The situation
A panel system's manufacturer brought LÏEF a developer's Nevada multifamily and asked for a budgetary comparison, wood framing against the system, so the developer could choose a structural system on the merits.
The developer's number was a market number, the midpoint of the budgetary range for wood-frame multifamily there. The panel system had priced well on smaller jobs, never on this project's plans.
Both systems priced on one scope, one plan set and one allowance schedule; the delta stated where the risk sits, at subcontractor buyout; and a clear line between a per-foot rate and a total.
Price the system at full project scope, not from a sample wall. Hold every line the system cannot touch identical. Report a rate with its basis and variance and stop there; a total is a separate claim.
The system-adjusted rate came in below the stick-framed midpoint, on identical scope, January 2026, with the variance stated at buyout; the gap held narrower than the market's own budgetary range for wood framing.
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The decision and the reasoning
Why we did it this way, told first.
ReadWhat we did and what it produced
The work, decision by decision, and the result.
ReadA slice of the project list
A few related projects.
ReadPrivate side
The full report, the source files on record, the timeline and every figure with its source. Password.
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