Architects (and the people that hire them) are Blithering Morons

Having ONLY worked in the construction and architecture industries for ONLY thirty years (ONLY), I probably have no idea how much it costs to build stuff, but THIS article actually made me laugh out loud.

From the article:

The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency Board hired the firm specifically for architect Mary McGrath, who has worked with the LBFD in the past.

The LBFD used her space planning services to help determine project costs for Fire Stations 10 and 12, said Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Reeb. (ed note: THE VERY REASON SHE WAS HIRED IS FOR HER COST ESTIMATION!)

The maximum $1.056 million contract allows the agency to move forward without delay on a 10,000- square-foot fire station and 5,000- square-foot disaster resource building at 1199 Artesia Blvd.

Lemme just say that this article makes you believe that the buildings are going to be BUILT to 1.056 large. Fifteen thousand square feet of building, in Long Beach, California which has a multiplier of 1.15 of the national average for building!

In Mississippi, the lowest that we could build fifteen thousand square feet would be no less than 2.5 million, unless it was an unconditioned, uninsulated warehouse. And our multiplier is 0.77 percent of the national average.

The ONLY contract that could be 1.056 big on this job will be the FEE for the architectural services.

Just to give you a little sample of the overwhelming WRONGNESS of that number. A General Steel pre-engineered metal building 150 feet by 100 feet (15,000 sf) costs $162,590. This includes NOTHING but the warehouse structure. No mechanical, no electrical, no foundation, NOT erected, site not graded, no paving, no concrete, no doors, no windows, no insulation, no plumbing, the list is endless. Please note that the photographs on the page linked are NOT, repeat NOT, what you get for that price and that number from General is about eleven dollars a square foot.

Typical building cost in Mississippi right now is generally between 145 and 190 dollars a square foot, depending on the quality of finish material. Job costs by multiplier in Long Beach would be thirty-eight percent MORE than Mississippi. Ain't nary way to build 15,000 square feet in Long Beach, California for anywhere in the realm of seventy-one dollars per foot, which is what 1.056 large is. Nope, you would need to at least double that number or be magic.

Please take the time to comment.

And for MUD, the weather report in Altus, Oklahoma: 104 in the shade, but that is misleading because the shade has all melted; with thirty mile per hour winds, gusting up to forty-five. My skin? Burnt off two different ways.