Construction Costs

The steps to determine construction costs are:

1.  Determine the construction's use or classification.
2.  Determine the type of construction.
3.  Determine the cost per square foot of the construction.
4.  Take the cost per square foot and multiply by the building's square footage.

Example:

Group R-3 One Family Home
VB Construction Type
Building square footage is 2,000

From the Square Foot Construction Costs chart:

1.  Classification would be Residential, one family
2.  Construction type would be VB (combustible and non-rated)
3.  Using the chart, from the Residential one family row and the VB column, we find the minimum cost per square foot is $85.

Then we use that value to find the construction cost:

4.  $85 per square foot x 2,000 square feet (home size) = $170,000 (construction cost).

This number, $170,000, is now used to calculate the Building Permit Fee.

Square Foot Construction Costs

Group

2003 Classification

 Type of Construction

 

 IA IB IIA IIB IIIA IIIB IV VA VB
A-1 Assembly, theaters, with stage 175 170 166 159 148 147 154 137 132
Assembly, theaters, without stage 162 156 152 145 134 134 140 123 118
A-2 Assembly, nightclubs 133 129 125 121 112 112 116 103 99
A-2 Assembly, restaurants, bars, banquet hall 132 128 123 120 110 111 115 101 98
A-3 Assembly, churches 162 157 153 146 135 134 141 124 119
A-3 Assembly, general, community halls, libraries 134 129 124 118 106 106 113 95 91
A-4 Assembly, arenas 132 128 123 120 110 111 115 101 98
B Business 134 129 125 119 107 106 115 95 92
E Educational 140 136 132 126 116 113 122 104 100
F-1 Factory and industrial, moderate hazard 81 78 73 71 61 62 68 52 49
F-2 Factory and industrial, low hazard 80 77 73 70 61 61 67 52 48
H-1 High Hazard, explosives 76 73 69 66 57 57 63 48 NP
H234 High Hazard 76 73 69 66 57 57 63 48 45
H-5 HPM 134 129 125 119 107 106 115 95 92
I-1 Institutional, supervised environment 132 128 124 119 109 109 115 100 96
I-2 Institutional, incapacitated 223 218 214 208 195 NP 204 184 NP
I-3 Institutional, restrained 152 147 143 137 126 124 133 115 109
I-4 Institutional, daycare facilities 132 128 124 119 109 109 115 110 96
M Mercantile (Retail) 99 95 90 87 78 78 82 68 66
R-1 Residential, hotel 133 129 125 120 111 111 117 102 98
R-2 Residential, multi family 111 107 103 98 89 88 95 80 76
R-3 Residential, one and two family 107 104 102 99 94 94 97 90 85
R-4 Residential, care/assisted living 132 128 124 119 109 109 115 100 96
S-1 Storage, moderate hazard 75 72 67 65 55 56 62 46 44
S-2 Storage, low hazard 74 71 67 64 55 55 61 46 43
U Utility, miscellaneous (garage) 57 54 51 49 42 42 46 35 33

 

Definition of Construction Types

Type

Description
I A Noncombustible, fire resistive, unlimited area and height for most occupancies.
I B Noncombustible, fire resistive and up to 12 stories if sprinklered.
II A Noncombustible with an exterior rating of 1 hour.
II B Noncombustible, but with no fire protection of structural framing, walls, floors and roof. (metal)
III A Noncombustible exterior, interior framing can be of combustible material.
III B Noncombustible exterior.
IV Heavy timber framing, open construction and no concealed spaces.
V A Combustible with 1-hour fire resistive construction.
V B Combustible and non-rated.  (house)