Package 02
New commercial buildings
Ground-up commercial buildings in the Denver metro — offices, retail, flex and light industrial — bought as about thirty subcontracts and levelled against each other before any of them is awarded.
Typical span 12–24 months
02The work
A new building is where the procurement argument is easiest to see, because there are more subcontracts than on any other kind of project and therefore more boundaries between them.
Thirty-odd trades, each with a bid, each with an exclusions block. The envelope alone — roofing, siding, glazing, sheet metal, sealants, masonry — is five or six firms whose scopes all meet at the same corners of the building. Those corners are where the water gets in and where the change orders come from, and they are the same corners every time.
The second thing that makes a new building distinctive is that the site is a real project before the building is. Earthwork, utilities, detention and paving are a substantial fraction of the cost, they are let early, and on a Front Range site they are the division most exposed to a geotechnical report nobody has read closely.
And the third is lead time. On a new building the electrical switchgear, the rooftop units and the glazing package frequently have lead times longer than the construction of the building they serve. Those decisions are made in design or they set the opening date — which is the strongest practical argument for engaging a contractor before the drawings are finished.
Before the architect and before us. Parts of this metro sit on expansive clay, and the difference between a conventional slab and an engineered foundation is measured in hundreds of thousands. Until that report exists, every figure above carries an uncertainty larger than the range printed beside it — and every earthwork bid you receive will have priced the risk differently, which makes them impossible to compare.
Establish these first
- Use and occupancy
- Decides the code path, the fire protection, the parking and the accessibility scope.
- Gross area, bay spacing and clear height
- And how much of it is finished rather than shell.
- The geotechnical report
- The most consequential document at this stage, and the one most often skipped because it feels like an expense before the project is real.
- Utilities to the property line
- What is there, what size, and how far. The electrical service can have a lead time longer than the building.
- Entitlement status
- Zoned, platted and approved, or not. An unentitled parcel is a different and much longer project.
What you receive
Full drawing set, schedule of values, levelled subcontracts, closeout package
In the format your records require, agreed at the start rather than discovered at closeout. The full list is on closeout and what you receive.
02.1Coverage
Who will actually bid this
Typical coverage for a project of this kind in the Denver metro. The full register, with every trade and the reasoning behind each count, is on the bid coverage page.
| Trade | Typical coverage | What it means for your number |
|---|---|---|
| Earthwork & utilities | 4 bidders | Healthy, but compressed into the same months as everyone else |
| Concrete | 4 bidders | Healthy on ordinary flatwork and footings |
| Structural steel, supply | 3 bidders | Adequate. Fabrication lead time matters more than the bid |
| Structural steel, erection | 2 bidders | Thin on small tonnage. Bundle it or pay for it |
| Roofing | 3 bidders | Adequate, and the first trade to thin out after a hail season |
| Glazing & curtain wall | 2 bidders | Getting thin. Expect to negotiate rather than compare |
| Mechanical | 3 bidders | Adequate. Equipment lead time dominates |
| Electrical | 4 bidders | Healthy, though the good firms book a season ahead |
| Fire protection | 2 bidders | Thin, and on the critical path for occupancy |
| Drywall & framing | 5 bidders | Crowded. Real price tension |
| Flooring & finishes | 5 bidders | Crowded. Watch the exclusions, not the number |
| Elevator | 1 bidder thin | Effectively sole source. Price it in design and expect no movement |
Coverage is a count and a word, never a colour. A trade with one bidder is marked thin in text, so this table reads identically in black and white, in print, and to a screen reader.
02.2Gaps
Where the money goes on this kind of project
Two honest bids that do not quite meet. Each is findable on one afternoon at levelling, and each is expensive once a crew is standing in it.
- Caught at bid
- $2,400 – $9,000
- Found in the field
- $18,000 – $60,000, plus the water that got in first
- Caught at bid
- $1,800 – $7,500
- Found in the field
- $14,000 – $48,000, and the roof warranty is a conversation
- Caught at bid
- $900 – $4,000
- Found in the field
- $20,000 – $85,000, because the foundation is poured
The pattern never changes: two trades, one scope, two exclusions pointing at each other. The only thing that catches it is somebody reading both blocks before either contract is signed. Reading an exclusions block explains what to look for.
02.3Budget
What this costs
Planning ranges, wide on purpose. The full set with every package on it, and the soft costs that sit on top of any construction number, is on the budgets page.
| Item | Building type | Unit | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02.10 | Light industrial / warehouse shell Pre-engineered metal, dock-high, minimal office | SF | $150–$250 |
| 02.15 | Finished office within a warehouse The office portion, priced separately | SF | $225–$385 |
| 02.20 | Retail shell Ready for a tenant to fit out | SF | $185–$300 |
| 02.25 | Flex / light industrial, complete Finished to occupancy, mid specification | SF | $240–$420 |
| 02.30 | Office building, complete Finished to occupancy, mid specification | SF | $340–$540 |
| 02.35 | Clinic or medical office Specialist plumbing, power and gases | SF | $420–$700 |
| 02.40 | Site work, parking and landscape Per square foot of site area | SF | $15–$45 |
| 02.50 | Foundation on expansive soils Engineered system per the geotechnical report | LS | site visit — this item cannot be priced from a page |
Units are SF square foot of the area being built, SQ roofing square (100 SF), EA each, LS lump sum, PCT a percentage of construction cost. A line reading “site visit” is one that genuinely cannot be priced from a web page.
Figures are USD planning ranges for commercial construction in the Denver metro. They exclude land, design and engineering fees, permit and tap fees, furnishings and equipment, and any applicable tax, and assume normal site conditions and a buildable season. Bid coverage counts are typical for this market and this building type, not a promise about your project. They are published so an owner can size a project, and ask better questions, before there is a drawing to price. They are planning figures, not a bid. Reviewed October 2026. A price for your project comes from a proposal against a defined scope. See the disclaimer.
02.4Questions
Questions about this package
Specific to this kind of work. The general ones — contracts, pay applications, retainage, change orders, insurance, bonding — are on the FAQ page.
Why does a smaller building cost more per square foot?
Because much of a building does not scale with its floor area. One service entry, one fire riser, one entrance, one set of restrooms, one site connection — those cost roughly the same at 8,000 square feet as at 40,000. Divide them by a smaller area and the rate looks worse. It is arithmetic rather than inefficiency, and it is why a published per-foot figure is for sizing rather than for budgeting.
What is the longest lead item on a new building?
Usually the electrical switchgear, and after that the rooftop units and the glazing package. All three have run far past their historical lead times in recent years, and on a modest building any of them can exceed the construction duration. The practical consequence is that those are bought during design rather than after permit, which is the clearest case for engaging a contractor early.
Can you build a shell now and fit it out later?
Yes, and it is frequently the right financial structure. What to watch is that a shell permit and a fit-out permit are separate reviews, and that a shell built without knowing the eventual use sometimes has to be reopened for structure or services. We will tell you which parts are worth over-providing now — usually the electrical service and the roof structure — and which are not.
How do I compare three general contractors' numbers?
Not on the bottom line, which is almost never comparing the same thing. Ask each for the schedule of values, the list of allowances with what each is based on, the stated contingency, and the bid coverage by trade. A number that is ten per cent lower with no contingency, three allowances fewer and one bidder on four trades is not a lower number; it is the same number with the risk moved onto you.
00The rest
The other four packages
Building the budget and the bid list before there is a drawing to price. This is where a commercial project is actually won or lost, and it is the one phase most owners are never invited into.
- You receive
- Budget by division, a bid list by trade with expected coverage, a levelled scope matrix
Fitting out a shell or a second-generation space against a lease date somebody has already signed. Fewer trades than a new building, and proportionally more gaps between them.
- You receive
- Permit set, landlord sign-offs, certificate of occupancy, closeout package
Expanding or rebuilding a building somebody is still working in. The phasing plan is the project, and the gaps are worse because half the scope is against existing construction nobody has opened yet.
- You receive
- Permit set, phasing plan, schedule of values, closeout package
Work for public and institutional owners, where the procurement is public, the bid tabulation is a published document, and the occupancy date is set by somebody else’s calendar.
- You receive
- Bid tabulation, certified payroll, schedule of values, commissioning record, closeout
Send us a bid you have already received
If you are holding subcontract bids and the numbers do not sit right, read the exclusions blocks to us on the telephone and we will tell you what is missing between them. It costs nothing, it takes about twenty minutes, and it is useful whether or not you ever hire us.
Pinkard Construction Co. · 9195 W 6th Ave, Lakewood, CO 80215