Primary Reference

Yardsticks for Costing, Elemental Estimating for the ExAC

Hanscomb's Yardsticks for Costing is the Canadian construction cost manual that pairs current market prices with elemental composite rates for non-residential projects. Examitect recommends the 2014 edition as the Canadian cost manual for all four general objectives in the Cost Management category of Section 1.

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Yardsticks overview

Yardsticks at a glance

Full titleHanscomb's Yardsticks for Costing
PublisherRSMeans, a product line of Reed Construction Data. The cost data is developed by Hanscomb, a Canadian project control consulting firm, and is not based on RSMeans' own cost information.
Edition Examitect teaches fromYardsticks for Costing 2014, whose unit prices are based on tendering levels experienced during January 2014. The manual is updated annually. The ExAC Preparation Guide does not name Yardsticks or specify an edition.
LanguagesEnglish (Quebec coverage is supported through Hanscomb's Montreal affiliate Legico-CHP).
Primary audienceQuantity surveyors, cost consultants, architects, and design teams preparing preliminary and elemental estimates for non-residential projects in Canada.
CoverageUnit prices and composite rates for non-residential construction in eight major Canadian cities: St. John's, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver.
Where to accessThrough Hanscomb or your firm's cost consultant. Check Hanscomb's current product page for access terms.

Why Yardsticks matters for the ExAC

Yardsticks for Costing is the Canadian cost-data manual Examitect recommends for cost questions. Built by Hanscomb, a project control consulting firm with offices across Canada, the 2014 edition organizes data into six sections (A through F), with Sections C and D each in metric and imperial. It is intended for quantity surveys, preliminary estimates, elemental cost analysis, and feasibility budgets for non-residential construction across Canada.

Yardsticks is one of two construction cost references Examitect recommends, the other being RSMeans Cost Data 2012. For Section 1 Cost Management, we map Yardsticks to all four general objectives in category 4: 4.1 (factors influencing cost), 4.2 (evaluating cost), 4.3 (comparing estimating methods), and 4.4 (applying estimating methods within a project). The 2026 ExAC Preparation Guide names only four primary reference documents, CHOP, the Internship in Architecture Program, NBC 2020 and NECB 2020, and its objectives attach no references, so this mapping is ours rather than the guide's.

What that means in practice: if you see a cost question in Section 1, the methods, vocabulary, and orders of magnitude tested are the kind Yardsticks teaches. You won't be asked to recite a Toronto unit price for cast-in-place concrete; you will be asked how an elemental estimate is structured, how location and escalation are handled, when a Section D composite rate is more appropriate than a Section C trade price, and how the estimate fits into the architect's cost management responsibilities described in CHOP.

How to study Yardsticks for the ExAC

  • Read Section A on how to use the manual before any pricing section. It carries the rules (taxes, escalation, contingency, overhead, residential vs. non-residential) that most cost questions actually test.
  • Learn the split between Section C (trade-format current market prices) and Section D (composite elemental unit rates). Most ExAC scenarios sit closer to Section D because early design uses elemental estimating.
  • Get familiar with Section E gross building cost ranges. When a question gives a project type and area, Section E numbers let you do a quick sanity check.
  • Walk through the CIQS Elemental Building Cost Breakdown example in Section A once with paper and a calculator. The structure of that page is what an ExAC question expects you to recognize.
  • Practise the location, escalation, and contingency adjustments on a sample project. The arithmetic is simple; the trap is remembering to apply each one.
  • Pair Yardsticks with CHOP Chapter 4.2. CHOP describes the architect's cost management workflow; Yardsticks supplies the numbers the architect manages against.
  • Test recall with cost-scenario practice questions. Recognition under exam pressure is the skill being tested, not memorizing dollar values from a 2014 manual.

ExAC sections Yardsticks supports

  1. Section 1

    Yardsticks is Examitect's recommended cost manual for the Cost Management category in Section 1, across all four general objectives (4.1 through 4.4) alongside RSMeans Cost Data. For the architect's role in managing cost, pair Yardsticks with CHOP Chapter 4.2. Yardsticks is the Canadian-context cost manual on our reading list.

Inside Yardsticks, the six Sections

The 2014 edition is divided into six lettered sections, A through F. Sections C and D carry the bulk of the unit-cost data in both metric and imperial formats. Because Yardsticks is commercial cost data, the sub-section labels below are shown as tags for orientation, not as links. Knowing which section answers which kind of question will save time on the exam clock.

SectionWhat it coversWhere it lands on the ExACSub-sections
Section AHow to Use the Manual
 The instructions: unit-price assumptions, residential vs. non-residential adjustment, overhead and profit treatment, contingency, escalation, taxes, and an example CIQS Elemental Building Cost Breakdown. Section 1: 4.1 cost factors; 4.2 evaluate cost; 4.3 compare methods; 4.4 apply methods. The rules section the ExAC tests most directly.
  • Unit-price assumptions
  • Residential adjustment
  • Overhead & profit
  • Contingency & escalation
  • Taxes (GST/HST/QST)
  • CIQS Elemental Breakdown
Section BIndex to Section C
 The alphabetical and numerical index that points you to the right page in the unit-price tables. Section 1: navigation aid; not a typical exam topic on its own.
  • Alphabetical index
  • Numerical (Division) index
Section CCurrent Market Prices
 Trade-format unit prices organized by MasterFormat 2012 Division, listed for major Canadian cities in both metric and imperial. Section 1: 4.3 compare estimating methods; 4.4 apply estimating methods. The trade-format reference for sub-trade preliminary estimates.
  • MasterFormat 2012 Divisions
  • Metric unit prices
  • Imperial unit prices
  • Eight Canadian cities
Section DComposite Unit Rates
 Composite rates that bundle materials, labour, and equipment for finished work, suited to elemental cost estimates following the CIQS method. Section 1: 4.3 compare estimating methods; 4.4 apply estimating methods. The closest match to the ExAC elemental approach.
  • CIQS elemental format
  • Composite material + labour
  • Metric composite rates
  • Imperial composite rates
Section EGross Building Costs
 Dollar per square metre ranges by building type. The input for an order-of-magnitude estimate before any design exists. Section 1: 4.1 cost factors; 4.2 evaluate cost. Useful when a question gives a project type and gross floor area.
  • $/m² by building type
  • Office & commercial
  • Institutional & healthcare
  • Industrial & warehouse
Section FMetric Conversions and Abbreviations
 Conversion tables and the abbreviation key used throughout the manual. Section 1: reference only; useful when a scenario mixes metric and imperial units.
  • Metric / imperial table
  • Abbreviations key

If your study time is tight, prioritize Section A and Section D. Section A holds the rules the exam tests; Section D shows the elemental method the ExAC keeps coming back to.

Key Yardsticks terms every ExAC candidate should know

Cost questions reuse a tight vocabulary. Learn these terms early so you spend exam time picking the right answer, not parsing the question.

TermWhat it means in YardsticksWhere to read in Yardsticks
Elemental cost estimate An estimate built up from the CIQS top-level elements of a building (A shell, B interiors, C services, D site and ancillary work, and Z general requirements and allowances), each priced per square metre of gross floor area. Equipment is not a top-level element: it sits inside B3, fittings and equipment.
  • Section A: Elemental Breakdown
  • Section D: Composite Rates
Composite unit rate A combined rate that bundles labour, materials, and equipment for a finished unit of work, used at the elemental level rather than the trade line-item level.
  • Section D: Composite Rates
Gross floor area (GFA) The total enclosed floor area of a building measured to the outside face of exterior walls. The denominator behind almost every Yardsticks rate.
  • Section E: Gross Building Costs
CIQS Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors. Maintains the elemental cost measurement and pricing method that Yardsticks Section D and many Canadian estimators follow.
  • Section A: Elemental Breakdown
  • Section D: Composite Rates
MasterFormat 2012 The CSC/CSI specification numbering system that organizes Yardsticks Section C trade prices by Division (Concrete, Masonry, Openings, Finishes, and so on).
  • Section B: Index
  • Section C: Current Market Prices
Class of estimate An industry label for how accurate an estimate can be at a given design stage, tightening as the design develops. Yardsticks does not publish a class-of-estimate scheme; the classes used in Canadian federal practice are described in CHOP Chapter 4.2.
  • Not defined in Yardsticks
Contingency A sum added to an estimate to cover unforeseen conditions. Yardsticks does not include contingency in its rates and prompts the estimator to add one.
  • Section A: Contingency & Escalation
Escalation The adjustment that brings prices from the manual's base date (January 2014 for the 2014 edition) forward to the expected bid date.
  • Section A: Contingency & Escalation
Location factor The local market adjustment that scales national or reference-city rates up or down for the project city. Yardsticks publishes separate rates for each listed Canadian city, so the adjustment is built into your choice of column.
  • Section A: How to Use the Manual
  • Section C: City Columns
Overhead and profit Hanscomb states that Yardsticks unit prices include site overhead and profit for items normally subcontracted, while general trade work is priced at net cost. A separate allowance covers the general contractor's site overhead and profit.
  • Section A: Unit-Price Assumptions
Order of magnitude estimate The earliest, lowest-accuracy estimate, typically prepared from cost per square metre of gross floor area before a design exists. Section E of Yardsticks is the natural reference.
  • Section E: Gross Building Costs
Cost plan A target cost broken down by element that the design team uses to monitor cost as the design develops. CHOP describes the workflow; Yardsticks supplies the rates.
  • Section A: Elemental Breakdown
  • Section D: Composite Rates

Tips for Intern Architects reading Yardsticks

Yardsticks was written for quantity surveyors and cost consultants, not interns. If you're early in your time under the Internship in Architecture Program (IAP) or its provincial equivalent and rarely touch the cost consultant's spreadsheets, here's how to read the manual without losing momentum.

Tip 1, learn the method, not the numbers. The 2014 edition's dollar values are a decade out of date and the ExAC will not ask you to recall a specific Toronto unit rate. What it will test is whether you know how the manual is structured, which section answers which question, and how to apply contingency, escalation, and location adjustments. Study Section A and the table of contents far more than any individual price page.

Tip 2, anchor every concept to one real project. Pick one project from your office. Ask your project architect whether the cost consultant used an elemental or trade-format approach, what contingency was carried at schematic, and how much escalation was added at design development. Yardsticks suddenly feels concrete when you connect each idea to a real budget line.

Tip 3, walk through the CIQS Elemental Building Cost Breakdown example. Section A includes a worked example for a fictional Toronto retirement home. Recreate it on paper or in a spreadsheet so you internalize how a square-metre rate, a gross floor area, and an elemental subtotal connect. The exam asks pattern recognition questions on exactly this shape.

Tip 4, match the estimate to the design stage. Estimates get tighter as the design develops, and each stage has its own Yardsticks section: Section E gross building costs before there is a design, Section D composite elemental rates once the elements are known, Section C trade prices once the design is detailed. Yardsticks itself publishes no class-of-estimate scheme, so read CHOP Chapter 4.2 for the classes used in Canadian federal practice rather than trying to memorize a ladder out of the cost manual.

Tip 5, separate what Yardsticks includes from what you must add. Yardsticks rates exclude GST, HST, and QST, exclude contingency, and exclude escalation past January 2014. They include site overhead and profit on subcontracted items but not on general trade work. Internalize that boundary; cost questions love to slip a tax or escalation prompt into a scenario to see if you remember.

Tip 6, read Yardsticks alongside CHOP Chapter 4.2. CHOP 4.2 covers cost estimating from the architect's perspective: when each method is used, who prepares it, and how it ties to the design phase. Yardsticks shows you the actual tool that method runs on. Read them together and the Cost Management category becomes one topic, not two.

Tip 7, do not chase the latest edition for the exam. Newer Yardsticks editions exist and are useful for real estimating work. The ExAC Preparation Guide does not publish a cost-book reading list or name an edition of Yardsticks. Examitect's material is keyed to the 2014 edition, and the exam tests method and structure rather than 2014 dollar values, so any recent edition teaches the same Sections A to F and the same CIQS elemental method.

Common ExAC scenarios where Yardsticks is the answer

These question types come up in Section 1 Cost Management. If you see one, your first instinct should be to think Yardsticks (or its sibling RSMeans).

  • A client asks for a budget estimate during programming, before any plans exist. Which class of estimate is most appropriate and which Yardsticks section best supports it?
  • A schematic design estimate uses square-metre rates by element to total $4.0M. Which Yardsticks section provides the rates, and what should be added to the estimate before presenting it to the client?
  • A junior estimator hands you a Toronto bid date six months after the manual's January base date. What escalation adjustment is appropriate, and how is it shown on the estimate?
  • The owner challenges the contingency line on a schematic estimate. How do you justify carrying a contingency when using Yardsticks rates?
  • A design-build proposal references a Section E gross building cost. What does that figure include, and what does it exclude?
  • A non-union residential project is being compared against published non-residential rates. How should the estimator adjust the published prices?
  • The estimate excludes taxes by convention. What is the architect's responsibility when presenting the estimate to the client?

Each scenario traces back to a Section A rule or a Section D rate. The arithmetic stays simple; the test is whether you apply the right adjustment in the right order.

How Yardsticks compares to other ExAC references

Yardsticks is the Canadian cost-data spine of Examitect's ExAC reading list, but it does not stand alone. Use this comparison to decide what to open for which kind of question.

ReferenceWhat it's forHow Yardsticks relates
Yardsticks for CostingCanadian elemental and trade-format unit prices, plus gross building cost ranges by building type.The Canadian cost-data manual on Examitect's reading list, covering all four general objectives in Section 1 Cost Management.
RSMeans Cost DataNorth American construction cost data organized by CSI MasterFormat divisions, with location and escalation factors.RSMeans is the second cost reference Examitect recommends. Different publisher, different layout, similar role. RSMeans gives the American-context baseline; Yardsticks gives the Canadian-context numbers.
CHOP Chapters 3.4, 3.9, 4.2Chapter 4.2, Construction Project Cost Planning and Control, is the project-cost chapter: probable construction cost, the architect's role in cost planning and control, and cost planning by project stage. Chapter 3.9, Architectural Services and Fees, covers fee structures and methods of fee calculation. Chapter 3.4, Financial Management, is firm-level (accounts payable and receivable, work-in-progress, net multiplier, office budgets) and belongs to objective 12, not objective 4.CHOP 4.2 tells you how the architect manages project cost; Yardsticks supplies the numbers the architect manages against. The ExAC tests both together.
CHING Appendix A.23Ching's UNIFORMAT II reference (ASTM E1557 elemental classification, seven Level 1 groups, A.23 to A.25). Not an estimating primer: it is the classification format, and Ching notes that classifying by element lets cost information be evaluated early in design.CHING gives the elemental classification idea in a few pages. Yardsticks gives the working manual that puts the CIQS elemental method into Canadian numbers.
NBC 2020The model building code that sets minimum requirements for occupancy, fire safety, structure, accessibility, and envelope.Not a Yardsticks topic, but NBC requirements set the minimum performance the priced systems must achieve. Cost references give the numbers; the NBC sets the floor.
NECBThe National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings, governing energy efficiency for larger commercial and institutional buildings.Not a Yardsticks topic, but envelope and HVAC systems priced from Yardsticks Section C and D must meet NECB performance levels on most non-residential projects.
CCDC 2 and the Schedule of ValuesThe owner-contractor stipulated-price contract and the trade-format breakdown contractors use for progress billing.Not a Yardsticks topic, but the contractor's Schedule of Values follows the trade-format logic of Yardsticks Section C, which is why both formats are worth knowing.

How Examitect reinforces Yardsticks

Reading Yardsticks is half the work. The other half is recognizing the method under pressure on a timed exam. Examitect's question bank draws heavily from Yardsticks for Section 1 Cost Management questions, with scenario prompts that mirror how the ExAC frames cost decisions. Each answer explanation points back to the relevant Yardsticks section or CHOP cost chapter, so you can re-read the few pages you need rather than the whole manual.

You also get scenario-based questions that put Yardsticks numbers 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.

FAQ

Yardsticks FAQ

Yardsticks for Costing is a Canadian construction cost manual published by RSMeans, with the cost data developed by Hanscomb, a project control consulting firm with offices across Canada. The 2014 edition is the version Examitect teaches from. It is organized into six sections covering current market prices, composite unit rates, and gross building costs for non-residential construction in major Canadian cities.

Not in the official sense. The 2026 ExAC Preparation Guide names four primary reference documents, CHOP, the Internship in Architecture Program, NBC 2020 and NECB 2020, and it does not mention Yardsticks at all. Examitect treats Yardsticks for Costing 2014 as the core cost manual for the four general objectives under Section 1 Cost Management (4.1 through 4.4), alongside RSMeans Cost Data and CHOP Chapter 4.2. It is not part of our reading for other ExAC sections.

Section 1, Cost Management. Yardsticks is one of two construction cost references Examitect treats as core reading for this category. Cost questions in Section 1 ask you to choose an estimating method, read benchmark numbers, and apply them to a project in early design.

Yardsticks for Costing is published annually. The ExAC Preparation Guide names no edition, and no cost-book reading list at all; Examitect's material is keyed to the 2014 edition. Newer editions are useful for office practice and teach the same Sections A to F and the same CIQS elemental method, because the exam tests method and structure rather than dollar values.

Both manuals give construction cost data, but they come from different markets. Yardsticks is a Canadian manual built by Hanscomb, with prices for major Canadian cities and a CIQS elemental cost format. RSMeans is North American and uses CSI MasterFormat divisions. Examitect recommends both for Section 1 Cost Management.

The Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS) elemental method breaks a building down into functional elements, such as shell, interiors, services, and site work, and reports cost per square metre of gross floor area for each element. Yardsticks Section D provides composite unit rates aligned with this method, which is faster than line-item estimating at schematic and design development stages.

Read Section A on how to use the manual first, then learn the difference between Section C (trade-format unit prices) and Section D (composite elemental unit rates). Look at Section E gross building cost ranges by building type, and practise applying location, escalation, and contingency adjustments. Pair the reading with cost-scenario practice questions.

All rates exclude Goods and Services Tax, Harmonized Sales Tax, and Quebec Sales Tax (Winnipeg rates include Retail Sales Tax). Contingencies and escalation are not built in. The manual prompts the estimator to add a contingency sum for unforeseen conditions, and to escalate prices from January 2014 to the actual bid date.

Keep exploring

Other ExAC reference books.

Yardsticks is one of the cost references on Examitect's reading list. Continue with the rest.

CHOP

Canadian Handbook of Practice. The practice spine of the ExAC: business, project delivery, contracts, and the architect's role across every phase.

CHING

Building Construction Illustrated. The 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.

RSMeans

RSMeans Cost Data. The second construction cost reference we recommend for Section 1 Cost Management.

Supporting references

The extended reading list of supplementary references that show up across Examitect's ExAC reading list.