i30 Builders · Free Planning Tool
Build-Out Budget Planner
Give it the space, the use, and the scope level. It applies our published per-square-foot standards, tells you when the project minimum governs instead, and states plainly what the number leaves out.
Free · Runs in your browser · No email required · DFW & East Texas
Why This Exists
Most build-out numbers arrive too late to be useful
The moment a tenant needs a construction number is before signing, when the allowance, the free rent, and the delivery condition are all still negotiable. That is exactly the moment most contractors will not give one, because there is no plan set yet.
So this publishes the standards instead of guarding them. The rates below are the same ones on our cost pages, applied to whatever square footage you type in. Nothing here is generated for your project, which is precisely why it is safe to plan against: you can check every figure against the page it came from.
It will not tell you what your specific space costs. A shell with no restrooms and a second-generation suite with usable infrastructure are the same square footage and very different jobs. What it will tell you is the order of magnitude, which standard applies, and what sits outside the price, and that is usually enough to know whether a deal works before you commit to it.
The Planner
Price the scope against a published standard
Uses Covered
Seven uses, each with its own published standards
Office
Private offices, open plan, conference rooms, and reception.
5 scope levels, $65/SF to $185/SF
Retail or storefront
Inline retail, showroom, and storefront spaces.
4 scope levels, $65/SF to $145/SF
Medical or dental
Exam rooms, operatories, clinical plumbing, and admin space.
4 scope levels, $125/SF to $475/SF
Restaurant or cafe
Front of house, kitchen, and the systems a food use requires.
5 scope levels, $225/SF to $800/SF
Salon or med-spa
Stations, wash and treatment rooms, and brand finishes.
4 scope levels, $95/SF to $245/SF
Fitness studio
Training floor, athletic flooring, and wet areas where present.
3 scope levels, $85/SF to $205/SF
Coworking or flex office
Private offices, meeting rooms, and shared amenity areas.
3 scope levels, $110/SF to $225/SF
Read This Before You Budget
What every one of these numbers leaves out
All i30 Builders full-project prices include normal mobilization, ordinary protection of adjacent areas, labor, standard materials listed in the scope, project coordination, normal cleanup, and a one-year workmanship warranty on the listed scope.
Outside the standard price on every job:
- Permits and engineering (excluded unless specifically included; quoted as an allowance or actual-cost line item when required)
- Utility upgrades (excluded; trade-quoted when needed)
- Hidden conditions, rot, mold, termite damage, asbestos, lead, water-compromised framing (excluded; change-order priced after discovery)
- Drainage correction (excluded unless drainage scope is listed in the contract)
- Code corrections unrelated to the scope (excluded; separately quoted after inspection)
- Moving owner contents (excluded except minor normal clearing)
- Manufacturer defects on owner-supplied materials (excluded from warranty)
Common Questions
About this calculator
Where do these numbers come from?
They are the published standards in our project pricing manual, the same figures used on our cost pages. The calculator applies a rate to your square footage. It does not generate a price of its own, and it will not show you a number that is not already published on this site.
Is this a quote?
No. A quote follows a site walk and a plan set. This tool has not seen your space, the shell condition the landlord is delivering, or the work letter, and each of those moves the number in ways square footage cannot predict. Treat it as a planning figure for a lease conversation, then get the scope priced properly before you sign anything.
Why does a small space cost more per square foot?
Because most of a project is not floor area. Mobilization, supervision, coordination, protection, and cleanup cost roughly the same on a 400 SF suite as on a 1,500 SF one. That is why each standard carries a project minimum, and below a certain size the minimum is the real number rather than the per-SF rate.
Does the number include permits?
No. Permits and engineering sit outside the standard price and are quoted as an allowance or an actual-cost line item when the scope requires them. The full exclusion list appears with every result, because a price that quietly folds these in is not cheaper, it is just less specific.
How do I use my tenant improvement allowance here?
Enter the per-square-foot figure from your work letter. We do not guess it, because the only allowance that matters is the one in your deal. Remember that allowances are almost always reimbursements rather than deposits: you pay the contractor, then draw the allowance down against invoices and lien waivers, so the cash flow matters as much as the total.
Does this calculator send my information anywhere?
No. The arithmetic runs entirely in your browser. There is no account and no email gate. Your answers do go into the page address so the result can be bookmarked or sent to a broker, so treat that link the way you would treat the numbers in it.
Have a plan set? Get the real number
Send us the drawings or the listing and we will walk the space, confirm what the landlord is actually delivering, and return a written scope with a lump-sum price. No deposit until the scope is agreed.
Or call (469) 721-0146. We respond within one business day.