Tools

Property valuation helper

A rough check of your building limit from your own cost per square foot, an optional dated cost trend, code and debris allowances, and your coinsurance.

Runs entirely in your browser: nothing you enter is sent or stored by this site. Results are estimates for planning, not a quote or advice.

How to use it

Run it for one building at a time.

  1. The building. Gross area of all floors, the ISO construction class (frame through fire resistive), the occupancy and the year built.
  2. Rebuilding cost per square foot. This has to be your number: from a contractor's estimate, an appraisal, or a valuation tool your insurer or broker runs. The helper does not supply a cost, because cost per square foot varies widely with construction, occupancy, quality, features and location. A figure for a different kind of building can be off by more than any limit question you are trying to answer. Note where the figure came from and when.
  3. Trend (optional). If the cost is a year or two old, tick the box to carry it forward. The default rate is 4.0% a year: Verisk's 360Value Quarterly Reconstruction Cost Analysis for Q3 2026 measured total U.S. reconstruction costs up 4.0% from July 2025 to July 2026 (commercial costs were up 4.1%). Enter the years since your cost was set; fractions work. Replace the rate with a newer or local figure if you have one.
  4. Allowances. Percentages for building code upgrades and for demolition and debris removal. Ask your contractor or appraiser; the defaults are zero.
  5. Your policy. The building limit you carry and the coinsurance percentage (80%, 90%, 100%, or none if you have agreed value or no clause).

The math

  • Base cost = area × cost per square foot.
  • Trend factor = (1 + annual trend) raised to the number of years; 1 if the box is not ticked.
  • Rebuilding cost = base cost × trend factor. This is the replacement cost a coinsurance clause tests, shown rounded up to the next $1,000.
  • Code upgrade allowance = rebuilding cost × code %. Debris allowance = rebuilding cost × debris %. They are shown beside the rebuilding cost, with a possible total bill, and not added into it.
  • Coinsurance requirement = rebuilding cost × coinsurance %. If your limit is lower, the shortfall is the difference, and on a partial loss the policy pays about limit ÷ requirement of the covered loss, less the deductible.

Hypothetical: 12,000 square feet at $250 from an appraisal a year ago. Base cost is $3,000,000; trended at 4.0% for one year it is $3,120,000. With a 90% clause the requirement is $2,808,000. A $2,500,000 limit is $308,000 short, so a partial loss would be paid at about 89%. Model the penalty in dollars with the coinsurance penalty calculator.

Why code and debris sit apart

Under the standard ISO building form, replacement cost does not include the extra cost of meeting current building codes; an additional coverage pays the lesser of $10,000 or 5% of the building limit. Debris removal shares the limit, apart from an extra $25,000 per location. Inflating the building limit to cover those costs is the wrong fix. Ask about ordinance or law coverage: paying for code upgrades after a loss and a higher debris removal limit, as insurance to value: setting the right building limit explains. The older the building, the more likely a rebuild triggers code upgrades.

Assumptions and limits

Last reviewed October 24, 2026

Related guides

Insurance to value: setting the right building limit How to set a commercial building limit at replacement cost: what to include and exclude, valuation methods, annual updates, and why costs drift from your limit. Construction cost inflation and your property limits How rising rebuilding costs create underinsurance, the 2026 cost indexes to watch (Verisk 360Value, BLS PPI) and how coinsurance and agreed value respond. The statement of values: what property underwriters need How to build a statement of values underwriters trust: the fields, ISO construction classes, replacement cost basis, and how errors in it surface in a claim. Ordinance or law coverage: paying for code upgrades after a loss A property policy pays to repair what burned, not the code upgrades or the undamaged part a city makes you tear down. How CP 04 05 Coverages A, B and C work. The coinsurance clause and how underinsurance is penalized How the coinsurance formula works, with worked penalty examples for buildings and business income, and four ways to avoid an underinsurance penalty. Replacement cost vs actual cash value for business property How commercial property policies value a loss: actual cash value vs replacement cost, the holdback, the 180-day rule, roof endorsements and a worked example.

Terms used here

Insurance to value Carrying a property limit that matches the full value of what you insure, so a loss is paid in full and no coinsurance penalty applies. Replacement cost A valuation basis that pays the cost to repair or replace damaged property with like kind and quality, without deducting for depreciation. Coinsurance A property policy condition requiring you to insure to a set percentage of value, or share the loss. (Health plans use the word for a cost share.) Ordinance or law Coverage for the extra cost of rebuilding to current building codes after a covered loss, which a standard property policy excludes or sharply limits. Debris removal Property coverage that pays to clear the wreckage of covered property after a covered loss, capped at a share of the loss plus a fixed extra amount.

Latest on this topic