Cost ranges
Each cost range published on BuildPriced is built from a minimum of two of the following sources:
- Internal contractor quote dataset — anonymized quotes BuildPriced collects from licensed Florida contractors, currently spanning 200+ projects across 8 service categories. Typical refresh is quarterly. Each quote includes location, project specifications, all-in installed cost, and itemization where available.
- Industry benchmarks — published reports from the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), Remodeling Magazine's Cost vs. Value Report (South Atlantic region), Portland Cement Association (PCA), Asphalt Pavement Alliance, ENERGY STAR program data, and similar trade-association sources.
- Public price sources — HomeAdvisor, Angi cost guides, Home Depot and Lowe's retail pricing for Florida ZIP codes, supplier price sheets when accessible (ABC Supply, Beacon Roofing, Sherwin-Williams pro pricing).
- Florida-specific code and regulation — Florida Building Code, FL Office of Insurance Regulation forms (notably OIR-B1-1802 wind mitigation), county permit fee schedules, and FL Department of Business and Professional Regulation contractor licensing data.
Numbers are reported as low / typical / high ranges. The typical figure is the median of qualifying sources, weighted toward recent contractor quotes. The low and high represent the 10th and 90th percentile of observed pricing for projects matching the same scope.
Florida adjustments
Generic national cost figures don't survive contact with Florida. We apply explicit adjustments for:
- Climate — humidity, salt-air corrosion (within 3 miles of coast), UV intensity, and hurricane code requirements
- Labor market — FL labor rates by metro, with documented multipliers for Miami-Dade/Broward (HVHZ premium), Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Fort Lauderdale
- Permit and inspection costs — varies meaningfully by county; HVHZ counties run 30–60% above state average
- Insurance interaction — material choices that affect homeowner's insurance premium (especially roofing) are flagged and quantified
- Soil and substrate — central FL clay-loam vs. coastal sand vs. flood-zone organic soil, with material-specific implications
City pages apply explicit cost multipliers (e.g., Miami at +10–15%, Jacksonville at -3–5%) based on labor and material price observations from the metro.
Calculators
Every BuildPriced calculator is a transparent, source-cited model. Each calculator file in our codebase opens with the data sources, last review date, and assumptions. The math is pure (no server calls, no proprietary APIs) and the input ranges are validated against realistic Florida project parameters.
Calculator coefficients are reviewed each quarter alongside cost-range refreshes. Where a coefficient changes by more than 5% between quarters, we surface that change in the calculator page's "Updated quarterly" callout.
Editorial review
Every published page on BuildPriced has a Reviewer field naming the editor of record (currently the founding team) and a Last reviewed date stamped on the page. We do not auto-publish AI-drafted content. AI assistance, where used, is limited to:
- Drafting outlines for editor refinement
- FAQ candidate generation (subject to human rewrite + fact-check)
- Boilerplate transitions and summaries (capped at 25% of page word count)
Cost numbers and calculator coefficients are never generated by AI. They come from the sourcing process described above.
Quality scoring
Every page on BuildPriced is scored at build time using six metrics: completeness (word count vs. template), structural completeness (factor count, source count, FAQ presence), uniqueness (TF-IDF cosine similarity vs. corpus), AI-boilerplate avoidance (n-gram detection), city specificity (for local pages), and internal-link density. Pages below the per-template threshold are not indexed; the threshold is enforced by CI on every build.
Source citations on every page
Every cost guide, comparison, calculator, and decision guide includes a Sources section listing the specific reports, datasets, and references used. We don't paraphrase third-party content — we cite it and add Florida-specific context.
Update cadence
- Cost numbers: reviewed quarterly per service category
- Calculator coefficients: reviewed quarterly alongside cost data
- City pages: reviewed semi-annually unless local code changes
- Decision and informational guides: reviewed annually
- Comparisons: reviewed annually unless a material trend shifts
The "Last reviewed" date on each page reflects the most recent editorial pass. We update content when meaningful changes occur — not on a marketing schedule.
What we don't do
- We don't accept paid placement in cost ranges or comparisons.
- We don't recommend contractors based on advertising relationships.
- We don't publish AI-generated cost numbers.
- We don't modify ranges to favor partners or sponsors.
When we do earn affiliate revenue (from material recommendations or partner contractor referrals), it's disclosed on the relevant page and linked to our Disclosure page.
Corrections and questions
If you find a cost range, calculator output, or factual claim that doesn't match your real-world experience in Florida, please tell us. Corrections improve the dataset for every future visitor. Reach us via the About page.