Budget and planning.

[GrumpyTim]

I'm now trying to make a list of items about the building process, in this list I'll put the building order from start to finish and in the sub items I'll list the materials used (materials for the boat and materials for the consumables on that building phase) and labour estimates (for example, plating the for the plating phase, one welder, one helper worker, one grinder, that much welding gas and wire will be spent etc.)

After this planning and budget finishes, I'll have a roughly estimated time plan and cost for building the boat. After that I'll buy the plans from the designer and start building. I'm thinking about building a Dix43 sailboat. This plan should include from preparing the building site (safety equipment and planning, hiring workers etc.) to sailaway (putting the finished boat to the sea and make sea trials)

But I'm new to boatbuilding so I have some questions:
1. is this a good approach to make this kind of planning? or what kind of planning should I do?
2. is there any example that I can use as a template?

[BHOFM]

I don't mean to be a smart a$$.. but projects like this,
do all the math and then double it. If you are not willing
to spend this much time and money, look for something
else.

Every project I have ever done seems to fit this model.

I am already over budget on a 12 footer. and it is not
near done. Cost over run will be about 60%!

Yes, it is a good idea to plan the project to the last detail.
Yes, do all the math.
Yes, keep an open mind!!!!

[Brent Swain]

Buying a lot of used gear, which we are awash in, can make the cost a fraction of what you would budget for new stuff.
Brent

[GrumpyTim]

I know all the real costs will be much more than the estimated prices but still I want to have a building schedule with parts and labor costs of every step. I'm now trying to find the steps of this schedule and I'm looking for some examples.

[Fanie]

Google for building plans for the boat you want to build. Some of the builders can give you an estimate on cost, time etc. and specifically DIY.

I had the same approach to listing the stuff required, how difficult can it be... the list hasn't stopped months later, I'm still adding

Blimey, I haven't got a toilet paper holder on the list yet

[GrumpyTim]

Originally Posted by Fanie

Google for building plans for the boat you want to build. Some of the builders can give you an estimate on cost, time etc. and specifically DIY.

I had the same approach to listing the stuff required, how difficult can it be... the list hasn't stopped months later, I'm still adding

Blimey, I haven't got a toilet paper holder on the list yet

Making a list is harder than building the boat itself. There are lots of parts in a boat. I'm now making a spreadsheet, listing most of the items in a boatbuilding project and trying to list the basic items.

[KnottyBuoyz]

Hi Tim

I work in the technical group for the Cdn Coast Guard. They use specialized tools to do what it is your suggesting and have an army of analysts to do the work. The primary planning tool is the particular vessels "Statement of Requirements" which lists characteristics & specifications. From that a detailed workplan (for the project not the boat itself) is created in MS Project. A "class d" estimate is prepared in (MS Excel) and linked to the project milestones (deliverables & progress payments etc.) in MS Project.

For the 47' Motor Lifeboat Project this pre-planning & approval process took over two years and probably consumed 10,000 man hours of time. That's a lot of overhead for a homebuild. You'd probably be better off setting yourself a 5 to 7 yr timeframe for your build (or less if you're using hired labour) and plan in some slush (time and money) for contingencies.

For my own project I created a spreadsheet with all the materials req'd right down to the screws & bolts. This didn't take that long and is probably the best budgeting tool for the amateur builder. Just add another line for hired labour and estimate the #hrs & rate.

[Brent Swain]

I am on my third boat and have never planned costs, just got started. If I had estimated costs , I would have given up and spent my life on the treadmill.
Brent

[Fanie]

Same here Brent, If I have to go and calculate costs taking into consideration the worth of our currency, I can never afford it. Yet, it's a matter of just starting and never give up.

[marshmat]

Hi Tim,

If detailed planning doesn't turn you off the project, then detailed planning is probably a good thing. For some people, knowing all the costs and time commitments up front can be disheartening enough to scare them off. (Examples: Brent, Fanie.) For others, it is less stressful if the costs are known ahead of time.

What you're doing right now sounds about right, apart from one thing: the schedule and budget can only be roughly estimated before you actually buy the plans. You'll have to make lots of refinements once you've studied the plans for a while.

Cost overruns rarely come from obvious causes such as hull materials, engine, etc. Overruns and delays come from failure to account for all the little details- 12 packs of screws here, a shaft coupling there, neglecting to account for cleaning time before painting, etc. Unless you really have costed out and scheduled all these little details, you'll have budget problems. (The hull alone generally seems to be only about 15% of the total build cost.) Don't forget all the gear at the end- lifejackets, EPIRB, radio, cookware, etc.- that can easily max out your VISA several times over.

Alternatively you can budget for the big things, and use fudge factors based on hull cost, driveline power, displacement, etc. to guess at budget lines for little stuff. But it is very easy to use bad estimates of the fudge factors, and this kind of budget won't force the spending discipline that a stricter one will.

[Brent Swain]

Dreams often die the death of a thousand cuts , none of which are, by themselves, all that big, and few of which can't be put off while you get some enjoyment out of your project. I can cruise a long way without a toilet paper holder.
However , when you run out of a pack of screws , you can still go on with other parts of the project, waiting for the screw money to arrive ,and keep the dream alive.
If you are wisely using used gear, then there is absolutely no way of estimating the deals you'll get, and budgeting for new stuff is more likely to kill the dream than be accurate.
Brent