LANDSCAPE-Quantity Take-off & Costing

Presented by:

Sr. Loo Seong King

BSc.QS, MRISM, MRICS, Reg. QS

LANDSCAPE-Quantity Take-off & Costing

1) Introduction 2) Estimating Techniques 3) Scope of Work 4) Quantity Takeoff List 5) Unit of Measurement 6) Unit Pricing 7) Example

Introduction “ How much does it cost?”

All owners have at least one thing in common: For them, financial considerations drive decisions. In fact, it sometimes is the most important factor on which to base their judgment. It is common for designer to hear from the owner, “It looks great, but tell me how much it costs; then I ‘ll tell you if I like it.” So its important that designer should has some knowledge of costing so as to be able to advise the employer of the likely cost of the project.

Introduction Once the owner is aware of the project cost and is satisfied that it is within his budget he will then be willing to talk about design concepts without always linking decisions back to dollars.

The budget will also serve as means of cost control for the landscape architect while proposing for the project.

It is also commonly required that landscape architect amend his or her design documents to bring the project within budget.

Estimating Techniques 1. Cost per square meter of landscaped area of similar

completed projects

• Not accurate. Does not reflect the actual scope of work required

• Suitable for budgeting purposes only.

2. Approximate Quantities estimate

• Most commonly applied technique

• Based on quantification of works and multiplying them with the appropriate unit price.

• Fairly accurate depending on the level of information available.

Scope of Work • Site work including site clearance and earthwork.

• Softscape including trees by various sizes and categories, shrubs, groundcovers, grasses, etc.

• Hardscape including pavement, planter wall, fencing, gazebo, trellis, water features, site furnishing, site lighting, site signs, etc.

• Irrigation system

• Maintenance

• Preliminary

• Contingency

Quantity Takeoff List First prepare a list of items for quantification by study of the drawing.

• Quantity Takeoff List:

A. Site Preparation/Earthwork

1. Site clearance

2. Excavation oversite

3. Earth filling/import

4. Earthwork-cut & fill

Quantity Takeoff List • Quantity Take-off List

B. Softscape 1. Trees 2. Shrubs 3. Groundcovers 4. Grasses 5. Pit excavation 6. Soil mixture 7. Mulching 8. Tree stakes and ties 9. Maintenance

Quantity Takeoff List • Quantity Take-off List

C. Hardscape 1. Pavement 2. Planter wall 3. Fencing 4. Trellis 5. Gazebo 6. Water feature

Unit of Measurement

A. Site Preparation/Earthwork

1. Site clearance Square metre (m²)

2. Excavation oversite Square metre (m²

3. Earth filling/import Cubic metre (m³)

4. Excavate generally Cubic metre (m³)

5. Earth moulding Cubic metre (m³)

Unit of Measurement B. Softscape 1. Tree Number (no.) 2. Shrub Number (no.) 3. Groundcover Number (no.) 4. Grass Square metre (m²) 5. Mulch Square metre (m²) 6. Pit excavation Number (no.) 7. Soil mixture Cubic metre (m³) 8. Tree stakes and ties Number (no.) 9. Maintenance Month (mth)

Unit of Measurement C. Hardscape 1. Pavement Square metre (m²) 2. Planter wall Square metre (m²) 3. Fencing Linear metre (m) 4. Trellis Square metre (m²) 5. Gazebo Number (no.) 6. Water feature Number (no.)

Unit Pricing

• Once the quantities in the list have been established, you will then need to put a unit price to each of them to arrive at your total estimated cost of the project.

• Sources of unit price

1. Cost data of past projects

2.Quotations from contractors

3. From nurseries-requires an experienced estimator to build up the unit price

Unit Pricing

A. Site Preparation/Earthwork

1. Site clearance RM10/m²

2. Excavation oversite;

100mm thick RM10/m²

3. Earth filling/import RM100/m³

4. Excavate generally RM50/m³

5. Earth moulding RM50/m³

Unit pricing B. Softscape 1. Tree RM300/no. 2. Shrub RM50/no. 3. Groundcover RM20/no. 4. Grass RM30/m² 5. Mulch RM10/m² 6. Pit excavation-Tree RM50/no

- Shrub RM20/no. 7. Soil mixture RM100/m³ 8. Tree stakes and ties RM50/no. 9. Maintenance RM1,500/mth

Unit Pricing

C. Hardscape 1. Pavement- -Granite/stone/timber RM350/m² -Tiles RM250/m² -Precast concrete RM100/m² -Concrete paver RM150/m² 2. Planter wall-Brickwall RM150/m² 3. Fencing- 1.80m high RM350/m 4. Trellis-wood RM250/m² 5. Gazebo RM5,000/no. 6. Water feature RM20,000/no.

Preliminaries

• This is for ancillary cost involved in the Contract which are not directly related to the actual cost of the items of construction works.

• This includes the provision for the contractor’s shed, insurances, tools, equipment, safety measures, cleanliness of site, etc.

• Generally, based on an allowance of 5% of the cost of construction cost.

Contingency

• Contingency is an allowance to be used for works unforeseen at the planning and design stage.

• Landscape architects must plan and budget for events which are hard to predict or unforeseen. Contingency must be built into all estimates.

• A greater contingency must be built into design that has less certainty. For example those projects in the early stages of design and planning should consider upwards of 15% as a contingency to budget.

• Projects with more certainty, for example those in later phases of design and documentation where more specific quantities are known, need only budget for 5 percent for contingency.

Updates

• Cost estimates are typically updated at successive design/documentation phases from schematic design to design development, or design development to construction documents.

• As estimates are updated with successive developments of the document, the estimates become more accurate. Estimates are also updated:

• When significant changes occur to project progress

• Significant project element re-quantifying occurs

• Updated unit prices are received

Example

.

PLAN VIEW

TREES LAYOUT ON PLAN VIEW

Shade Tree

Shade Tree

Small trees

Small trees

SHRUBS LAYOUT ON PLAN VIEW

GROUNDCOVER LAYOUT ON PLAN VIEW

ISOMETRIC DRAWING OF PLAN VIEW

PLAN VIEW

Fence-49m

Timber deck-47m²

Cut stone paver-42m² Trellis-

21m²

Brick edging-96m

Precast concrete slab-11m²

Precast concrete slab 800 x 300mm x 10 no.

SOFT & HARD LANDSCAPE WORKS

ITEM DESCRIPTION UNIT QTY RATE (RM) AMOUNT (RM)

A SITE PREPARATION 1 Clear site generally m² 500 10.00 5,000.00 2 Excavate oversite 100mm thick m² 500 10.00 5,000.00 3 Filling with imported earth m³ 50 100.00 5,000.00

Sub-total carried to Summary 15,000.00

SOFT & HARD LANDSCAPE WORKS

ITEM DESCRIPTION UNIT QTY RATE(RM) AMOUNT(RM)

B SOFTSCAPE

1 Trees no. 16 300.00 4,800.00

2 Shrubs no. 103 50.00 18,000.00

3 Groundcovers no. 1500 20.00 15,000.00

4 Taiwan grass m² 300 30.00 9,000.00

5 Hole excavation

i. Tree 1.0 x 1.0 x1.0m deep no. 16 50.00 800.00

ii. Shrub 0.45 x 0.45 x 0.45 deep no. 103 20.00 2,060.00

6 Soil Mixture (Tree & shrub) m³ 25 100.00 2,500.00

7 Mulching (Tree, Palm, Shrub & Groundcover) m² 200 10.00 2,000.00

8 Staking & Ties (Tree) no. 16 50.00 800.00

9 Maintenance mth. 12 1,500.00 18,000.00

Sub-total carried to Summary 72,960.00

SOFT & HARD LANDSCAPE WORKS

ITEM DESCRIPTION UNIT QTY

RATE(RM) AMOUNT(RM) C HARDSCAPE 1 Cut stone slab m² 42 350.00 14,700.00 2 Precast concrete slab m² 11 100.00 1,100.00 3 PC slab 800 x 300mm no. 10 25.00 250.00 3 Timber deck m² 47 350.00 16.450.00 4 Brick edging m 96 20.00 1,920.00

5 Fencing m 49 350 .00 17,150.00

6 Trellis m² 21 250.00 5,250.00 7 Irrigation-standpipe no. 3 1,200.00 3,600.00

Sub-total Carried to Summary 60,420 .00

SOFT & HARD LANDSCAPE WORKS

ITEM DESCRIPTION UNIT QTY RATE(RM)

AMOUNT(RM) SUMMARY

A SITE PREPARATION 15.000.00 B SOFTSCAPE 72,960.00 C HARDSCAPE 60,420.00

148,380.00 D PRELIMINARIES (5%) 7,419.00 E CONTINGENCY (10%) 15,579.90

TOTAL 171,378.90 Say: 171,000.00

Maintenance

• The following are some typical maintenance tasks:

• Watering • Fertilizing • Pest and disease control (herbicide spraying) • Weeding • Pruning and trimming • Grass cutting • Replacing dead plants • Stake repairs

Maintenance

Maintenance cost RM/Mth • Labour cost 1. 1 laborers @ RM 50/day x 4 times a month 200 2. 1 supervisor @RM70/day x 4 times a month 280 3. Transport-1 lorry @ RM100/day x 4 times a month 400 • Material cost 1. Fertiliser; once a month 100 2. Pest control, once a month 100 3. Replacing dead plants say 100 Total 1180 • Add Profit & overhead 20% 236 1416 Say RM 1,500/month