Elevators, Escalators & Vertical Transport Equipment worked example

Vertical Transport Unit Cost at 110% equipment cost scope captured: a worked example

This scenario runs the vertical transport unit cost calculation on the strong side: 110% equipment cost scope captured, with every other input held at its documented default. an estimator or operations manager needs a defensible cost floor for a vertical transport unit

The inputs for this scenario

  • Elevator, escalator, or package units: 6 units (unchanged)
  • Variable equipment cost per unit: 58,500 $ / unit (unchanged)
  • Equipment cost scope captured: 110 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 100)
  • Fixed engineering, test, and documentation cost: 18,000 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Variable equipment cost = equipment units × variable equipment cost per unit × equipment cost scope captured) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 404,100 $ for total vertical transport unit cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 67,350 $ / unit for cost per equipment unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 386,100 $ for variable equipment cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 18,000 $ for fixed program cost.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where equipment cost scope captured sits at 100% and the headline result is 369,000 $, this scenario comes in 9.51% above the baseline at 404,100 $.
  • Use it when quoting a building with multiple cars or escalators, comparing make-vs-buy on a subassembly, or deciding how many units justify a custom engineering investment. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Total vertical transport unit cost: 404,100 $ (headline result)
  • Cost per equipment unit: 67,350 $ / unit
  • Variable equipment cost: 386,100 $
  • Fixed program cost: 18,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Vertical Transport Unit Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.