, if the client has fred idget and must build and furnish a specific amount of space, then |e quality of materials or extent of work must reflect the budget and e space. If the client wants a particular level of quality and a given nount of space, then the required budget should reflect these two quirements. OST INFLUENCES any factors affect the final project cost. The client must budget for ore than construction costs and furnishings expenses. The following ections descnbe some of the possible expenses that can occur on an terior design project. Construction costs are the moneys required to build or remodel th interior, including such things as demolition, partitions, ceilings millwork, finishes, and plumbing, electrical, and mechanical wor generally anything that 1s attached to and becomes part of the structure Furniture, fixtures and equipment This category can include many things. In most projects, furniture futures, and equipment (FF and E) are separate budget items becaus the way they are specified, purchased, and installed 15 different froi the way construction items are handled. Furnishings are either purchase directly by the interior designer, who arranges for delivery an installation, or specified by the interior designer for purchase an installation by one or more furniture dealers. They are also a Séparat budget item because of the various discounts the designer or cler receives and the tax that must be paid. Some of the items that are normally part of the FF and E budge include the following: > Furniture > Applance > Free-starding equipment such aS vending machines and librar bookshelves Window coverings Rugs and mats Intenor plants and planters Lamps Artwork Accessones vvvVvvyYProfessional tees Professional fees include the charges for the imtenor designer's services as well as fees for other professionals such a5 architects, mechanical engineers, and electrical engineers. In addition, costs for special consultants, legal fees, and testing may be mcluded here. Taxes Taxes include sales tax paid on furniture, accessones, and other purchased items. If the cent has a total budget for purchased items, the tax must be deducted from the top, $0 the designer knows how much money 16 actually available for buying the items. Taxes on materials used in construction are paid by the general contractor and subcontractors and are included in the total construction budget. Moving costs Some clients prefer to include moving costs in their total building budget. This includes the money required to physically relocate and may also include things ike the cost to reprint stationery and downtime caused by the move. Fer large companies, moving costs can be substantial. Telephone and data system installation Because telephone and data systems (computers, local area networks, and the like) are purchased separately and installed by specialty companies, the costs tor these systems should be kept separate. In most cases, the client wil coordinate these items separately without involving the interior desgner. Contingencies A contingency should always be added to the budget to account for unforeseen change requests by the client and other conditions that will add to the total cost of the job. For an early project budget, the percentage of the contngency should be higher than contingencies applied to later budgets, because there are more unknown at the beginning of a project. Normally, from 5 to 10 percent of the total budget should be inclided. You may have one contingency to cover everything, or one for construction and one for furniture, futures, cost of a job. As previously stated, the client may arcauyns certain amount of money available and the interior designer work backwards, subtracting money for fees, taxes, and similar to arrive at what 15 left over for the actual construction and furnish In other cases, the designer must determine the scope of the with the client and assign costs to the various individual ele arrive at the final figure. Whichever method 15 used, the exact procedure for budgeting vary depending on the tume at which a budget 1s developed. Bu is an ongomng actinty; it 1 reused at each phase of the projec more decisions are made. Very early in the project, little 1s ‘about the job except its overall size and general quality. later, construction documents are complete and furniture specfical finalized, a very detailed estimate can be calculated. Square footage Budgets based on size are usually the first and most preimiary of estimate done before much design work has started. Theanticips® square footage of the project 15 multiphed by a cost er scat footto ame at a number. The square footage costs my be on the designer's or cient’s expenence with similar proscts, costs, like contingencies, may in turn be generated by esti! them as a percentage of the basic construction cost. When you 16 square foot cost, you must know if it includes additions costs as contractor's overhead and profits, taxes, an the ke It 16 vovally best to develop three budgets based on a ou, med} and high cost per square foot or cost per functional ut. Ths the client can see the probable range of money that wile reqe! Parameter As design progresses and the interior designer and dient ha better idea of the exact scope of the work, the refined. The procedure most often used at this time iste parat method, which involves an expanded itemization of onstru quantities and furnishings and assignment of unit caf to t= quantities. Ref table. For example, floor finsshes can bezocen wire multiplied by an estimated cost per square foot and the total sudget for flooring 1s developed. If the design has not progressed 0 the point of selecting individual flooring types, an average cost of looring can be estimated and assigned to the total area of the project. Furniture can be estimated in a similar way. The final manufacturer and fabric of a seating group may not be decided, but costs for typical sofas, chairs, and coffee tables based on the designer’s experience can be totaled to get a working budget number. With this type of budgeting, it 1s possible to evaluate the cost implication of each building component and to make decisions concerning both quantity and quality that meet the onginal budget estimate. If floor finishes are over budget, the interior designer and the client can review the parameter estimate and decide, for example, that some wood flooring must be replaced with less expensive carpeting, Parameter line items are based on commonly used units that relate to the construction element or cost item under study. For instance, a gypsum wallboard partition would have an assigned cost per square foot or cost per linear foot (for given height) of a complete partition of a particular construction type, rather than separate costs for studs, gypsum board, screws, and finshing. This way, tt is an easy procedure to calculate the Inear footage of partitions. FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION The following factors are to be considered whil of work: estimating any item Design > Complicated design requires: Y Greater time for execution Y Additional supervision Y Skilled labour which 1s costly > In general case, quantity of wastage shall be more m complicated design. quantity of wasiage wm ve giwav used in other items, then this cost of wastage is to be considered. Elevation eee = A Rose w" Lamini"5 om x 2.50 om teak wood frame Pecifications of materials 2ecifications of various materials are either written on the estimate eet or are mentioned in the working and detail drawings. They are be read thoroughly as quality, grains, textures, finish are mentioned those drawings which also affects an estimate, e.g., matching rose neer grams is 30% costlier than unmatching rose veneer grains. duration for completion the period given for execution is less, the overtime 1s to be paid to pours which 1s generally 1.5 times more and sometimes double than e regular wages. One important point to be considered 1s that the erame for two or three days are OK. But if it 1s for longer period, Du will not get the quantity of work done from those people as you ere getting dunng regular day work. After all, labours are human, ey get tired and hence the work will be little slow. Apart from extra ages for overtime, food 15 also to be provided to labour on site Quantity of work irge quantity of work at one site decreases the pressure on ontractor. If he has five small jobs at various places, he has to run to | the sites, to meet all the designers and clients and labours. Large yantity of work at one site saves plenty of his time in traveling, time r meetings and approval, time for explaining to labours, etc. also ss percentage of his profit becomes a large amount itself. -ocation of site ometime the site may be of town limits, or in another town. So efore giving an estimate, contractor must survey the market near \e site and find out the rates of various materials, whether they are leap or costly. If those materials are not available there. he should id the cartage required to supply matenals from another town. If 1 contractor wants to use the labourers of other city, he should to contractor also increases the cost. Miscellaneous items Working on the estimates designer, generally omits the misc. items, eg, screws, adhesive, antitermite material, smal required for fwing laminate or small headless nai 3g ipping strip, complicated jomts in wood. Quantity and q these small materials also make difference in the estimate. Example of an estimate How to estimate the cost of a paneling whose design 15 g = Rose wood ti 2 cxftose wood leping 1.25 om thick marine plywood 1.25 om marine 5.om x 2.50 om teak wood frame Laminate, is lose woc Somx teak Roose woe Section AA Detail xof materials in meter in m* méin KS mins 1 Jom thick marine ply 12x21 10.8 232/- 2505.60 2 lem thick manne ply 12x24 2.88 232/- 668.16 3 4mm rosewood matching veneer 12x18 6.64 290)- 3369.60 4 Som x 2.5cm TW 2.7m Solel: 36/rm 1263.60 5 Sem x 2.5om TW 2.4m 48.0L 26/rm 1728.00 6 a | 4mm thick 3.7cm wide rosewood lipping strip cut into two pieces fed front of all grooves 15m - 27 /em 405.00 b | 4mm thick 3.7cm wide rosewood lipping strip cut into two pieces in length fed on sides, top and bottom of rosewood veneer panelling 12m 5 27/em 324.00 c 12mm thick, 7.5em wide rosewood lipping strip fxed in front of base 4.5m z 60)rm 360.00 ez Fevicol : 5kq 70/- 350.00 6 Screws and nails - - See 275.00 9 Termicide - 2 litre 30/- 60.00 ° Melamine polish - 7 85/- 1295.00 afl Cartage - 250/- 250.00 12 Labour - ist 700/- 6190.00 Total 21043.96 Contingencies 5% 1052.20 Contractor's profit 25% on labour and material 5261.00 Grand total 27357 .16 Hence, the rate of this panelling works out to Rs 2029.00/m*