Calculating Unit Costs

How Unit Prices are Calculated

BidMagic construction estimating software uses both material price information and assembly information to calculate the net material unit cost for each item.

The assemblies file stores a list of the materials that are used, plus the quantity and waste factor for each (see page 38).

By multiplying material price times quantity and then adding in the waste factor, the net cost of each material in the assembly is calculated. They are then added together to come up with the overall material unit cost.
Whenever you change material prices, the new price is applied to each assembly to change the overall net cost.
Material price information is stored in the Material Manager. Whenever you choose the Update Material Prices command, those prices are transferred to the active bid or bidding template.

NOTE-- We retired the BidMagic construction estimating software in 2001. It has been replaced by Goldenseal construction estimating software. We still include this BidMagic estimating software manual as a convenience for users of our older program.