Historical cost by element, Walnut Row Apartments, Lone Bend, Indiana

Final job cost for the three buildings at Walnut Row is broken down by UniFormat II element, per square foot and per unit from the job cost ledger, subcontractor final pay applications and the change order log, and reconciled to the estimate at award. Final cost came in at $16.41M, $90,000 (0.6%) over the estimate plus approved change orders.

Job 24-061, Walnut Row Housing LP, design-build (AIA A141)64 units in three buildings66,700 GSF, 51,000 NRSFElements per ASTM E1557 UniFormat II, Level 2Direct job cost before feePrepared Nov 5, 2026

Summary

A10 Foundations · Building B

Building B foundations look twice as expensive, but a change order and a miscoded invoice explain it

As posted, A10 Foundations runs $25.45/GSF at Building B against $11.62 at Building A and $12.64 at Building C. Of Building B’s $565,000, $235,000 is CO-011 rammed aggregate piers (change order log, line 14) and $75,000 is a backfill and underdrain invoice coded to 03 30 00 instead of 31 23 00 (job cost detail, line 205).

Recoded and without the change order, Building B is $11.49/GSF. Use that figure in the historical cost database and move the invoice to G10.

Area basis

Building A is the cheapest per gross SF but the most expensive per net rentable SF

Per GSF, Building A is lowest at $192.73, against $206.44 at Building B and $207.13 at Building C. Per NRSF the order flips: Building A $280.81, Building B $259.66 and Building C $244.34. The basement and the amenity space give Building A gross area with no rentable area (NRSF/GSF 0.69 against 0.85 at Building C).

State the area basis whenever these figures go into the next estimate. The order holds with and without change orders.

Reconciliation to estimate at award

Two elements carry almost the entire overrun, even though the total nearly matches

Final cost is $90,000 (0.6%) over the estimate plus change orders. B10 Superstructure is +$248,000 and B20 Exterior Enclosure +$197,000, together +$445,000. The other 16 elements and general conditions net −$355,000.

Start the follow-up with the lumber escalation billed under the framing subcontract ($247,000 in the ledger) and the window package in B20.

Cost by building element

Choose the measure, the building and whether costs are shown as posted or recoded. Tile area is proportional to cost. Click an element to see its cost codes, invoices and source lines.

Measure
Building
Cost coding
Change orders
–Cost
–Per GSF
–Per NRSF
–Per unit

Treemap by element

Color shows net variance against the estimate at award, change orders and reallocations for the whole job. A single building shows building elements only and no color scale, since the estimate is not split by building.

–

Buildings compared

Building elements by building. The number in the circle ranks each measure, 1 = lowest cost.

Site elements (G10, G20, G30) and general conditions are not allocated to buildings. The 1,300 SF amenity space in Building A is in GSF but not in NRSF.

From estimate at award to final cost

The bridge splits the difference into change orders, reallocations between elements and net variance. Reallocations move estimate dollars to the element where the work was actually bought and net to zero.

Net variance = final cost − (estimate at award + change orders + reallocations). Click a row to show the element in the treemap.

Sources and method

Sources

  • Estimate_at_Award_Rev3.xlsxBuyout budget at contract award, Elements and General Conditions tabs418 lines
  • JobCost_Detail_24-061_Final.xlsxJob cost ledger by cost code and building, through final payment1,104 lines
  • Vendor_Invoice_Register_24-061.xlsxInvoices by vendor, used to check invoice numbers and amounts1,296 invoices
  • Sub_Final_Pay_Apps_24-061.pdfFinal pay applications (AIA G702/G703) from 16 subcontractors58 pages
  • Change_Order_Log_24-061.xlsxApproved owner change orders with cost and element3 COs with cost
  • Buyout_Log_24-061.xlsxSubcontract and purchase order awards against estimate lines, basis for reallocations52 lines
  • Area_Takeoff_Walnut_Row.pdfGross SF and net rentable SF by building8 pages
  • Unit_Mix_Schedule.xlsxUnits with net SF and bedroom count by building64 units
  • CostCode_to_UniFormat_Crosswalk.xlsxCompany crosswalk from MasterFormat cost codes to UniFormat II elements2 tabs

Method

  1. Each cost line in the job cost detail was mapped from its MasterFormat cost code and building code to a UniFormat II element through the crosswalk. Division 01 costs were kept as general conditions.
  2. Element totals were tied to the ledger’s total job cost, $16,405,000, and subcontract lines to the final pay applications.
  3. Invoice descriptions were checked against the element. One $75,000 invoice belongs to another element and is moved in the Recoded view. The ledger itself is not changed.
  4. Estimate lines were grouped on the same elements. Reallocations come from the buyout log and change order costs from the change order log.
  5. Cost per SF uses gross SF and net rentable SF from the area takeoff, and cost per unit uses the unit mix schedule.

Assumptions and limitations

  • Costs are direct job costs before fee. Change orders are shown at cost, not at the amount billed to the owner.
  • Elements follow ASTM E1557 UniFormat II at Level 2. General conditions are not a building element and are reported on their own line. Element boundaries follow the company crosswalk, so the split between, for example, C10 and C30 may differ from other estimates. Railings follow ASTM E1557: balcony railings ($100,000) are in B20 under B2010 Exterior Walls, and exterior stair railings ($25,000) are in B10 with the exterior stairs under B1010 Floor Construction. Handrails on the interior metal stairs stay in C20 Stairs. The estimate at award carried both kinds of railing in B20, so its exterior stair share ($17,000) is shown as a reallocation to B10. Rammed aggregate piers (31 66 00 Special Foundations) are carried in A10 as a special foundation condition.
  • Site elements and general conditions are not allocated to buildings, so the building comparison covers building elements only.
  • The estimate at award is not split by building. Variance is therefore reported for the whole job only.
  • NRSF is the sum of unit net areas from the unit mix schedule. Common corridors, stairs, the basement and the amenity space are in GSF only.
  • Ledger lines are summarized by vendor and description. Line references show where the transactions are.
  • Costs per SF and per unit reflect this job’s buyout in Indiana. They have not been checked against published cost data such as RSMeans.