General Requirements Information
The "General Requirements" section of the CSI MasterFormat is used as the clearinghouse for items that do not apply directly to construction, the cost of which are customarily spread out over the entire project. These costs are also referred to as project overhead.
The term "General Conditions" is sometimes interchanged with "General Requirements." Purists would argue that General Conditions are a "portion of the contract document in which the rights, responsibilities, and relationships of the involved parties to that contract are itemized," whereas General Requirements are cost items as described above. For estimating purposes, either term is acceptable. The important thing is to include project overhead costs in your estimate.
Be sure to review the items noted below when undertaking a cost analysis of a project. Don`t forget elements relating to main office overhead, typically added at the end of the estimate.
- Overhead and profit
- Construction time requirements
- Architectural fees for repair and/or remodeling projects
- Engineering fees
- Construction management fees
- General contractor overhead and profit
- Installing contractor overhead and profit
- Main office expenses
- Insurance
- Bonds
- Permits
- Tools
- Unemployment/Social Security taxes
- Scheduling costs
- Surveying costs
- Testing services costs
- Temporary utility installation
- Project clean-up