Conceptual cost estimates for all the proposed improvements are included in their own dedicated section within the LRFMP. The estimates look at each school, each site, and each district program and are specifically assigned and categorized.
At the stage of district-wide facility master planning, cost estimates are purposefully conceptual in nature. Every detail about every project is not yet known. Much will be learned as the designs for each proposed improvement evolve.
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Unit Costs
At the master planning stage, cost estimating is grounded in industry standard unit costs. The unit costs established for new construction, renovation, and site improvements included within the LRFMP are a result of a collaborative effort by TRUSD’s team of design professional consultants. These median unit costs were developed from a data base of literally millions of square feet of similar project scope and experience.
Project Costs/Construction Costs:
Project cost estimates differ from construction cost estimates. Hard construction costs include the actual ‘brick and mortar’ costs for the contemplated improvements along with a reasonable multiplier for the contractor’s administration, overhead, etc. Soft costs are in addition to hard construction costs and generally include design, plan review, inspection, and agency fees. Here again, industry standard multipliers are used. These soft costs, in addition to the hard construction costs make up the Total Project Cost.
Contingency
Contingency planning is as much an art as a science. Contingency factors typically shrink as projects evolve through design, final drawings, permitting, bidding, and construction. They are the highest at the master planning stage. In this earliest of diagrammatic stages there is much still to be known about each project’s scope, budget, and schedule. Rather than carrying this factor as a distinct line item, the contingency factor included in the TRUSD LRFMP has been built into the unit costs for each proposed improvement.
Escalation
Escalation may be the most difficult aspect of assigning costs at the master planning level. Escalation, or inflation, is tied to time. The design/construction industry uses the mid-point of construction as the standard when preparing hard bids and estimates. However, with a master plan it is difficult to assign a particular year to each particular project without first developing a hard and fast implementation plan (project timeline). The TRUSD LRFMP does not include such an implementation plan. The document instead assumes an industry standard 5.0% per year escalation and assigns the median year as the mid-point on construction for all projects. This then means that earlier projects will be less impacted by escalation whereas later projects will be more impacted.
Visualizing the Estimates
The following charts diagrammatically summarize the figures included on the master cost spreadsheet.