Construction Budgeting

Establishing and maintaining an accurate construction budget is the key to success for every project and will help guide the decision making process prior to project tendering.

Draw from our experience with large scale construction tenders, budgets and full scope pricing to establish realistic construction budgets right from the start so you can have higher confidence with your proforma allowing you to move your project forward.

We provide comprehensive budgeting services for all types of construction.

  • Multi-family residential

  • Institutional

  • Commercial

  • Tenant Improvements

Estimate Classification

Throughout the pre-construction phase of your project the construction budget will see four distinct updates as the design and contract documents are formed starting from a very preliminary Class D Estimate to a fully complete Class A Estimate once the project has been fully tendered.

  • Class A estimate

  • Class B estimate

  • Class C estimate

  • Class D estimate

Class A Estimate

The Class A Estimate is complete once the project documents have been officially issued to trades and a complete tender amount has been compiled. At this point, the drawings are essentially complete with full specifications included allowing Trade Contractors to quantify materials and complete detailed take-offs, ultimately leading to their offer to complete the work.

This estimate will form the Construction Contract and is the most accurate and complete.

Class B Estimate

The Class B Estimate is completed with 90% project documents including advanced drawings, material selections and specifications generally very close to completion. Majority of the value engineering process will be complete by this stage and trades are generally called in to assist with budgets.

At this stage, we review all documents and provide recommendations for adjustments prior to the actual tendering process. These adjustments are generally more material based and overall value engineering related.

Class C Estimate

The Class C Estimate is completed on 60% project documents generally including preliminary drawings for all disciplines (Architectural, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical).

At this stage, we complete an elemental analysis based estimate where we evaluate each trade section and division separately and compile a detailed, per element, estimate summary identifying the major cost categories and their associated budgets. In order to establish realistic budgets, we will split the individual trade sections into mini Class D estimates and perform cost per element review and budgeting.

Recommendations are made at this time regarding constructability issues, material selections and general building systems along with value engineering concepts.

Class D Estimate

Designed to be an “indication of construction costs”, based on conceptual design at the earliest stages of your project, the Class D Estimate is the highest level and least accurate estimate, compiled from 30% project documents generally including only Architectural massing drawings.

Completed with the most preliminary concept drawings, before specifications or floor plans, the Class D Budget is usually provided with very little detail and is based on historical costs for similar buildings. Due to the preliminary nature of the project documents, these budgets are provided as a global $ / square foot unit rate based on the overall building areas.