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Construction cost escalation calculator
Bring an old construction estimate up to date: how far cement, steel, bricks, sand and crush and labour have risen since it was priced, what the same work costs today in Pakistan, and the rise as a yearly rate, from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics' own figures.
- PBS figures to August 2026
- Answers as you type
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Calculator
Bring an estimate up to date
Give the amount, the month it was priced and what it covers. Change the shares, or type your own prices, to match your estimate.
The estimate today
- Escalation
- Rs 27.67 lakh27.7% in 3 years 2 months
- A year
- 8%compounded
- Prices in general
- +32.2%the consumer price index
- Most of the rise
- Everything elseRs 16.08 lakh of it
Part by part
- Cement, 8%Rs 1,125 a bag then, Rs 1,555 a bag now, up 38%
- Rs 1,107,000
- Steel, 6%Rs 258,000 a ton then, Rs 242,000 a ton now, down 6.3%
- Rs 562,000
- Bricks, 11%Rs 13,900 per 1,000 then, Rs 18,500 per 1,000 now, up 34%
- Rs 1,469,000
- Sand and crush, 5%Rs 9,500 per 100 cft then, Rs 11,000 per 100 cft now, up 15%
- Rs 577,000
- Labour, 20%Rs 1,650 a day then, Rs 2,010 a day now, up 22%
- Rs 2,443,000
- Everything else, 50%prices in general, up 32%
- Rs 6,608,000
- Today
- Rs 12,767,000
PBS index numbers to August 2026, its latest month when checked in September 2026. Unit prices are its August 2026 averages across urban centres, carried back by each index. An estimate for planning: what a contract allows is set by its own terms.
Reference
Construction prices in Pakistan, 2020 to 2026
What cement, steel, bricks and a mason's day cost from January 2020 to August 2026, with PBS's consumer price index beside them.
| Month | Cement, a bag | Steel, a ton | Bricks, per 1,000 | Mason, a day | CPI (2015-16 = 100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2020 | 595 | 113,000 | 9,700 | 1,180 | 133.0 |
| December 2020 | 630 | 117,000 | 10,900 | 1,240 | 140.9 |
| December 2021 | 775 | 188,000 | 11,900 | 1,340 | 158.2 |
| December 2022 | 1,065 | 200,000 | 13,400 | 1,520 | 196.9 |
| December 2023 | 1,275 | 256,000 | 15,700 | 1,710 | 255.2 |
| December 2024 | 1,515 | 234,000 | 16,700 | 1,790 | 265.6 |
| December 2025 | 1,480 | 220,000 | 17,500 | 1,870 | 280.5 |
| August 2026 | 1,555 | 242,000 | 18,500 | 2,010 | 300.5 |
| From | Cement | Steel | Bricks | Wages | Prices in general | A complete house |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since January 2020 | 162% | 114% | 92% | 70% | 126% | 112% |
| Since January 2021 | 142% | 85% | 72% | 62% | 114% | 98% |
| Since January 2022 | 97% | 27% | 56% | 50% | 89% | 73% |
| Since January 2023 | 45% | 4% | 38% | 31% | 47% | 39% |
| Since January 2024 | 21% | -5% | 19% | 17% | 17% | 16% |
| Since January 2025 | 6% | 4% | 12% | 12% | 13% | 12% |
National averages: PBS's August 2026 prices across its urban centres, carried back by its index for each item. Your city's prices differ.
How it is worked out
The price escalation formula
An estimate is split into the parts whose prices move it: cement, steel, bricks, sand and crush, labour, and everything else (finishing materials, fittings, plant, and the builder's margin). Each part is multiplied by its price now over its price in the month the estimate was priced, and the parts are added back up. That is the price escalation formula contracts use: today's cost = the estimate x (fixed part + cement share x cement now / cement then + steel share x steel now / steel then + ... ).
The price movements are the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics' own index numbers, from its Monthly Review on Price Indices, January 2020 to August 2026: its wholesale indices for cement, for steel bars and sheets and for bricks, blocks and tiles, its index of construction wages, its basket of construction materials for sand and crush (which have no index of their own), and the national consumer price index for everything else. The months between the ones read are drawn straight.
The prices a bag or a ton are PBS's August 2026 averages across its urban centres, carried back by each item's index: cement Rs 1,555 a bag, steel Rs 241,644 a ton, bricks Rs 18,517 per 1,000 and a mason Rs 2,011 a day. They are national figures: your city's prices are higher or lower, and they did not all move alike. If you have your own bills from then and now, type them in and the calculator uses them for that item instead.
The shares start from a 5 marla double storey's bill of quantities priced at August 2026 prices: in the grey structure, bricks are about 19% of the cost, cement 14%, steel 10%, sand and crush 8% and labour 20%. In a complete house the finishing takes a larger share, so each material's share is smaller. Change them to match your own estimate.
Contracts
Price adjustment clauses
A contract price moves with material prices only if the contract says so. Many private building contracts are fixed price; others carry a price adjustment (escalation) clause that sets out which items are adjusted, the formula, the published prices it uses and the base date the prices are measured from.
Engineering works let on the Pakistan Engineering Council's standard bidding documents follow its Standard Procedure and Formula for Price Adjustment (second edition, May 2022). Its formula is the same shape as this calculator's: a fixed part A that is not adjusted, and shares for labour, materials and other elements, each multiplied by its current price over its price on the base date, which is 28 days before bids are due. An element is adjusted only where it is at least 3% of the cost, and the prices come from the Bureau of Statistics' published figures where possible. Government departments apply their own rules on top.
This calculator shows what the same work costs now. What a contract lets you claim is a question of its terms: read the clause, and take advice from your engineer or a lawyer before you make or answer a claim.
Terms
Words in an escalation claim
- Escalation
- The rise in a job's cost between the month it was priced and the month the work is done or paid for, from the prices of its materials and labour.
- Price adjustment clause
- A clause that moves a contract price with published prices by a formula agreed at the start. Without one, the price agreed is the price paid.
- Base date
- The date a contract's prices are taken to be at, from which every rise is measured. Under the Pakistan Engineering Council's procedure, 28 days before bids are due.
- Index number
- A price as a multiple of its level in a base year. PBS uses 2015-16 as 100, so an index of 300 is three times the price of that year. Only the ratio between two months matters.
- CPI and WPI
- The consumer price index, what households pay, and the wholesale price index, what traders pay in bulk. PBS publishes both every month, with separate figures for cement, steel, bricks and construction wages.
Questions
Cost escalation questions
Still have a question?
Ask our team during Pakistan business hours, in English or Urdu.
+92 333 2466662Chat on WhatsAppHow much has the cost of construction increased in Pakistan since 2020?
Building a house cost about 112% more in August 2026 than in January 2020, by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics' figures. Cement rose 162%, steel 114%, bricks 92% and construction wages 70%, against 126% for prices in general. So a house estimated at Rs 1 crore in January 2020 costs about Rs 2.12 crore now.
How much has construction cost increased in the last year?
About 9.5% for a complete house from August 2025 to August 2026: cement 5.7%, steel 5.4%, bricks, blocks and tiles 9% and construction wages 9.3% by PBS's indices, with prices in general up 11.2%. Shop prices of cement rose faster: PBS's weekly check put a bag at Rs 1,550 on 24 September 2026, 10.4% more than a year earlier.
What is the price of cement now, and how much has it gone up?
A 50 kg bag averaged Rs 1,555 across PBS's urban centres in August 2026, and Rs 1,550 across its 17 cities in the week to 24 September 2026. Carried back by PBS's cement index, the same bag cost about Rs 595 in January 2020, so it has risen about 162%. Steel went from about Rs 113,000 a ton to Rs 241,644, bricks from about Rs 9,700 per 1,000 to Rs 18,517, and a mason's day from about Rs 1,180 to Rs 2,011.
What is the price escalation formula in construction?
Today's cost = the estimate x (the fixed part + the sum, for each item, of its share x its price now / its price then). The shares are how the estimate splits between cement, steel, bricks, labour and the rest, and together with the fixed part they make the whole. The Pakistan Engineering Council's formula is written Pn = A + b(Ln/Lo) + c(Mn/Mo) + ..., with A the fixed part, b and c the shares of labour and materials, and n and o the current and base prices.
Can a contractor claim escalation?
Only if the contract has a price adjustment clause, or both sides agree to change the price. Works on the Pakistan Engineering Council's standard documents adjust by its published formula, with prices measured from a base date 28 days before bids were due. A fixed price contract carries the risk of price rises with the contractor. Read the clause and take advice before claiming: this calculator shows what the same work costs now, not what a contract entitles anyone to.
How do I update an old construction estimate to today's prices?
Give the amount and the month it was priced, say whether it is for a grey structure or a complete house, and the calculator moves each part by PBS's figures. For a firmer figure, type the prices on your old bills and today's quotes under "Your own prices", or price the bill of quantities again at today's rates.
Why is a new quote higher than the escalated estimate?
The escalation uses national averages, and local prices move differently: from October 2025 to August 2026, PBS's price of bricks in Lahore rose 21%, against 16% on average across its cities. A new quote also carries the builder's view of the market, any change to the drawings or the finish, and the risk of prices rising again before the job ends. Type your own prices for the items that moved most where you are.
Keep every estimate at today's rates
Smart Construction prices each job at the rates you actually pay and keeps the budget current as prices move, so a rise shows up before it eats the margin.
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