You will need to determine what you will need in the way of rental equipment based on the needs of the project. You learned about the different types of rental equipment in the “Field Installation” course, but now you need to enter the requirements into the estimating spreadsheet.
Crane Cost
Early on in the bidding process you would have requested a quote from crane rental companies for the equipment that needs to be set outside on the roof or ground.
Crane Rental Worksheet
The cost for a crane is based on many factors including the weight of the equipment, height and reach required to set the equipment. In the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet there is a Crane Cost calculator that shows you what goes into the cost considerations. As item #1 in the above shows there is a labor component that involves the following;
Crane Labor
Travel to Site: Time it takes the crane company to get to jobsite from their rental yard.
Mobilization/Demobilization: The time required to get the crane in position and setup for rigging, and then when finished, the time required to disassemble and get ready from traveling back to their rental yard.
Rigging Time: This is the time you would require to set the equipment.
Travel Out: This is the time for the crane to travel back to the rental yard from the jobsite
Miscellaneous Fees
Permits & Traffic Control: The city in which the crane will be operating requires a permit fee, and if it’s within the area of an airport an additional fee will be required.
Street Closure: This could be a large fee if the crane needs to setup on a major street or highway and the traffic needs to be diverted while the crane is operating.
Long Boom Fee: If a boom is required there could be an additional fee, as this requires additional equipment to extend the reach of the crane.
Counter Weight Fee: This is the cost for the additional weights that will need to be added to the crane so it can counter the weight of the equipment with the required height and reach requirements.
This Crane Cost Table can be used to budget the cost based on similar projects, but the best option is to always get a quote, as you might not foresee what a trained crane rental professional will notice.
Other Rental Equipment
The MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet provides a list of the most commonly used rental equipment including a crane. Just fill out the different fields as required for the project conditions as follows;
#1 Enter the quantity required
#2 Enter the description of the rental equipment
#3 Enter the quantity for the rental period unit value
#4 Rental Period in either Days, Weeks, Months or Lump Sum
#5 Rental rate for the rental period
Construction Rental Equipment
The things to consider when deciding what rentals you need and for how long depends on various factors. One of the first things to look at is the project schedule and where your trade is involved within the schedule. So, the duration of the project will set how long you will need certain general condition items like project office trailers and storage bins.
Next, you need to review the hours required for the various task that need to be performed and if they require special equipment to assist in completing that work task. Like the need for a scissor or boom lift to reach high bay areas to install hangers and ductwork, and long long you will need that equipment to finish your work.
Example:
There is a 25 foot roof deck where you need to install duct hangers and ductwork where you figured to use a three person crew to install 45 feet in a day (15 feet/Man Day). Assuming you have 450 feet to install in this high bay area, your analysis for the duration of the scissor lift for this area would look like this:
450 feet / (45 feet/Man Day) = 10 Days (2 weeks of scissor lift rental)
There will be certain task you will have to subcontract to companies that specialize in areas that your company doesn’t. For example, most companies don’t have their own insulators or controls division. Let’s look at the different requirements and needs for a subcontractor. On your subcontractor tab of your estimating spreadsheet we find the following.
Subcontractors Sheet in the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet
Company (#1)
List all the companies that you normally do business with for each of the categories of subcontractors, as this will save you time on bid day when you need to contact them.
Contact (#2)
List the salesperson that you normally deal with, or the inside sales desk person, or the bid or quote desk person that is responsible for issuing quotes at bid time. Preferably you will have received the quotation without having to call on bid day to request it, as you have given them notification earlier in the process.
Recording the phone number of the vendor can save valuable time on bid day, by not having to look for phone numbers of key vendors that you require a quotation from.
Quote (#3)
Record each subcontractor’s quoted value under the Quote column.
After analyzing the bids for each category of subcontractors you will record the lowest responsible bidder in the Quote column. This is the price that will get carried forward to your front summary sheet called “Final Bid”
Price Used (#4)
This is the price that actually gets used. If you are using the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet then the lowest quote is automatically chosen from all the quotes listed.
Plug or Quote (#5)
If you don’t want to use the lowest quoted value then you can overwrite this value by entering the price you want into the dark yellow cell entitled “Plug or Quote”
Remarks (#6)
This is a small area for you to document those items that may help you in making a decision as to which subcontractor to pick. Such items may include exclusions or additional scope of work that is identified on their quotation.
HVAC Subcontractors
Make sure to review their scope letters for complete coverage of the project requirements. Did they include all of the systems required to be insulated? Sometimes subcontractors will exclude a system because of an outdated material spec or they will be missing scope because they didn’t do a thorough job of reviewing the plans and specifications. It is your job to make certain that they have included all that is required for this project.
Insulation Subcontractor
The first category of subcontractors is the insulators. Record their bids for the cost to insulate the ductwork and piping if you’re bidding both trades. Note any exclusions or additional scope. For those living in an intensive energy code environment be sure to note any code changes in the thickness required for insulation, as jurisdiction keep increasing the thickness to meet state mandated energy savings.
Insulation Sub Est-Spreadsheet
Air and Water Balance
It is often the requirement of the specifications that the Air and Water Balancing be done by an independent contractor, one that is unaffiliated with your company. This would mean that your company couldn’t do the air or water balance on their own. If the specification don’t require an independent contractor and your company has the capabilities to do their own, then you would need to add labor for each of the HVAC systems that would require balancing. For company provided balancing, enter the labor values on the HVAC Equipment tab of your estimating spreadsheet.
Air and Water Balance Sub
Building Automation Systems
Building automation is often specified to be done using a particular controls manufacturers product line, and that the installers be trained technicians of that manufacture. This eliminates a lot of contractors from doing their own controls. If the project is located within a larger facility of buildings or campus, then there is most likely one controls manufacture that has been used on this multi-building campus. This would require you to contact the approved BMS (Building Management System) contractor to get their quote for the project.
Open Protocol for the Building Automation Systems allows for any controls contractor to bid on the project using hardware and software that is compatible with the existing open protocol system.
Controls Sub Est-Spreadsheet
Sometimes the best choice isn’t always the lowest bidder, as shown in the image above you can choose to go with a higher if it makes sense. In this case the bid of $23,500 is the 2nd lowest bidder, but they are the existing controls contractor in the building which will probably mean less of a management problem because of their existing knowledge of the building and its building automation system.
The small premium of $955 over the low bidder, is worth having a knowledgeable subcontractor. These are some of the decision you will have to make. Also, it will look better on your proposal to the owner that you are using the existing buildings controls contractor. This is all based on the project not being awarded solely on low price, as not all projects are. Some projects are awarded based on a combination of price and best value.
There will be times when the controls portion of the scope of work will be under the general contractors contract with the requirement for the HVAC contractor to coordinate and cooperate with the controls contractor.
Fire Caulking
Anytime you penetrate a rated wall or floor you might be required to seal that penetration with fire caulking. Fire caulking maintains the fire rating of the rated assembly. Some of the insulators also have a division that does this type of work.
Excavation and Backfill
If the project requires you to dig a trench to bury pipes or sometimes ductwork, there will be a requirement for excavation and backfill. Identify in the specifications who is responsible for this scope of work. Usually the responsible party is the one requiring the trench. You have two choices if the requirement is yours to perform; hire someone or do it yourself. Most HVAC contractors are not setup to do their own excavation and backfill.
If you hire an excavation and backfill subcontractor make sure to review their proposal for completeness and any exclusion, like rock or virgin soil.
Self-Performed Excavation
If you do your own excavating, there is a simple method on the form to calculate the cubic yards required for a straight trench with no sloped sides. If your trench goes deeper than 5 feet you may be required to provide shoring. Check the requirements in the local jurisdiction of the property.
Put the length, width and depth of the trench in unit values of feet. The total cubic yards will be calculated automatically along with the total cost based upon what you enter for the cost per cubic yard to excavate and backfill. It’s always best to allow a professional excavator to figure the required amount of excavation and backfill, as they do this for a living and will protect you from making a mistake.
Chapter #4 – Sheet Metal Material and Labor Summary
On the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet you will find a page that summarizes all the sheet metal material and labor in a neat format for your review. No matter what type of estimating software or program you use to analyze your estimate, you should have some form of summary review. This page is a snapshot of all the sheet metal material and labor required for this project.
Sheet Metal Rectangular & round Material and Labor
Sheet Metal Field Material & Labor Summary
The upper portion of the sheet metal summary covers the Field Material and Labor, while the lower half covers Shop Fabrication for those companies that have their own shop.
Rectangular and Round Duct & Fittings
Whenever you do a takeoff for sheet metal it’s always preferable to keep rectangular duct and fittings separate from round for better analysis.
Sheet Metal Rectangular & Round Material and Labor
If you are using an estimating software program for your takeoffs then this information should be readily available. This is where you put the summary of the information from your takeoff. Items like the total linear feet and pounds of ductwork and fittings for rectangular and round, along with the material cost and labor hours.
Field Misc
This is an extra line item on the estimating spreadsheet to allow for anything not previous covered, as various projects may require something not covered.
Sheet Metal Misc
Sheet Metal Specialties (See separate Estimating Tab)
Sheet Metal Specialties were covered in the Field Installation chapter and this provides a line item summary of those items. Also, see below for the actual Sheet Metal Specialties page of the MEP Academy estimating spreadsheet for an explanation of that page.
Equipment Labor (See Equipment Labor Chapter)
This line item is a summary of all the labor required to rig, set and install all the equipment and accessories as explained in the chapter on Equipment Labor in the Sheet Metal Field Installation course.
Productivity Adjustments ( See Field Labor Adjustments Chapter)
This is the line item that summarizes all the labor adjustments to the benchmark labor. This line is a quick reference to how much labor was adjusted from your database standard. See the chapter in the Sheet MetalField Installation course for more details on adjusting field labor.
Material Handling
Sheet Metal material handling can take considerable time depending on the project conditions. If you are working on a high-rise building and need to get your sheet metal from the truck located at the truck dock on the first floor at the back of the building all the way up to the 20th floor, then you will need to add additional labor for this, as this is not considered part of the installation hours.
If you have the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet then just add a percentage value and the spreadsheet will automatically calculate the hours based on the total field hours, if not, then add the appropriate hours to your own spreadsheet.
Material Handling
Consumables
When installing sheet metal there will be items that get consumed in the process, such as duct tape, sheet metal screws and duct sealer to name a few. If your estimating software doesn’t cover these items then you will want to add a small percentage here to cover these consumable items.
Punch List
At the end of the project there is a punch list generated by the owners representative, whether that is a general contractor or other intermediary, that will list those items that need to be corrected before the project gets a final signoff from the owners perspective. This will allow you to issue a final billing less any required retention.
Cleanup
The cost for cleanup can go under general conditions or under the specific trade that is performing the work, such as sheet metal or HVAC piping. Add the cost for a laborer to sweep up daily trash accumulated by your crew during the day. Usually this includes shipping boxes and scrap material from the installation materials.
The specifications often have a requirement that you clean daily, and if not, then the general has the authority to cleanup your mess and back-charge you for their cost.
Sheet Metal Detailing
Most new construction projects of any significant size will require some form of detailing. This is where you will have a sheet metal detailer draw up shop drawings for the fabrication and installation of the sheet metal. Their responsibilities include reviewing all the other trade drawings to ensure that the ductwork and equipment will fit in the allotted space, and to coordinate with the other trades to resolve any conflicts.
Detailing Supervision
Your company should have historical data on how long it takes to detail a project based on the size of the project your working on. One way to determine the hours required is to consider the following;
How many drawings will be required by the detailers to create the shop drawings and detail pages required?
MEP Academy Sheet Metal Detailing Calculator
How long will it take to familiarize themselves with the project?
How many floor plans and roof drawings will need to be created and how long does it take for each?
What other specialty drawings will need to be created? Some specialty drawings could include detail pages, equipment pad sizes and locations, wall/floor/roof opening drawings, seismic point locations.
How many asbuilt drawings will be required. This should match the quantity of floor & roof plan drawings, as these are the drawings where you will indicate how the ductwork was actually installed as opposed how they were originally drawn on the construction drawings.
You will require some form of field detailing. If you have a software program that integrates the detailers and the fabrication shop then some of this will be automated as the system will just transfer files from the detailer to the shops computer.
Coordination will be required to work out the different trades and the clashes that normally occur. If you are using clash detection software like NavisWorks, then this will be made a much similar operation, but still required.
Sheet Metal Supervision
This is the cost for project labor supervision that is not part of the field installation crew. This person supervises the labor but doesn’t actually install anything themselves. Smaller companies may use the project foreman to provide double duty, but the supervisor will be required to visit all the other projects that are under construction at the same time, and to make sure that the field labor has what they need to accomplish their work and resolve any issues that may arise. Smaller non-union companies may use various other personnel to handle this work, such as a project manager or roving field foreman.
Figure how many hours per week that they might visit the project site and how many weeks the project will be under construction. You can also just use a percentage for the total labor
Option 1 (hrs per Week)
6 Hrs/week x 12 weeks = 72 hours
Option 2 (Percentage of Total Labor)
Total Field Hours x Percentage
720 Hours x 10% = 72 Hours
Sheet Metal Material & Field Metrics
Sheet Metal Metrics
One of the important duties of an estimator is to keep track of cost metrics. In order to do this, you’ll need to start collecting data based on projects that have been completed. In addition to completed projects, you will measure estimates that are currently being proposed. There are several metric calculators in the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet that tracks various values. Make sure that the spreadsheet you use can track metrics that are important for your company’s success.
Sheet Metal Field Parametric Ratios
Some of the metrics that the estimating spreadsheet measures is the cost per pound and cost per linear foot. You should know what you are paying per pound for the rectangular and round sheet metal that you are purchasing, especially rectangular.
Material – Cost per Pound
Material & Labor – Cost per Pound
Material – Cost per Linear Foot
Material & Labor – Cost per Linear Foot
Another good metric to look at is how many pounds per square feet the rectangular and round are determined to be. This can be used in budgeting future projects that are not yet completely designed.
Labor Productivity – Linear Feet per Man Day
Labor Productivity is also measured as can be seen by item #2 in the above image which calculates the Linear Feet per Man Day. This is how fast the rectangular and round ductwork and fittings are going to be installed according to your current values in the spreadsheet. You can make adjustments to these values by calculating new productivities for each line item by using the MEP Academy Labor Productivity Calculator as shown below.
Labor Adjustment
The productivity adjustment allows you to adjust the labor that you got from your estimating program, if not already adjusted within the program. Item #1 above shows that we adjusted the rectangular ductwork to 20 LF/MD, and the round to 40 Feet/MD, which gave us an overall add of 128 hours (item #2 in above image). This would be manually entered under the Labor Productivity line item.
Sheet Metal Shop Material & Labor Summary
This section is for those that own their own sheet metal fabrication shop in addition to the Warehouse/Delivery line items. If you have an estimating program to do your sheet metal takeoff, then these values will be generated automatically.
Sheet Metal Fabrication Summary
Fabricated Rectangular and Round Duct & Fittings
If you fabricate your own ductwork or use an estimating program that provides raw material and labor data then this is where you would put it in order to get the metrics needed for analysis. With the material cost, labor hours and total pounds of sheet metal fabricated the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet will automatically calculate the Material Cost per Pound, and the Labor & Material Cost per Pound.
Sheet Metal Shop Material Labor Summary
Sheet Metal Fabrication Shop Specialties
This line item cost is carried forward from the specialties sheet covered below.
Shop Fabrication Productivity Adjustments
This is the line item that summarizes all the labor adjustments to the benchmark labor. This line is a quick reference to how much labor was adjusted from your database standard. See the chapter in the Sheet Metal Shop Fabrication course for more details on adjusting shop labor.
Warehouse / Delivery
All those materials that are fabricated in your sheet metal shop must be trucked out to the jobsite. This category is provided to cover that cost. You may calculate your cost based on the amount of sheet metal pounds one truckload can carry or by some other means. Whatever means you use, put the cost here on the delivery line item.
Your warehouse cost will include shipping and receiving material and equipment related to the operations of the business and for the project your bidding.
Shop Fabrication Metrics
Just like the field metrics there should be the equivalent fabrication metrics. How many pounds per hour is the shop fabrication productivity (item #5 in below image). This is something that your fabrication shop should know and be tracking. You will adjust these values to match what your shop can actually produce. Use the Productivity Adjustment line below to make adjustments to the shop labor productivity.
Fabrication Shop Metrics
Another good metric to track is how many pounds of ductwork per square feet does this particular project require (See item #4 in image). This is useful if you are budgeting a project that hasn’t been completely designed, but one where the owner or general contractor would like a budget on.
Sheet Metal Specialties
We covered the various types of sheet metal specialties you might encounter in our Sheet Metal Field Installation Course. Here we want to show you how to record and provide cost for those items.
Sheet Metal Specialties in the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet
You begin by opening your electronic estimating spreadsheet and entering the HVAC equipment listed on the equipment schedules which can be found on the mechanical drawings.
Mech Equip Schedule Metrics
Record only the pertinent information that will help you figure labor hours for setting the equipment. Manufactures model numbers are of no use on the estimating spreadsheet, as they don’t provide any useful information for laboring the equipment.
EF1 on Equipment Schedule
After recording all of the equipment listed on the Equipment schedules, you’ll need to review the drawings to verify the quantity.
EF-1 Plan View
Some engineers will use the same equipment tag multiple times instead of changing the numerical value to indicate another piece of equipment that is the same; they will use the same equipment tag for multiple pieces of equipment that are the same make and model number. For instance, if the drawings have 30 of the same exhaust fan, the engineer may decide to use the equipment tag EF-1, instead of EF-1 through EF-30.
As shown below this engineer used the same tag (EF-1) for multiple locations, so don’t assume that there is only one as might be implied by the equipment schedule or the vendors quotation, always confirm by reviewing the drawings and details.
EF1 on Riser Diagram
The above riser diagram is from a hotel where each bathroom had the same ceiling fan installed. The engineer in order to reduce the space required on the equipment schedule, listed the ceiling fan only once, which makes sense, but requires you to double check the drawings and vendor quotes for accuracy of quantity.
HVAC Equipment Tab on Estimating Spreadsheet
The purpose of the HVAC Equipment tab on your estimating spreadsheet is to allow a place to record vendor quotes (#8) and provide field installation labor (#5) for the equipment. Capacity (#3), weights and dimensions are more useful information, including the number of pieces the equipment comes in shipped from the manufacture or anything that would impact labor, including accessories (#4) that need to be field installed. Field installed items might include economizers, backdraft dampers, curbs, duct mounted smoke detectors and VFD’s.
HVAC Equipment Sheet
Review Drawings
There are certain pieces of HVAC equipment or accessories that will not appear on the HVAC Equipment Schedule, depending on the design engineer’s standard of practice. Items such as the vibration isolation, air distribution, fire dampers, air separators, expansion tanks, water treatment, to name a few. This makes it necessary to review the drawings, details, control diagrams and specifications for unscheduled equipment and accessories.
Another factor that differs from one engineer to another is how they use equipment tags (#2 in above screen shot). Equipment tags like that shown below as EF-8 are used on the plans to identify which piece of HVAC equipment it refers to on the equipment schedule.
Equipment Tag
Owner Furnished Equipment
It’s common for some companies to have a national purchase agreement with major HVAC equipment manufactures in the hopes of saving the contractors markup fee, and negotiating a better price for national purchasing of a lot of equipment for various projects or stores owned. You will still need to list the owner furnished equipment as you will be responsible for unloading, rigging and setting of the equipment. Make sure to indicate on the estimating spreadsheet that the equipment is owner furnished.
HVAC Equipment Quantity (#6)
Enter the quantity of equipment (#6) into your Estimating Spreadsheet for each similar type of HVAC equipment you are itemizing. Remember not to rely on the equipment schedules for the quantity, but search through the drawings counting each piece as you mark them off. Vendors often make mistakes on quantities, so it’s important that you do your count.
HVAC Equipment Description
HVAC Equipment Tag (#2)
Put the equipment tags (#2) into the proper location on the estimating spreadsheet. Tags like EF-1 for Exhaust Fan #1, and AC-1 for Air Conditioner #1. Start with the most expensive equipment first or just lists them as you find them on the equipment schedules. Put a small check mark next to each of the equipment schedule titles to indicate that you have entered the information into the estimating spreadsheet.
HVAC Equipment Description (#1) & (#3)
Put a brief description of the equipment into the estimating spreadsheet. The title (#1) of the equipment is used first, such as Rooftop Heat Pumps, VAV Terminals, Air Handlers and the like. Underneath the title is where you’ll put the minimum information required to help you labor the item, information such as capacity (#3), weight and dimensions.
With an Air Conditioner you might put the Tons, CFM, and weight and list any accessories that require field labor such as economizers (#4). Indicate whether it sits on a roof curb (#4) or vibration isolation. Exhaust fans are listed by their type, such as Inline Fans, Ceiling Mounted Fans, Utility Fans, Roof Exhausters and the like, along with their CFM and weight.
Manufactures model numbers are not necessary because they give no useful information for laboring except for those pieces of HVAC equipment where model numbers indicate capacity.
HVAC Equipment Estimating SpreadSheet
Equipment Unit Labor Values (#5)
There are four categories of labor for HVAC equipment (#5) depending on the scope of work you intend to bid on. The options for labor units include Sheet Metal, HVAC Piping, Start and Test, and Balancing Labor. If you don’t do your own Air & Water Balancing or if mandated to be by a third party, then this cost will be covered by your Air & Water balancing subcontractor.
You put in the unit labor value for the quantity of one of these pieces of equipment and the total hours will be based on the quantity of this equipment. If you use 8 hours as your unit value for the rigging and setting of a utility fan and you have two (2) of them, then the spreadsheet will automatically multiply your unit value by the quantity to derive at a total labor of 16 hours for the sheet metal crew.
HVAC Equipment Vendor (#7)
List the company (#7) that is bidding on the piece of HVAC equipment identified by the equipment tags. These will most likely be the manufactures representative unless the manufacture sells direct to the contractor.
HVAC Equipment Quote (#8)
Here’s where you put the quotation amount (#8) that your vendors provide. The quotes are automatically compared for the lowest value, but can be overwritten by the user putting a value in the yellow highlighted plug box. Sometimes you don’t want the lowest bidder because their quote is incomplete or they’re not specified as an approved manufacture.
Plug or Quote (#9)
With the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet you can choose to plug an amount (#9) for the HVAC equipment. This is useful when building budgets using the spreadsheet, or when you want to enter an amount different then the ones quoted by your vendors.
Low Bidder Automatically Selected (#10)
The MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheet will automatically select the lowest bidder from amongst the quoted amounts (#8), unless you enter a different amount in the Plug or Quote box (#9).
Laboring the HVAC Equipment
You can labor the HVAC equipment after your sheet metal and piping takeoffs. The only step required in the beginning is to list the equipment on the Estimating Spreadsheet and notify your vendors. You can come back and labor the equipment at a later stage in the estimating process, after you have become more familiar with the project conditions. (See Chapter on Equipment Labor)
By taking off the equipment first you also get a good mental picture of the building layout and the systems being used. By the time you are done with your sheet metal and piping takeoff you will have a complete feel for the project, allowing you to better analyze the labor required to rig and set the equipment and determine any rentals you’ll need to accomplish this task.
HVAC Equipment Estimating Process
Step -1 (Notify Vendors & Subs)
Notify your vendors and subcontractors of the project and its bid date. Provide them with copies of the plans and specifications if they don’t already have copies. The use of Dropbox or other FTP sites where you can transfer large files to vendors or subcontractors will make the process much easier and faster than printing copies and sending them out in the mail.
Step – 2 (Record Equipment)
Type the list of equipment from the equipment schedule of the drawings into your estimating spreadsheet on the equipment tab, and any other equipment that is required.
Step – 3 (Labor Equipment)
After you have finished the takeoff of the trade materials such as Sheet Metal Ductwork or HVAC Piping, you can labor the equipment. Using historical data from previous projects or labor reference manuals such as SMACNA or MCAA, you can put labor for each line item into your equipment sheet of your estimating spreadsheet. You can also invite experienced office and field personnel to assist in evaluating the labor hours required for each item.
Step – 4 (Review Vendor Quotes)
Review vendor quotes and record them on your Estimating spreadsheet, choosing the lowest responsible price for that line item of equipment. This is when you review their quotation for compliance with the plans and specifications, taking note of anything they’re excluding. Reading the vendors exclusions is very important because it may still be part of your contractual obligation under the bid documents, or it could provide you notice of what you should exclude on your proposal.
Equipment Quotes
Quick Parameter Checks (#11)
Your estimating spreadsheet should provide a means for verifying the cost metrics based on the typical benchmarks, such as CFM, Tons, HP (Horsepower) or cost each (#11). Whatever the metric used, this provides a quick check to ensure that you got the best price or that you haven’t made an input error. If you have one of the MEP Academy Estimating Spreadsheets than simply enter the values you want to measure and check to make sure that the cost metric makes sense.
