As part of its Open Data Portal, the City of Austin has made available a searchable database of building permits in the city. Does anyone know if the "Total Job Valuation" on the permit is an accurate gauge of job costs?
Architect & Investor · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 102 posts · 78 votes
9y
Generally, as architects, we have a few options to estimate project costs. One is "our best guess" in which we can remove some finish items and cost only items that are necessary for what the city needs to inspect; the ICC Building Valuation form is the second way (this is online, see link below) in which you multiply the building square footage by the valuation on the form based on type of construction (described in the IBC most houses are V-B); and lastly a estimate from a contractor, my preferred method for renovation projects. So in short- No these are not actual construction costs.
Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 184 posts · 229 votes
9y
From what I see on the site for each permit, the description of the project is fairly brief. From my own (admittedly limited) personal experience of filing permits, one only has a bit of space on the permit application to describe the work. Barely enough for a short summary of the project. And that's what you probably see in the summary on the website.
From these few paragraphs it's very hard to derive what exactly is being done. The detailed info is usually spec'ed out in Scope of Work for a contractor by the owner or GC in their contract for work.
Permits for some construction projects require submission of fairly detailed plans. However, it doesn't appear these plans are available from the site above, though I may have overlooked something there. Would love to hear from those who managed to naviate the site to those plans and detailed descriptions.
In addition, per International Building Code used by City of Austin as their construcion code standard, many remodeling "finish out" items don't require permits: painting, replacing flooring, countertops & appliances, tile work, replacing light fixtures without altering the wiring, replacing plumbing fixtures without altering plumbing lines, replacing cabinets, etc. So the costs of those items is likely not included in the permit filing.
For a full list of exceptions look up a PDF for International Building Code 2012 and read Section 105 Permits.
Architect & Investor · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 102 posts · 78 votes
9y
Generally, as architects, we have a few options to estimate project costs. One is "our best guess" in which we can remove some finish items and cost only items that are necessary for what the city needs to inspect; the ICC Building Valuation form is the second way (this is online, see link below) in which you multiply the building square footage by the valuation on the form based on type of construction (described in the IBC most houses are V-B); and lastly a estimate from a contractor, my preferred method for renovation projects. So in short- No these are not actual construction costs.
Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 2 votes
9y
@Mike Garrett: I would presume that since the permit fees are calculated based on the valuation, people would tend to under report the value? Based on your knowledge, do you have a rough ratio of the final cost vs. the valuation? For example, 1.5 times the valuation?
Generally, as architects, we have a few options to estimate project costs. One is "our best guess" in which we can remove some finish items and cost only items that are necessary for what the city needs to inspect; the ICC Building Valuation form is the second way (this is online, see link below) in which you multiply the building square footage by the valuation on the form based on type of construction (described in the IBC most houses are V-B); and lastly a estimate from a contractor, my preferred method for renovation projects. So in short- No these are not actual construction costs.
Architect & Investor · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 102 posts · 78 votes
9y
@Phil D. That's a tricky question. Obviously, if I say that flooring will be $2.75/ sf for the area and you put in Italian Marble at $25.50/ sf the final cost will be many times higher than my permit estimate. However, the permit intake technicians are pretty keen to spotting valuations that are on the extremes, say a 1,500 sf addition valued at $15k. So the permit fees are based on the cost of construction without the finishes (or an assumed average for the building type). However, if you remove the finishes from your final cost, then the valuation would be really pretty close, within 5-10%. Since renovations are almost all finish work, I prefer to have the bid from the contractor to show the low valuation of construction without finishes.