VRF HVAC Estimating Spreadsheet

Having an HVAC VRF Estimating Spreadsheet that automates portions of your estimates saves you valuable time that you could use to make more sales. All aspects of the cost of furnishing and installing a VRF or HVAC system is contained in one spreadsheet made specifically for the HVAC industry.

Your VRF HVAC Estimating Spreadsheet needs to be able to handle rental equipment, general conditions, subcontractors, piping takeoffs, sheet metal, labor rate tables with crew mix capabilities, , and a bid summary. Each sheet in the estimating spreadsheet automatically calculates the values you enter, showing you a new total bid amount.

VRF & HVAC Equipment

Enter the project equipment price and labor to rig into place. Compare supplier pricing easily side by side. The VRF HVAC Estimating Spreadsheet automatically selects the lowest bidder but lets you override that decision.

Labor Rate & Crew Mix Table

Choose your crew mix based on the level of experience and the different pay scales based on each project. Pick any combination and quantity of tradesman based on the requirements of the project. There is a separate crew labor rate for HVAC Piping Shop & Field and Sheet Metal Shop & Field.

VRF Labor Rates VRF Wizard — Labor Rates Tab in the VRF Wizard Estimating Spreadsheet

VRF Piping Material & Labor

The piping tab on theVRF estimating spreadsheet allows you to enter ACR piping material and labor unit values for pipe sizes 1/8” to 3-1/8” along with a discount multiplier. Also included are 50 and 100 foot rolls of copper, fittings and empty tables for any items you want to add.

VRF ACR Piping - VRF Wizard — ACR Piping Material and Labor Tab in the VRF Wizard Estimating Spreadsheet

General Conditions

Do you need a jobsite trailer or onsite management? Enter the quantity and level of the staff required to run the project, whether one person or dozens. Set the quantity and duration of each general condition.

Subcontractors

HVAC contractors often subcontract out for Air & Water Balance, Sheet Metal & Piping Insulation, Water Treatment, Building Automation, Excavation and other specialty trades that they don’t self-perform. This spreadsheet was made especially for the HVAC contractor and the most often used subcontractors.

Piping & Sheet Metal Material & Labor Sheet

Having a estimating spreadsheet with your pipe & fitting prices already entered and saved for use on the next estimate saves time and money. Just enter the quantity required and the cost and labor is automatically generated based on your unit values.

VRF Piping Material and Labor Estimating Spreadsheet — VRF Piping Material and Labor Summary Tab in VRF Wizard Estimating Spreadsheet

Rentals

For those HVAC air conditioning projects that require a crane, fork lift, scissor lift or any other equipment that you don’t own but will be required on the project. Having a spreadsheet that maintains a list of the most common equipment you normally rent along with their rental rate will save you time and money while avoiding having to call for pricing on every job.

Engineering

If you do your own design then you should have a sheet of each of the personnel responsible for spending time on the engineering task. If you’re doing design/build work, but don’t do the engineering yourself, but hire a third party, then you should add some engineering review time. It’s your responsibility to manage your third-party engineer to make sure they design within your cost parameters.

Estimate Summary

All of your estimates are summarized on the last tab of the VRF HVAC Estimating spreadsheet for easy review. You can quickly scan each of the categories to see where all the project cost has shown up. There is the labor and material summary for HVAC Piping & Sheet Metal another section for subcontractors, general conditions, rentals, etc.

Parameters

How much does this project cost per square foot or per ton? How many CFM or BTU’s per square foot did the engineer figure? What is the cost per ton for this project? With the easy parameter calculator contained on the summary page, you can keep historical records of the project you bid.

Estimating Spreadsheet

Having an HVAC Estimating Spreadsheet made exclusively for the HVAC industry without costing a fortune is a money saving opportunity. This helps prevent having to make a major purchase for an estimating software program that offers a spreadsheet as a package deal, and will save of thousands of dollars.

HVAC Piping & Sheet Metal Estimating Programs

HVAC Piping & Sheet Metal Estimating programs can cost anywhere from $5,000 to over $10,000 for the industry leader. These expensive programs will pay for themselves over time if you are bidding lots of large plan and specification projects requiring a lot of material takeoffs. These programs are great for crunching large amounts of data quickly and efficiently saving you time and money. They can hold over a hundred thousand prices for pipe, valves and fittings, along with calculating sheet metal cost.