I have a potential client asking for a cost comparison for designing a medical clinic/spa using the existing old house or tearing down and building new. I'm very leery about providing this kind of information, as I'm worried about being held accountable for it. Thoughts on what to do?
One idea I had was to see if my friend who's in preconstruction/estimating at a local GC could take a look and give a decent ballpark number.
Heaven forbid someone hold you accountable for your professional opinion. Tell him you get what you pay for. It takes a lot of time to develop an accurate cost estimate, especially if you haven't done it before. He can have either a free ball park number that may or may not be based on your best guess and not worth the cocktail napkin that it is scribbled on or he can hire you to do a complete cost analysis. If you can't do it yourself, manage the process, be responsible for the deliverable and find (pay)someone to help you.
One part of your job is to find the most efficient way to build the project out. To develop real world cost scenarios you need at least a careful analysis of existing conditions, a program and preliminary designs. If your estimator friend has any sense he'll tell you the same thing and ask for a plan.
There is no shortcut. If the client falls for some lowball he'll get what he deserves.
i would not be able to provide a cost estimate for something like that. if it were me, i'd either get a fee from your friend, and have them contract under me, or better yet recommend your friend to the contractor.
I would give a couple of rough per square foot costs & also take a quick look at the code (both zoning and building) to see if it is even feasible to re use the house (and the site!)
Aug 7, 13 9:05 pm ·
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Potential client asking for cost comparison
I have a potential client asking for a cost comparison for designing a medical clinic/spa using the existing old house or tearing down and building new. I'm very leery about providing this kind of information, as I'm worried about being held accountable for it. Thoughts on what to do?
One idea I had was to see if my friend who's in preconstruction/estimating at a local GC could take a look and give a decent ballpark number.
I'd appreciate any feedback.
Heaven forbid someone hold you accountable for your professional opinion. Tell him you get what you pay for. It takes a lot of time to develop an accurate cost estimate, especially if you haven't done it before. He can have either a free ball park number that may or may not be based on your best guess and not worth the cocktail napkin that it is scribbled on or he can hire you to do a complete cost analysis. If you can't do it yourself, manage the process, be responsible for the deliverable and find (pay)someone to help you.
One part of your job is to find the most efficient way to build the project out. To develop real world cost scenarios you need at least a careful analysis of existing conditions, a program and preliminary designs. If your estimator friend has any sense he'll tell you the same thing and ask for a plan.
There is no shortcut. If the client falls for some lowball he'll get what he deserves.
i would not be able to provide a cost estimate for something like that. if it were me, i'd either get a fee from your friend, and have them contract under me, or better yet recommend your friend to the contractor.
Thank you for the thoughts.
doesn't this fall under the pervue of architectural programming which is an additional service.
I would give a couple of rough per square foot costs & also take a quick look at the code (both zoning and building) to see if it is even feasible to re use the house (and the site!)
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