---
title: How To Read A Comp's Unit Cost
description: How To Read A Comp's Unit Cost
---
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# How To Read A Comp's Unit Cost
Every comp you add to an estimate contributes a unit cost to each cost item, and your estimate's own unit cost is the average of the comps you have switched on for that row. Behind each of those numbers is a breakdown showing where it came from — what the comp originally cost, what adjustments Zebel applied, and what that leaves you with.
To read a comp's unit cost follow these steps.
Navigate to the desired estimate and select the "Budget & Inputs" tab. Each comp is a column on the right hand side, headed by the project and record it came from. Beneath the name is a summary of the adjustments applied to the whole comp — the premium, the regional adjustment and the escalation.
Hover over any comp's unit cost. The breakdown opens beside it.
Read it top to bottom. It has three sections.
"Original" — the comp's own "Total Cost", "Unit Cost" and "Quantity", before anything is applied. If the comp's value came from a bid, the bidder is named here too.
"Adjustments" — "Premiums", "Regional adjustment" and "Escalation", each with a badge showing the percentage, or "None" and "Off" where it does not apply, and a sentence explaining it.
"Calculated" — the "Calculated Total Cost" and "Calculated Unit Cost" after those adjustments. The calculated unit cost is the number shown in the column.
NOTE, the adjustments compound rather than adding up. Ie. in the screenshot an original unit cost of $21,203.70 with a 16.00% escalation gives $24,596.29.
To apply a premium to one cost item on one comp, rather than to the whole comp, press "Override Premium" and type a percentage. It saves as you type, the field is badged "Overriding", and the value in the column picks up a "+10%" label so the override is visible without opening the breakdown.
Use the switch to the left of each value to decide whether that comp counts towards your estimate's unit cost for that row. Switching one off leaves its value on screen, greyed, and recalculates the "Unit Cost" column from the comps that are left.
Ie. with three comps at $24,596.29, $29,000.00 and $28,006.84 the estimate's unit cost is $27,201.04 — their average. Switch the first off and it becomes $28,503.42, the average of the remaining two.
A switch that is greyed out and cannot be pressed means Zebel is not pricing that row from comps at all. Hover it and it tells you why — "Detailed rows are active", "Unit cost is overriden", "UOM is set to manual value", "Cost is tied to General Conditions", "Sub bid has been selected", or the cost bucket being turned off for that comp.
A red warning icon in place of a value means the comp has no match for that row — either the cost category or the unit of measure is missing from the comp. Hover it and the breakdown says which.
Please note that everything here applies to this estimate's copy of the comp, not to the original project. Adjusting a premium or switching a value off changes how this estimate uses the comp and leaves the source record untouched — which is also why "Re-sync Values" exists, for when the source project has moved on.
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