Rising material costs may affect UNT construction estimates

by Andrew McLemore of of North Texas Daily

The cost of steel, concrete and other building materials is rising dramatically, but construction of new buildings on college campuses remains steady, according to a study from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Few institutions have postponed or delayed new buildings because of the increases, though campus planners and architects agree that institutions will pay more for campus expansion than original estimates, according to the same study. Rising energy costs are also a factor for new buildings because it will make the buildings more expensive to operate in the coming decades.

NT, like many schools, is planning several new buildings in coming years.

Kendall Hall and Highland Hall will be torn down for the Business Leadership Building, a project with a $60 million price tag, according to a Sept. 5, 2007, article written in the NT Daily.

Another upcoming project is the $33 million Life Sciences Building, which will replace the nearly demolished Master's Hall.

Construction of the Life Sciences Building will begin this summer and end in December, 2009, according to the same article.

The architects who estimate costs for the buildings include the possibility of rising prices, said Bonita Jacobs, the vice president of student development.

The amount of square footage for each building and the possible inflation of the materials required to fill it are factored into the estimated costs of the building.

"We work really hard so our buildings come in under budget, and in order to do that we have to figure in the cost of inflation," Jacobs said. "We're building as economically as we can, but there's not much we can do about rising costs."

But the original estimates may no longer apply in a market where steel and concrete prices often increase every month, said Leann Tivis of Blue Diamond Construction.

Tivis said that any construction project could be susceptible to increases in costs.

"The last six months to a year, it's just been ridiculous how much prices have gone up," Tivis said. "It seems like even the nails have gone up."

Tivis said the cost of concrete has recently increased by $10 a yard. She said her company can only guarantee a price estimate for large proposals for 30 days because the supplier may increase the cost of materials as much as 10 or 15 percent.

Tivis said it is the transportation of the materials that causes the rise in cost because of the proliferation of biodiesel.

"If you're talking about a large building, they have no idea how much it will cost," Tivis said.