start by telling them if they want a per unit cost estimate that they will have to pay for this.
There is a lot of time involved in breaking each individual project down into per unit costs.

When doing a quick take off we estimate that a
one gal = $ 18 to 20 installed
5 gal = $ 37 - 45 installed
15 gal. =140 -180
24 inch box = $ 425 - 475 installed - no cranework

That does not include any speciman plants.garden variety generic plants only.

Thanks for the reply post. What wholesale cost were you assuming for your average 1 gal. perennial and you labor rate? I really appreciate your insight!

"They're going to compare our plant cost with others. "

Thats the hint .. sometimes thats ALL there looking for ... sometimes they like to check there own in house cost and have no plans to buy anything ...

Good Day ..

I usually charge what the plant costs retail toplant it. $18.00 plant $18.00 to put it in the ground. Maybe you can give them an hourly rate per worker.

Amiga,

When faced with a similar situation, I have billed the plants at wholesale cost times 2.5-4 for the plants, installed. Hopefully you will be able to group like plants in your proposal. Then seperate demolition or removal as an individual item priced per estimated labor and disposal.Topsoil, compost or mulch is charged per yard installed. We are able to get 3-4 times the price of the bulk material installed.

As Michelle has said, make sure you are compensated for the amount of effort put into this billing. Perhaps this management company has been taken advantage of in the past and is looking to get more detailed bids. Hopefully thier intentions are sincere and they are not trying to take advantage of your effort.

BIGVICLBI and Odie99,

You guys give great suggestions. The management co. has said they have been taken advantage of in the past. I like the idea of breaking down each activity, installed. It's not how we've done it in the past, but a new way. Have you lost money or been unprofitable doing this way? Will my rates seem too high? Big landscape companies around here make us smaller guys look expensive. It's a huge source of frustration, along with not finding people to hire.

amiga

i'm a small outfit and my prices are a little low. i charge $30.00 an hour of manpower, not inluding any large equipment. always add more hours to what you expect. better to overbid and not get the job unless you really need the work. working for free stinks!!

Keep in mind the cost per plant installed should be more fopr one plant versus ten ??

$30. hour ... whew .. thats tuff .. mechanics charge $70.00 an hour out here .. plumbers don't even show up for less then a $100. ... darn landscapers alway get #$%$.

Good Day ...

Pricing in detail can be challenging for me too. If you have an idea of how many plants in each site or section and can estimate the crew and the resultant man hours to accomplish each section of the project use that ratio. If a three man crew may take a full day (24 man hours) to prepare and plant a bed with 50 plants you may have a place to start. If you know your actual cost for that crew and the supplies they need including transportation costs you might be able to break it down better. It sounds like they are asking for a very detailed cost analysis.

We have kept detailed records on job completion for the last few years and created spreadsheets that help in making these calculations. I suggest developing a comprehensive system your site managers use to record man hours for specific projects. With the assistance of a spreadsheet program you can begin to see the real costs of different aspects of the work you do. For us we have years of data to reference when pricing work and can usually give predictions that give fairly accurate cost and labor estimations.

Good luck. Let me know if I can help further.

Amiga,
mrlenihan was on the right track...you need to create a spreadsheet,hopefully one on a program like excel where you can input your materials, and then back it up with req'd labor, travel time & equip. Then, when you have the whole thing entered, i.e. X amt. of #1 gal plants, #5 gal plants, etc. simply save your work, then go back in and remove one item from the total entered. (Say you have 16 #1 gals. entered = $276.00 . Then deduct (1) out and your new adj. total is: $258.75 Your #1 gal plant then costs $17.25.)Not every job will ever come out exactly alike, due to travel time, site conditions, plants specified, PIA factor etc... that is why I abhorr unit pricing, and if this mgt. co. is forcing you to do unit pricing, well then, they are just going to have to pay the extra bucks for this in the end. Maybe you can explain it to the property mgr. and even get good refrences for the work you do from other clients, and negotiate your way outta this. If you are doing commercial maintenance enhancements, I do pity you. I get dragged into doing an estimate for this stuff now and then, and the maintenance director here at work is always amazed at how much the job is really worth. Then I think (I know!) he takes my estimate and knocks it down, so they can get the work, get the acct. and then the fun starts. Yuk. Commercial. Ugh.
Btw, I have been using a excel spreadsheet for over 7 years now, developed over 3 work seasons by some folks I used to work with at a much bigger design/build firm. They worked it out using Van der Kooi's estimating methods, and even paid for some consulting time w/ him. He's a hoot; if you ever catch him at one of the trade shows, check him out.. I don't think I'll ever go back to the paper/pencil method, and some of the estimating systems I have seen advertised that tie in to digital imaging software are clunky and laborious, hard to adjust for the work at hand.

Estimating plant installation costs: Anyone like to share how they add in the cost of amending the soil, mulching and cleanup for individual plants or say 30 plants at 5 gal.???
Thanks