One job. Three costs per square foot.
Nobody agrees what counts as a square foot. Include the garage and your number looks cheap. Count conditioned space only and it looks expensive. Enter one job below and see all three, plus what it costs you when a client holds you to the wrong one.
Your cost to build, or the contract price. Just be consistent.
Heated and cooled living space only.
Unconditioned areas
Leave at zero if the job has none.
Quote your gross rate, then let the client apply it to conditioned space only, and you have priced this job at $309,375.
How adjusted square footage is weighted
| Area | Counts as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Conditioned living space | 100% | Full structure, envelope, mechanical, finish. |
| Garage | 50% | Slab, framing and roof, minimal finish, no HVAC. |
| Covered porch | 33% | Roof and structure only. |
| Open deck or patio | 25% | Flatwork or decking. No roof, no envelope. |
Whichever method you use, the rule that actually protects you is simpler: state which one you used, in writing, on the proposal. Most cost-per-foot arguments are not disagreements about price. They are disagreements about the denominator.
Read the full breakdown: What Construction Cost Per Square Foot Actually Means
Do this at scale
You just priced one job. Now do it on every job.
A calculator gives you the number once. These two run it across the whole project and then tell you whether the number was right — while you can still do something about it.
Construction Estimating Spreadsheet
280+ pre-loaded line items across 20 phases, a four-layer markup calculator, allowance tracking and a client-ready proposal — all pulling one set of numbers.
Job Costing & WIP Tracker
Same 20 phases as the estimate. Track committed and actual cost as the job runs, so you find out your cost per foot was off in week six, not at closeout.
Excel and Google Sheets · one-time purchase · single-business commercial license