Agricultural Building Estimator

[Terrel L. Shields]

I've checked with BNI, Redbook, NBC, and Means... no one has an agricultural building section except NBC and it is weak. The M & S estimator is over $1200 a year.

By accident has anyone stumbled over a decent agricultural building cost book? The old Boeckh system was about $100 before M & S et them. Now they have a monopoly apparently.

And frankly even then, the technology changes in the more typical agricultural buildings of today are not found anywhere. It leaves you with an awful lot of digging into the local building fabricators and businesses to try and cost out all but the most generic of buildings.

 

[CANative]

Too bad you don't have something like this in Arkansas.

http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/ah53413.pdf

Maybe you could use it as a base to work from?

Note: It's over 12mb so it takes a while to open.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I'll look thru that and see if I can glean anything useful. It reminds me of the old Boeckh book somewhat.

 

[rbrienza]

My M & S Valuation is just under $500/ year. I use the paper version.

Ray

 

[Sid Holderly]

I mostly use the local Menards flyer for the base building cost. Then I add the amenities based on local costs. concrete $100 per yard plus labor (total is 2 to 3 times material cost depending ground slope and condition. But I have had building construction experience.

Large doors used in modern far buildings are expensive. A 32 wide by 16 foot high overhead door may add $20,000 to $30,000 to the cost of the building. Those wide headers have to be built into the building. Wiring will be similar to a house on a square footage basis.

A grain leg is cheep. All the cables, anchors, concrete, and downspouts will total more than the leg, sometimes 3 or 4 times the leg cost. Local grain equipment companies or manufactures may have price lists available for items. Sukup industries had some on line. Some of the distributors have on line catalogs.

Farm magazines sometimes list building specials from which a base price per unit can be derived. As size increase $/unit drops, as height increases the $ goes up fractionally on pole buildings.

The craftsman cost manual, about $70 book & electronic, has a better farm building cost section than M&S. Some Agricultural universities have publications on farm building cost.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

We have a lot of local builders of pole, wood frame, metal barns, etc. I can get local costs but the "odd balls" are problematic.

 

[Sid Holderly]

Craftsman links: http://craftsman-book.com/products/...d=1004&zenid=056494acb2d15404e1024271874e9c67

http://www.polebarn.com/cost/

If they are not busy I occasionally get a large local pole builder to put a quote together for my use. This company is only 12 miles from me: http://www.fbibuildings.com/

Ten years ago a 60x70 floor heated farm shop with 32x16 door, an office, bath, 2 mezzanine rooms was $70,000, $16.66/sf, about $1 per cubic foot. A recent one in the area was between $100,000 and $120,000 for slightly larger buildings.

Unfinished buildings will be under $12/sf, with a basic material cost without doors of around $5/sf. Shops and buildings with interior finish $12 to $18 unless very elaborate.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Pole barns were cheaper here over steel truss (light "black iron" frame) And there is a red tube frame building that is something between black iron (which has wood purlins) and Red Iron (heavy metal trusses). I have 2 such builders within 3 miles and several more in 10 miles. Two nationwide firms specialize in poultry barns (LATCO and Buildings, Inc.) and the intergrators are now building scissor truss wood frame instead of the black iron frame poultry barns of the past. They then have a drop ceiling.

But for dairy barns, equipment, corrals, etc. I have to go to the trades. NBC (Craftsman) is way too light and its poultry barn costs are double reality here. Many of their steel building prices for "commercial" buildings are even worse.

And using RS Means is tedious since you use either SF assemblies or craft it together piece by piece....

 

[Papoua Jose]

See if this helps, I'm not certain if it applies universal or is for California only:

http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/ah53413.pdf

By year back to 2001
http://www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/ah534.htm

 

[CANative]

Why does that link seem so familiar?