RSMeans

A short overview of RSMeans construction cost data and why it matters for the ExAC.

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RSMeans at a glance

Here's the at-a-glance summary an Intern Architect can scan before opening the book for the first time.

Full titleRSMeans Cost Data, Student Edition
Senior editorMarilyn Phelan, AIA
PublisherRSMeans Company LLC (a division of Reed Construction Data at the time of publication), published by John Wiley and Sons. RSMeans is now part of Gordian.
Edition on Examitect's study plan2012 Student Edition (the version explicitly cited on Examitect's ExAC study plan)
Wider RSMeans cost dataRSMeans publishes annual cost data books and an online database (RSMeans Online). The Student Edition is one of many titles in the family.
LanguagesEnglish
Primary audienceArchitecture, engineering, and construction students; also useful for practising architects, estimators, and contractors
ExAC relevancePrimary resource on Examitect's ExAC study plan for the Cost Management category in Section 1 (sub-criteria 4.1 through 4.4)
Where to accessThe book includes online companion access through rsmeansonline.com/academic. Check with the publisher for current access terms.

Why RSMeans matters for the ExAC

RSMeans is one of the four primary resources Examitect's ExAC study plan lists for the Cost Management category in Section 1 (Design and analysis). It appears alongside Yardsticks for Costing 2014, two CHOP chapters (3.4 and 3.9, plus 4.2 for evaluating cost and comparing methods), and Ching's Appendix A.23. Together, those references give you everything Section 1 expects you to know about budgeting and estimating.

RSMeans is the resource that teaches the workflow: how to read a unit price line, how to assemble a system, how to apply a location factor to a national-average number, and how to push an older index forward to a current year. The ExAC tests whether you can choose the right type of estimate for the project phase you're in, whether you can adjust national-average data for a Canadian market, and whether you recognize the limits of each estimating method.

If a Section 1 question asks about estimate accuracy, location factors, the difference between assemblies and unit price, or how cost data behaves over time, RSMeans is the reference where the answer lives.

ExAC sections RSMeans supports

Section 1

What RSMeans Cost Data is

RSMeans is one of the longest-running construction cost references in North America. The Student Edition was published in 2012 by John Wiley and Sons, with Marilyn Phelan, AIA as senior editor and a deep contributing editor list drawn from RSMeans Company LLC. The book is written for architecture, engineering, and construction students, but practising architects use the same workflow on real projects every week.

According to the introduction, RSMeans exists to provide reliable information for determining quantities of materials and the labour required for construction projects. Every estimate has two parts: how many units of work are required (the quantity takeoff), and what each unit costs (the unit price). RSMeans is the reference that supplies the second number, and explains the workflow behind both.

RSMeans is not a code book, not a contract document, and not a design book. It is the cost data set and the estimating manual that surrounds it.

Inside RSMeans, the nine chapters

The Student Edition is organized into nine chapters followed by a Reference Section. The chapters move from the contract documents to a finished estimate, then the Reference Section provides the lookup tables that turn raw quantities into Canadian dollars in a specific year and city.

ChapterWhat it covers
Chapter 1
The Contract Documents		How drawings and specifications drive the estimate, and what an estimator looks for during the first review of a set.
Chapter 2
Calculating Linear Measure, Area and Volume		The geometry the takeoff relies on, with practice in scaling drawings and computing common shapes.
Chapter 3
The Quantity Takeoff		The process of quantifying and tabulating materials and labour, manually or with digital tools.
Chapter 4
Understanding Material, Labour and Equipment Costs		How RSMeans breaks bare costs into material, labour, and equipment, and how crews and productivity rates feed each line.
Chapter 5
Pricing the Estimate and Estimate Summary		Assembling priced quantities into a structured summary, including overhead and profit and contractor markups.
Chapter 6
Unit Cost Estimates		The most detailed estimate type, organized by the 50 divisions of CSI MasterFormat. The bulk of the book.
Chapter 7
Assemblies Estimating		Systems-level estimating organized by the seven UNIFORMAT II elements, used during design development.
Chapter 8
Square Foot Cost Models		Commercial, industrial, and institutional building cost models for budgetary estimates before detailed design.
Chapter 9
Project Costs, Order of Magnitude Estimates and RSMeans Indexes		The earliest cost decisions, the indexes that adjust costs across time and place, and the reference tables that sit behind every estimate.

The Reference Section after Chapter 9 carries equipment rental costs, crew listings, historical cost indexes, location factors, reference tables, square foot costs, the square foot project size modifier, and an abbreviations list. For the ExAC, the chapters that carry the heaviest load are 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9, plus the Reference Section.

The four estimate types

RSMeans organizes estimating into four levels that trade speed for accuracy. Memorize the accuracy bands and which project phase each one suits. This is one of the highest-yield knowledge chunks for Section 1 Cost Management.

Estimate typeWhen you use itAccuracy band
Order of magnitudePre-design. Use, size, and building type are known; almost nothing else is.About minus 30 to plus 50 percent
Square foot or cubic footPre-design and programming. Drawings do not exist yet; cost per area drives budgetary decisions.About minus 20 to plus 30 percent
Assemblies (systems)Schematic design and design development. Assemblies are defined; finish details may not be.About minus 10 to plus 20 percent
Unit priceConstruction documents and bidding. Full drawings and specifications are required.About minus 5 to plus 10 percent

Accuracy improves as design information improves. Each estimate type has a place: unit price estimating is too slow for a programming budget, and an order of magnitude estimate is too rough for a tender package.

Key RSMeans terms every ExAC candidate should know

RSMeans uses vocabulary that the ExAC reuses without redefining. Learn these terms once and they show up across every cost question.

TermWhat it means in RSMeans
Quantity takeoffThe measuring, counting, and tabulating of physical units of work needed to build the project. Half of every estimate.
CSI MasterFormatThe 50-division classification system used to organize unit price information across North American specifications and cost data.
UNIFORMAT IIThe seven-element classification (A Substructure, B Shell, C Interiors, D Services, E Equipment and Furnishings, F Special Construction, G Building Site Work) used to organize assemblies estimates.
Bare costsDirect material, labour, and equipment costs before overhead and profit. The starting point of every RSMeans line.
Overhead and profitThe percentage layered onto bare costs to cover general overhead, supervision, taxes, insurance, and profit. RSMeans shows bare costs and total costs side by side.
Crew listingThe defined combination of trades, hours, and equipment used to install a unit price item. Makes the labour cost behind each line transparent.
Location factorA multiplier RSMeans publishes for cities and regions, used to adjust national-average bare costs to a specific market. Canadian provinces and major cities are in the table.
Historical cost indexA published index that lets you adjust costs from one year to another to account for construction price inflation.
Square foot project size modifierAn adjustment applied when the gross area of a project differs significantly from the typical size for its building type, so cost-per-area benchmarks remain reliable.
Order of magnitude estimateThe roughest estimate, built from minimal information. Accuracy band of about minus 30 to plus 50 percent.
Square foot estimateA budgetary estimate priced on gross area and building use. Accuracy band of about minus 20 to plus 30 percent.
Assemblies estimateA systems-level estimate, organized by UNIFORMAT II. Accuracy band of about minus 10 to plus 20 percent.
Unit price estimateThe most accurate estimate, organized by CSI MasterFormat. Requires full drawings and specifications. Accuracy band of about minus 5 to plus 10 percent.

How RSMeans compares to other ExAC references

RSMeans is one of two cost references on Examitect's ExAC study plan, and it sits alongside several non-cost references that touch the same Cost Management category. Use this table to decide what to read for which kind of question.

ReferenceWhat it's forHow RSMeans relates
RSMeans Cost DataNorth American construction cost data and estimating workflow.The reference for estimating method, bare costs, location factors, and indexes.
Yardsticks for CostingCanadian elemental cost data by building type and region.The Canadian counterpart. Yardsticks gives you Canadian elemental dollars per square metre; RSMeans gives you the unit prices and adjustment factors behind them. Pair them.
CHOP Chapters 3.4, 3.9, and 4.2The architect's role in cost management, fees, and project delivery cost implications.CHOP frames who is responsible for cost on a project; RSMeans supplies the numbers. ExAC questions often combine both.
CHING Appendix A.23A short reference table at the back of Building Construction Illustrated, focused on construction cost considerations.Light supporting reading that complements RSMeans for general cost factors.
NBC 2020The national model building code.Different job. RSMeans does not address code compliance.
NECBThe national model energy code for buildings.Different job. RSMeans does not address energy compliance.

How to study RSMeans for the ExAC

  • Memorize the four estimate types and their accuracy bands. This single chunk of knowledge anchors most Section 1 cost questions.
  • Walk Chapters 1 through 9 in order so you see how contract documents, quantity takeoff, pricing, and indexes build up to a finished estimate. The chapter sequence is the workflow.
  • Open the Unit Price section, pick one CSI division (Division 03 Concrete is a good starting point), and trace bare material, labour, equipment, and overhead and profit columns until the table format is second nature.
  • Run a small assemblies estimate using one UNIFORMAT II element. B10 Shell or D Services works well because both pull together familiar trades.
  • Practise adjusting numbers with location factors and historical cost indexes. The ExAC tests whether you can take national-average data and turn it into a number that works for a specific Canadian city in a specific year.
  • Test recall with scenario-based cost-management questions. Memorizing accuracy bands is fast; choosing the right estimate for a project phase under exam pressure is what practice teaches.

ExAC sections RSMeans supports

Examitect's ExAC study plan lists primary and supplementary resources for each category. Here is where RSMeans shows up on that plan.

ExAC sectionHow RSMeans shows up on Examitect's study plan
Section 1
Design and analysis		Primary resource for the Cost Management category, listed for all four sub-criteria: 4.1 Understand the factors influencing cost, 4.2 Evaluate cost, 4.3 Compare the various cost estimating methods, and 4.4 Apply estimating methods within the framework of a project.
Section 2
Codes		Not on the Section 2 reading list. Section 2 is covered by the NBC 2020 and NECB.
Section 3
Sustainability and final project		Not on the Section 3 reading list.
Section 4
Construction and practice		Not on the Section 4 reading list. Construction-phase cost topics are framed through CHOP's practice chapters rather than RSMeans.

Tips for Intern Architects reading RSMeans

If you're early in your internship under the Internship in Architecture Program (IAP) or its provincial equivalent, you may not have priced a project line by line yet. Here is how to study RSMeans without getting buried in tables of numbers.

Tip 1, study the method, not the numbers. The specific 2012 dollar figures will be wrong for any project today. What the ExAC actually tests is whether you understand quantity takeoff, the four estimate types, location factors, and indexes. Read for method.

Tip 2, remember it is United States base data. RSMeans bare costs are presented at a United States national average and adjusted to specific cities with location factors. For Canadian projects, the location factor is doing real work. Practise applying it.

Tip 3, pair RSMeans with Yardsticks. Yardsticks for Costing is Canadian elemental data; RSMeans is North American unit price and assemblies data. Most ExAC cost-management questions sit at the intersection of the two. Both are primary resources on Examitect's ExAC study plan.

Tip 4, match the estimate type to the project phase. If a question describes programming work, expect square foot or order of magnitude. If it describes design development, expect assemblies. If it describes tendering, expect unit price. The phase tells you the estimate type, and the estimate type tells you the accuracy you can promise the client.

Tip 5, learn one Unit Price page deeply. Open any page in Chapter 6 and identify the description, unit of measure, crew, daily output, labour hours, and the bare and total cost columns. Once you can read one page in detail, every other page reads the same way.

Tip 6, treat the Reference Section as the lookup layer. Location factors, historical cost indexes, square foot costs, crew listings, and the square foot project size modifier all live there. ExAC questions that ask you to adjust a number almost always send you to the Reference Section in real practice.

Tip 7, ask your firm's cost team or senior architect for one walk-through. Pricing a real project, even at the assemblies level, makes the book stick faster than re-reading the chapters. Tie the estimating method to a current job and the workflow becomes intuitive.

Common ExAC scenarios where RSMeans is the answer

These question types come up across ExAC sittings. If you see one, your first instinct should be to ask "what does RSMeans say."

  • A client asks for a budget number after the first programming meeting. Which estimate type and accuracy band do you commit to?
  • You have schematic drawings and need to give the owner a refined budget for design development. Which RSMeans estimate type is appropriate, and what accuracy can you defend?
  • RSMeans gives a national-average bare cost for a wall assembly. What do you do before quoting it to a Vancouver client?
  • An older cost study from a different year is the only data you have for a similar building type. How do you use RSMeans to bring those numbers forward?
  • A unit price line shows a daily output of 200 square feet for a two-person crew. What does that tell you about the labour cost embedded in the line?
  • The project's gross area is well below the typical size for its building type. Which RSMeans tool corrects the cost-per-square-foot benchmark?
  • The contractor's bid is fifteen percent higher than your design development estimate. What does an architect using RSMeans practice do before going back to the client?

Each scenario traces back to RSMeans chapters and the Reference Section. Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 9 carry most of the exam load, along with location factors and historical cost indexes.

How Examitect reinforces RSMeans

Reading RSMeans is half the work. The other half is recognizing the workflow under pressure on a timed exam. Examitect's question bank draws from RSMeans and Yardsticks for the Cost Management questions in Section 1. Each answer explanation points back to the specific chapter or table, so you can re-read just the pages you need rather than the whole book.

You also get scenario-based questions that drop RSMeans concepts into a real project context, full-length mock exams that mirror ExAC pacing, and free study notes for every section. Try a few sample questions first, then check pricing when you want the full bank.

RSMeans and ExAC FAQ

RSMeans Cost Data is a long-running North American construction cost reference. It publishes unit prices, assemblies costs, square foot costs, location factors, and historical cost indexes that estimators, architects, and contractors use to budget and price projects. The version on Examitect's ExAC study plan is the Student Edition, dated 2012, edited by Marilyn Phelan, AIA, and published by John Wiley and Sons.

Yes, for one category. Examitect's ExAC study plan lists RSMeans Cost Data (Student Edition, 2012) as a primary resource for the Cost Management category in Section 1 (Design and analysis), covering all four sub-criteria from understanding cost factors through applying estimating methods on a project.

Section 1, Cost Management. RSMeans is paired with Yardsticks for Costing, CHOP Chapters 3.4, 3.9, and 4.2, and Ching Appendix A.23 across all four Cost Management sub-criteria. It does not appear on Examitect's study plan for Section 2, Section 3, or Section 4.

No. RSMeans Cost Data is a North American database with bare costs presented at a United States national average, then adjusted to specific cities using location factors. The reference includes location factors for Canadian provinces and major Canadian cities. For Canadian-first cost data, pair RSMeans with Yardsticks for Costing 2014, which is also a primary resource on Examitect's ExAC study plan for Cost Management.

Order of magnitude (accuracy roughly minus 30 to plus 50 percent), square foot or cubic foot (minus 20 to plus 30 percent), assemblies or systems (minus 10 to plus 20 percent), and unit price (minus 5 to plus 10 percent). The four types trade speed for accuracy. Early in design you use the rough methods; once you have full drawings and specifications you can run a unit price estimate.

A unit price estimate prices individual line items using the 50 divisions of CSI MasterFormat and requires full drawings and specifications. An assemblies estimate groups line items into systems using the seven UNIFORMAT II elements (Substructure, Shell, Interiors, Services, Equipment and Furnishings, Special Construction, Building Site Work) and is used during design development when details are not yet final.

A location factor is the multiplier RSMeans publishes for cities and regions to adjust its base national-average cost data to a specific market. If RSMeans gives a city a factor of 1.10, costs in that city run roughly 10 percent above the national average. The ExAC tests whether you know to apply a location factor before quoting RSMeans numbers on a Canadian project.

Less than CHOP or Ching. RSMeans supports a single ExAC category, Cost Management in Section 1, so most candidates spend a focused session learning the four estimate types, the location factor and historical cost index workflow, and the structure of the Unit Price and Assemblies tables. Pair the reading with scenario-based practice questions and you should be set for the Section 1 cost questions.

Keep exploring

Other ExAC reference books.

RSMeans is one of several primary references on Examitect's ExAC study plan. Continue with the rest.

Yardsticks

Hanscomb Yardsticks for Costing. The Canadian counterpart to RSMeans, with elemental data by building type and region.

CHOP

Canadian Handbook of Practice. The practice reference that frames the architect's role in cost management.

CHING

Building Construction Illustrated. Visual reference for assemblies, materials, and detailing across Sections 1 and 3.

NBC 2020

National Building Code of Canada. The primary reference for every category in ExAC Section 2.

NECB

National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings. Supports the envelope and energy questions in Section 2.

Supporting references

The extended reading list of supplementary references that show up across the ExAC reading list.