Getting total material cost for the project

Mike - Are you referring to the Total Materials Cost in the BDC MR Calculator? If so, it is either 45% times the total construction costs for the LEED Project (CSI MasterFormat 2004 Divisions 3-10, 31.60.00, 32.10.00, 32.30.00, and 32.90.00 only) or the actual cost of all materials (excluding labor and equipment) within those same CSI Divisions/Sections.

The easiest way to get Total Materials Cost is to get the contractor to provide you with total construction costs for the project as outlined above. (That really shouldn't be too hard for the contractor to provide.) You can then enter that value into the BDC MR Calculator on worksheet A. Instructions into cell F13. The calculator will multiply it by 45% to arrive at the Total Materials Cost.

For additional information, see Calculating Materials Costs to Achieve MR Credits in the Materials and Resources Overview or the Calculations section in MRc3-6 in the LEED Reference Guide.

I have experienced this a few times. Encourage the contractor to just provide summary numbers and let them know that they must exclude their Division 1 costs so no one is going to see their General Condition costs or how they got to specific values. If they can just summarize the divisions Michelle listed above, it should put them at ease that you are not going to have or publish sensitive pricing information.

If they still resist/do not respond, you can also try requesting from the client a copy of the latest construction estimate, which the contractor must have provided the owner. Then you can follow Michelle's direction above. Good luck!

Mike—If your contractors haven’t purchased everything yet, they may not be certain yet what their total costs will be. Remember that project costs can be a moving target. Preconstruction estimates may help with goal setting, but these early projections often get fuzzy around the edges.

However, on most US projects, once the contract has been awarded, the Owner & Contractor agree to contract costs established in a Schedule of Values (SoV) submitted by the Contractor. If the SoV itemizes costs by Spec Section, breaking out the total construction cost for the “Default” calculation can be easy. Even better, if the SoV breaks out labor from materials, projecting Actual Material Costs (at least at the beginning of work) may be straightforward.

On the other hand, once a project is underway, Change Orders, unforeseen conditions, market fluctuations, etc. can modify these agreed costs. As a result, the real, final costs may be unknowable until all work is complete.

To keep on top of changes, I have required contractors to submit periodic summaries reporting their spending as the work progresses. [As Jennifer & Michelle point out, this can be a general, Division-by-Division breakdown.] By the end of the project, we can pin down the final, actual totals.

If Contractors assemble these “running tabs” monthly, as they pay their subs & suppliers, and if they submit them to the Owner with their monthly Pay Applications, the cost reports become just another part of their billing ritual, and the extra bookkeeping is minimal.

Of course, the best way to make this happen is to spell out the requirements in the Contract Documents. Project billing and accounting procedures usually are specified in Division 01 of the Specs, under “Payment Procedures,” and in individual Spec Sections, under “Measurement and Payment.” Work with your project’s Owner, contract administrators, and Construction Managers (the people who hold the purse strings), and with project Specifiers, to integrate LEED cost reporting into the project’s billing/payment procedures.

45% times the total construction costs for the LEED Project (CSI MasterFormat 2004 Divisions 3-10, 31.60.00, 32.10.00, 32.30.00, and 32.90.00 only) or the actual cost of all materials (excluding labor and equipment) within those same CSI Divisions/Sections.

Here I have a question. 
If we are goign with 45% of total construction costs undr csi 3-10 & 31, 32, will it include the materials that are not installed to buildings permanenetly, for example, consumables such as gloves, PPE, and materials for form work such as nails, paint brush, rollers.