Yardsticks

A short overview of Yardsticks for Costing and why it matters for the ExAC.

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Yardsticks at a glance

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

Full titleHanscomb's Yardsticks for Costing
PublisherHanscomb (a Canadian project control consulting firm). The 2014 edition is distributed by RSMeans (Reed Construction Data).
ExAC editionYardsticks for Costing 2014. The manual is updated annually; Examitect's ExAC study plan specifies the 2014 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, including St. John's, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver.
ExAC relevancePrimary resource on Examitect's ExAC study plan for every category in Section 1 Cost Management (4.1 through 4.4). Not listed on the primary lists for Sections 2, 3, or 4.
Where to accessThrough Hanscomb (now part of Altus Group) or your firm's cost consultant. Check Hanscomb or Altus Group's current product page for access terms.

Why Yardsticks matters for the ExAC

Yardsticks is one of two construction cost references named as primary on Examitect's ExAC study plan, the other being RSMeans Cost Data 2012 (Student Edition). For Section 1 Cost Management, the study plan lists Yardsticks as a primary resource for all four categories: 4.1 (factors influencing cost), 4.2 (evaluating cost), 4.3 (comparing estimating methods), and 4.4 (applying estimating methods within a project).

What that means in practice: if you see a cost question in Section 1 (and you will see several), 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 from memory. 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.

Yardsticks gives you the manual side of cost management. CHOP Chapters 3.4, 3.9, and 4.2 give you the practice side. The ExAC tests both.

ExAC sections Yardsticks supports

Section 1

What Yardsticks for Costing is

Yardsticks for Costing is a Canadian construction cost manual built by Hanscomb, a project control consulting firm with offices in Toronto, Halifax, Ottawa, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. According to the manual's own introduction, it is intended to support quantity surveys, preliminary estimates, elemental cost analysis, and feasibility budgets for non-residential construction across Canada.

The 2014 edition organizes its data into six sections labelled A through F. Sections C and D each have a metric and an imperial version, both indexed by MasterFormat 2012 Division. Section E gives gross building cost ranges by building type. The manual states that residential construction typically runs 20 to 30 percent below the listed non-residential rates, and that all prices are based on January 2014 cost levels excluding GST, HST, and QST.

Inside Yardsticks, the six Sections

The 2014 edition is divided into six lettered sections. Two of them (C and D) carry the bulk of the unit-cost data in both metric and imperial formats. Knowing which section answers which kind of question will save time on an exam clock.

SectionWhat it coversHow you use it on the ExAC
Section A
How 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. This is the section the ExAC tests most directly. Most cost questions hinge on a Section A rule, not a Section C price.
Section B
Index to Section C		 The alphabetical and numerical index that points you to the right page in the unit-price tables. A navigation aid in the book, not a typical exam topic on its own.
Section C
Current Market Prices		 Trade-format unit prices organized by MasterFormat 2012 Division, listed for major Canadian cities, in both metric and imperial. Background for understanding what a trade-format estimate looks like and why it is used for sub-trade preliminary estimates rather than schematic-stage work.
Section D
Composite Unit Rates		 Composite rates that bundle materials, labour, and equipment for finished work, suited to elemental cost estimates following the CIQS method. The closest match to the elemental approach the ExAC describes. Tied to CHOP Chapter 4.2 and questions on estimating methods.
Section E
Gross Building Costs		 Dollar per square metre ranges by building type, the input for an order-of-magnitude estimate before any design exists. Useful when a question gives you a project type and gross floor area and asks for the most appropriate early-stage estimate.
Section F
Metric Conversions and Abbreviations		 Conversion tables and the abbreviation key used throughout the manual. Reference only; useful when a scenario mixes metric and imperial units.

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 cost estimating
Elemental cost estimateAn estimate built up from the major functional elements of a building (shell, interiors, services, equipment, site work), each priced per square metre of gross floor area.
Composite unit rateA 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.
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.
CIQSCanadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors. Maintains the elemental cost measurement and pricing method that Yardsticks Section D and many Canadian estimators follow.
MasterFormat 2012The CSC/CSI specification numbering system that organizes Yardsticks Section C trade prices by Division (Concrete, Masonry, Openings, Finishes, and so on).
Class of estimateA standard label for estimate accuracy that depends on the design stage: order of magnitude, conceptual, schematic, design development, and pre-tender.
ContingencyA sum added to an estimate to cover unforeseen conditions. Yardsticks does not include contingency in its rates and prompts the estimator to add one.
EscalationThe adjustment that brings prices from the manual's base date (January 2014 for the 2014 edition) forward to the expected bid date.
Location factorThe local market adjustment that scales national or reference-city rates up or down for the project city. Yardsticks publishes separate rates for each of its listed Canadian cities, so the adjustment is built into your choice of column.
Overhead and profitHanscomb 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.
Order of magnitude estimateThe 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.
Cost planA 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.

How Yardsticks compares to other ExAC references

Yardsticks is the Canadian cost-data spine of the 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 the ExAC reading list.
RSMeans Cost DataNorth American construction cost data organized by CSI MasterFormat divisions, with location and escalation factors.RSMeans is the second primary cost reference on Examitect's ExAC study plan. Different publisher, different layout, similar role.
CHOP Chapters 3.4, 3.9, 4.2The practice side of cost management: financial planning of the project, fee structures, and the architect's role in cost estimating and control.CHOP tells you how the architect manages cost; Yardsticks supplies the numbers the architect manages against. The ExAC tests both together.
CHING Appendix A.23A short building economics primer covering estimating methods and cost factors.CHING gives the concept in a few pages. Yardsticks gives the working manual that puts those concepts into Canadian numbers.
CIQS elemental methodThe Canadian standard for breaking a building down by element for cost analysis and benchmarking.Yardsticks Section D and the Elemental Building Cost Breakdown in Section A both follow the CIQS approach.
CCDC 2 and the Schedule of ValuesThe owner-contractor 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 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.
  • Test recall with scenario-based practice questions on cost management. Recognition under exam pressure is the skill being tested, not memorizing dollar values from a 2014 manual.

ExAC sections Yardsticks supports

Examitect's ExAC study plan lists primary and supplementary resources for each category. Yardsticks shows up in one place, but it shows up across every category there.

ExAC sectionHow Yardsticks shows up on Examitect's study plan
Section 1
Design and analysis		Primary resource for every category in Cost Management (4.1 through 4.4), alongside RSMeans Cost Data 2012 and CHOP Chapters 3.4, 3.9, and 4.2. Useful background reading for cost-aware schematic design and design development questions, even where Yardsticks is not named primary.
Section 2
Codes		Not a primary or supplementary resource. Section 2 is covered by the NBC 2020 and NECB.
Section 3
Sustainability and final project		Not on the primary list. Useful as background for value-engineering or life-cycle costing topics, but the primary references for Section 3 are CHING, CHOP, and the sustainability documents listed on Examitect's study plan.
Section 4
Construction and practice		Not on the primary list. Section 4 cost topics, such as progress payment and change order pricing, are anchored in CHOP and the CCDC documents.

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, memorize the class-of-estimate ladder. Order of magnitude, conceptual, schematic, design development, pre-tender. Knowing which class fits which design stage, and which Yardsticks section supports that class, lets you answer many cost questions without ever looking up a price.

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. For the ExAC, align with the 2014 edition Examitect's study plan names, so the structure and worked examples you study match the version the question writers had in front of them.

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 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.

Yardsticks and ExAC FAQ

Yardsticks for Costing is a Canadian construction cost manual published by Hanscomb, a project control consulting firm with offices across Canada. The 2014 edition is the version referenced on Examitect's ExAC study plan. 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.

Yes, for one part of the exam. Examitect's ExAC study plan lists Yardsticks for Costing 2014 as a primary resource for every category under Section 1 Cost Management (4.1 through 4.4), alongside RSMeans Cost Data and selected CHOP chapters. It does not appear on the primary list for other ExAC sections.

Section 1, Cost Management. Yardsticks is one of two construction cost references named as primary in 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.

Hanscomb publishes Yardsticks for Costing annually. The ExAC reading list specifies the 2014 edition, which is the version you should study from. Newer editions are useful for office practice but candidates should align with the edition named on Examitect's study plan.

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. The ExAC reading list names both as primary references 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 six primary references on Examitect's ExAC study plan. 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 named primary for Section 1 Cost Management.

Supporting references

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