Compare a completed building with a completed building
A factory proposal can be a useful starting point. It becomes misleading when one team compares it with a conventional contractor's price for a substantially different scope. Before comparing totals or cost per square foot, define the same completed building and the same exclusions on both sides.
IVM's approach is to make the boundaries visible. The questions below form an early budgeting framework, not a project estimate or a promise of savings. Each development needs its own design, pricing, procurement and schedule review.
1. Establish exactly what the factory provides
Review the plans and specifications behind the quote, the assumed module count, the extent of interior completion and the treatment of structural and building-services connections. Separate included work, allowances, exclusions and items awaiting design information.
- What design and engineering services are included?
- Which finishes, fixtures, systems and connection materials are supplied?
- Who completes roofs, corridors, stairs, elevators and other work outside the modules?
- Which price assumptions depend on a production date, specification decision or quantity?
2. Carry the complete site and field scope
Site preparation, foundations, utilities and onsite completion remain part of the development. Their allocation depends on the project and contracting structure. Coordinate factory drawings with site design, then assign each interface to an identified party.
Include the work needed to turn installed modules into an operational building: connections, weather protection, finish work, testing, inspections and closeout. A scope matrix helps prevent the same item from being omitted from both proposals or counted twice.
3. Price logistics and installation around the actual site
Delivery is not just a mileage assumption. The team needs to evaluate route feasibility, permits and escorts where applicable, staging, delivery sequence, crane access, lifting arrangements and the site's readiness to receive modules.
Request the basis of each logistics allowance and identify what could change it. A constrained urban site and an open site can require different installation plans even when the building layouts look similar.
4. Include the development costs outside construction
A development budget also needs the applicable land or acquisition costs, professional fees, approvals, owner costs, insurance, taxes, financing, general conditions and leasing or sales costs. Assign these categories explicitly instead of assuming that a manufacturer or contractor has included them.
Separate the construction comparison from the total development budget so the team can see both. The categories and responsibility for them depend on the development and contract structure.
5. Separate cash timing from total cost
A project can have an attractive total budget and still face a cash-flow problem. Factory deposits, progress payments, delivery payments and lender draw requirements need to be understood together. The actual terms must come from the relevant contracts and lender, not a generic modular assumption.
Model financing and carrying costs against a realistic project sequence. Keep an earlier completion scenario separate from a baseline until the dependencies supporting it have been checked. Obtain project-specific advice from the financing and professional team.
6. Keep uncertainty visible
Record the estimate date, drawing basis, quantities, exclusions, allowances and responsibilities. Identify which amounts are quotes and which are early planning assumptions. Carry appropriate design and construction contingency based on the project's actual uncertainty.
The useful comparison is not which proposal has the lowest visible headline. It is which complete delivery plan supports the developer's requirements with understandable scope, responsibilities, timing and remaining risks.