TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. CHAPTER 1 PAGE 3 2. TYPES AND METHODS OF MEASUREMENT PAGE 4 3. SPECIFIC FACTORS TO CONSIDER PAGE 5

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1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. CHAPTER 1 PAGE 3 MAIN CSI DIVISION PAGE 3 CSI SUBDIVISION PAGE 3 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A FIRE ALARM SYSTEM PAGE 3 2. TYPES AND METHODS OF MEASUREMENT PAGE 4 3. SPECIFIC FACTORS TO CONSIDER PAGE 5 4. OVERVIEW OF LABOR, MATERIAL, EQUIPMENT, INDIRECT COSTS AND APPROACH TO MARK UPS PAGE 5 5. SPECIAL RISK CONSIDERATIONS PAGE 7 6. RATIOS AND ANALYSIS PAGE 7 7. MISCELLANEOUS PERTINENT INFORMATION PAGE 8 8. SAMPLE SKETCH PAGE 9 9. SAMPLE TAKE OFF AND PRICING SHEETS PAGE 10 Page 2

2 1. INTRODUCTION a. MAIN CSI DIVISION The CSI code for Fire Alarm installation is a subset of Division 28, Electronic Safety and Security. b. SPECIFIC SUB DIVISION: CODE AND NAME The subdivision of Division 28 is 28 30, Electronic Detection and Alarm, with the specific sub division being 28 31, Fire Detection and Alarm. c. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SUBJECT MATTER Fire alarm systems are a type of low voltage system which is designed to protect the structure and its occupants from fire damage by alerting them and the authorities to temperature increases that may pose a threat to persons and property. There are a number of different systems and configurations, and various manufacturers that supply their own system specific devices. In general, the systems are composed of initiating and annunciating devices tied to a central control panel (the brains of the system ), which is zoned and supervised. The wiring scheme will either be by Type A or B circuiting. Type A or four wire refers to a redundancy in the wiring such that any fault will not render the devices down the line incommunicative with the main panel. The opposite is true for Type B, which requires less labor and materials (time and cost), but does not provide the same level of security as type A. The initiating devices are intended to be the eyes and ears of the system, and typically include automatic sensors and detectors as well as manually activated devices. Automatic sensing devices include smoke detectors (photoelectric or ionization), heat detectors (rate of rise or fixed temperature), smoke dampers, tamper switches, flow detectors, other devices. In addition to automatic initiating devices, so called pull stations are manually activated alarms, pulled by inhabitants of the building in response to fire or smoke. These devices are also supervised and zoned, which means that their location within the building (the floor, the room, the hallway, etc.) is known by the computer and visually depicted by the annunciating panel. This pinpointing of the origination of the trouble signal serves to isolate the trouble area within the structure for assessment and control of any hazards. The annunciating devices are used to communicate a warning of the hazard via sound and/or light to building occupants and outside agencies. They typically include horns, strobes, and horn/strobe combinations, both within the structure and on the exterior walls. These systems may be solely for a specific building or integrated into a campus wide master system with central monitoring and control. Page 3

3 2. TYPES AND METHODS OF MEASUREMENTS There are several methods of measurements to quantify the scope and cost of the work. The method chosen is often dependent on the level of the design and the purpose of the estimate. When the design provided by the architect or engineer is merely preliminary, it is not worth the time investment to populate the estimate with a lot of detail, some of which may not be pertinent to the final design. In general, the level of detail in the estimate should be commensurate with the amount of detail in the design documents. Preliminary or conceptual estimates often use the square foot method. This is the quickest and least detailed method. The area of work, or the square footage of the rooms and/or floors, is tabulated or taken from the drawings. Historical costs are used to establish a rough cost for the work based on the type of facility and size of the project. In this method, the dollar amount per unit of measure (square footage) used is intended to cover all of the cost incurred to complete the work, the direct costs for labor, material, and equipment, as well as the indirect costs, from management and supervision, to bonds, overhead, and profit. More detailed than the square foot method is pricing by assembly, in which the cost for the major pieces of equipment (the devices and the panel (s)), include the cost of the associated material (fittings for conduit, wire, junction boxes, straps, etc.) required, the equipment for installation if needed, and the labor hours required for installation and to tie them into the system. In addition, or as a corollary to the assembly method, parametric estimating may be employed in which set quantities of support items are allowed per the device and multiplied by the quantity of devices (for example, 25 LF of conduit and wire per device). This ratio method is often used as a shortcut to control for incomplete plans or to come up with a quick and dirty estimate. Lastly, depending on the development of the design, a detailed buy out of the job can be conducted with quantities and costs tallied for all labor, equipment and material items. As such, this is the most comprehensive method for capturing the complete scope of the project, including the total manhours required. This will inform the schedule and crew required. This is done when construction documents, including all alternates and specifications, are complete. In preparing to do the takeoff, a check should be conducted to make sure all necessary documents have been received and reviewed. These include the drawing package and specifications. When working off of paper drawings, common tools include a ruler, digitizer or a rotometer. When working from electronic drawings, takeoff tools include such software packages as On Screen Takeoff (On Center Software) and Bluebeam Revu (Bluebeam Software). For electronic takeoff, the drawings are first loaded and the scale set. Often the drawings, if loaded in portable document format (pdf s) my need to be converted to tagged image file format (TIFF) in order to speed up paging from drawing to drawing. When using software, such as OST, the name of the drawings should be written over to indicate the exact drawing name and number). Page 4

4 After the scale has been set and the drawings named, the count tool should be selected and a condition created for the type of device. Annunciation devices should be counted separately from initiation devices, and the separate types should be quantified individually. The devices should also be counted up per page and by floor (this may be become useful if there is symmetry in the installation from floor to floor and the counts should reflect that. It is also useful if scope is eliminated, thus the takeoff does not need to be redone but merely deducted). After the devices have been tabulated the panels should be counted (annunciation, alarm panels). After all the unitary items have been counted a check should be done to make sure all symbols have been covered, and all probable locations for devices have been included as well (for example, if the designer neglected to include required devices in a bathroom). Subsequent to the count items, the linear items should be tabulated. This is done by calculating the linear footage between devices and finally to the panels. Care should be taken to include any vertical runs that may not be shown. Conduit and wire runs should be separated by size as required by the level of the design being estimated. After the material is quantified the labor component should be tabulated per historical productivity rates per the installed item. After all items have had their labor component estimated, any equipment required should be accounted for as well, by the number of days it will be required on the site, multiplied by the daily rate if rented, or by the allowed amounts specified in the contract. Delivery costs and fuel should be accounted for as well. 3. SPECIFIC FACTORS TO CONSIDER While there are many similarities between fire alarm installations, every project has its own attributes which must be taken into consideration in the development of the estimate. Is the project new construction or remodel/modernization work? What type of structure is it? What type of contract is it (design bid build, gross maximum price, design build, time and material, etc.)? What other trade coordination is required (mechanical, repair & removal of existing ceiling, electrical work, etc.)? Is it a secured environment (including badging and/or security supervision)? Is the work to be performed in a healthcare or biotechnology facility, which may requiring gowning up/gowning down when moving through the area of work (or a maximum number of tools in the environment, each of which needs to be sterilized)? It is important to avoid estimating in a vacuum and to integrate and plan for any constraints attendant to the specific location, time, type of facility and other project specifics. Other modifiers may include quantities of scale, an accelerated schedule, a constrained working environment, phasing of the work, or the geographical location of the project. The size of project will drive whether discounts are available for bulk purchasing. Attendant to the location is the availability of a trained workforce to draw from. Conversely a project located within a densely populated metropolis can have its own coordination and mobilization problems. If the project is in a market with multiple projects concurrently in construction, the skilled labor to complete the project at the forecasted level of productivity and quality may be limited or unavailable. Page 5

5 For the installation, the access to the work will indicate the rates of productivity. These factors will be influenced by ceiling height, any obstacles, running of conduit in plenum above suspended ceiling, under floor, through metal studs, etc.). 4. OVERVIEW OF LABOR, MATERIAL, EQUIPMENT, INDIRECT COSTS AND APPROACH TO MARK UPS A thorough review of all of the fire alarm drawings should be conducted, as well as the architectural or other trade packages for the relevant ceiling heights and possible clash detection with other trades. The specifications should be reviewed as well for products and scope not covered in the drawings. A full takeoff should tabulate all unitary items such as initiating and annunciating devices, as well has the powering conductors in the horizontal and vertical planes. As mentioned earlier, there are different levels of estimating detail which should correspond to the level of effort required to interpret the design intent. The may be done with cost estimation (as opposed to quantities). For the concept estimates, through design development, unit costs are often used, in which all direct labor, material and equipment costs required to purchase and install one unit of measure (each, linear foot, etc.) of a particular item are rolled up into one lump sum, and multiplied by the quantity required to return a total cost for the item of work. These unit costs are often ballpark costs unspecified to the particular environment or facility in which the work is taking place, but an average taken from historical costs. For further detail, a full labor, material and equipment breakout can be undertaken. This is not much more effort, and contains much more valuable information that will substantiate and assumptions made (for instance, labor productivity). Additionally, when the total labor cost is broken out by manhours, these hours may be summed at the bottom of the estimate and from this total the number of crew hours may be calculated. Lastly from the quantity of crew hours, the total time required for the project can be estimated. To start with labor costs, local labor rates are negotiated and under contract for union work. These contracts should be reviewed and any scheduled increases taken into account. Crew rates should be established, including a foreman, journeyman and an apprentice, and conforming to union contracts. Equipment and material costs should be obtained from three vendors. Discounts may be negotiated taking into the account the size of the buy and yearly volume with the vendor. Pricing would be obtained on heat detectors, smoke detectors, horn/strobes, pull stations, control panels, annunciator panels, and other equipment required. Sales tax must be included as well as any delivery charges. Other considerations an estimator should be aware of include current market conditions, often referred to as an owner s market or a contractor s market. This will inform the number of likely bidders and business decisions made by competitors (the hunger factor ). Page 6

6 Indirect costs include those items necessary for the project but not part of any specific line item cost. They include general conditions (overhead and personnel costs), permitting, insurance, bonds, mobilization and demobilization, field office rental (if required), temporary utilities (water, gas, electrical service), equipment rentals (scissor lifts), scaffolding, material storage and handling, small tools, fuel, vehicles, concrete cutting and/or trenching equipment, and housekeeping and cleanup. If the estimate is created well in advance of the bid day, an allowance for escalation may need to be included to cover the risk of labor or material escalation. Lastly, the markup for profit is a business decision most often left to the owner or business manager. In creating the estimate, following the subtotal of direct costs, a percentage for general condition and design contingency will be run. This will be subtotalled. Following the second subtotal, to derive the total project costs, the costs for bonds and insurance, and overhead and profit will be run as a percentage off of the second subtotal. 5. SPECIAL RISK CONSIDERATIONS The control of risk is one of the major reasons for creating the estimate. The more detail that is listed, including the assumptions made regarding productivity, the clearer the method of estimation will be. Many of the risks may not be apparent without a review of the plans and often this is contingent on the level of design completion. Additionally a site visit may be required before the full scope of work and the means and methods of removal and/or installation can be fully known. Other factors to consider include the owner or the owner s agent, the location (the level of familiarity with the market, any unfamiliar code compliance issues), and the available workforce. 6. RATIOS AND ANALYSIS Checking the estimate for errors of scope and arithmetic are part of the process. The most common checks include visually checking the drawings for any missed items, and checking the total unit costs. Typical analysis tools are costs per square foot of building, ratios of materials to equipment (and ratio of materials cost to pieces of equipment), labor productivity rates, historical costs, and market conditions. For instance, if it is known that the total SF cost has historically been $6/SF for a comparable facility in the same geographical area, an explanation is required if the total costs pencils out above or below of this ratio. Lastly, since the estimator may become blind to his or her own work product after many hours or days of work, it is common practice to give the estimate to another estimator or executive to check. In general, the more detailed the assumptions made in creating the estimate, the easier it is to backtrack and audit the work, in addition to the usefulness it will have for historical costs. Page 7

7 7. MISCELLANEOUS PERTINENT INFORMATION Other pertinent information includes trade coordination and responsibility (there may be a requirement for clash detection meetings with the HVAC contractor, the fire suppression contractor, and/or the electrical contractor), the requirement for submittals (wiring diagrams with all the devices and panels, labelled by floor and room, equipment catalogue cut sheets for initiating and annunciating devices, panels, batteries and automatic dialers), as built drawings, warranties, the handover package, and facility staff training. The costs for startup and testing should be calculated along with any vendor costs associated with system programming. Page 8

8 8. SAMPLE SKETCH. Page 9

9 9. SAMPLE TAKE OFF AND PRICING SHEETS. The counts for this schematic level estimate were tabulated with On Screen Takeoff software. DIVISION DESCRIPTION QUANTITY UNIT LABOR MHR/UNIT TOTAL LABOR MHRS RATE $/UNIT TOTAL LABOR MATERIALS & EQUIPMENT COST COST TOTAL UNIT COST TOTAL COST ELECTRONIC DETECTION AND ALARM FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM UPGRADE TO (E) SYSTEM SMOKE SENSORS 10 EA , , ,738 HORN/STROBE 5 EA , ,801 HORN/STROBE, WP 1 EA PULL STATION 2 EA FEEDERS, CONDUIT & WIRE 400 LF , , ,504 MONITOR MODULE 1 EA POWER SUPPLY 1 EA , ,191 ANNUNCIATOR 1 EA TEMPORARY CONNECTIONS DURING 1 EA CONSTRUCTI ON REMOVE TEMPORARY CONNECTIONS 1 EA TIE-INTO (E) FACP 1 LS TESTING, SHOP DWGS, PROGRAMMING, SUBMI TTALS 1 LS , , , ,580 SUBTOTAL FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM, DIRECT COSTS 65 7,492 8,175 15,667 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 8.00% % 1,253 CONTINGENCY 6.00% % 940 ESCALATION 0.00% % - SUBTOTAL 65 7,492 8,175 17,861 INSURANCE, BONDS 4.00% % 714 OVERHEAD AND PROFIT 10.00% % 1,786 TOTAL FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM 65 7,492 8,175 20,361 Page 10

Standard of Practice - Fire Alarm Systems. NOTE: Significant revisions or additions to the previous standards are highlighted in italics.

A28.1 Standard of Practice - Fire Alarm Systems NOTE: Significant revisions or additions to the previous standards are highlighted in italics. OBJECTIVE OF STANDARD To provide compliant smart addressable