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Construction Cost Calculator MCP Server

Provides item data and cost calculations from a public Google Sheet for estimating construction project costs.

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "abhigit-trimble-construct-cost-mcp": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "server.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SHEET_GID": "0",
        "GOOGLE_SHEET_ID": "1laH5l1FjwWC5HXLp8xkG1eolwScKHIlxB6PohBWQjh0",
        "CACHE_TTL_SECONDS": "300",
        "DEFAULT_LABOR_RATE": "75.0"
      }
    }
  }
}

You have a Python-based MCP server that exposes construction cost estimation tools using data drawn from a public Google Sheet. You can query items, filter by category, search by keyword, list all items, and calculate total project costs with quantities and a labor rate. This server runs locally and is designed to be connected by an MCP client to perform practical cost-estimation tasks for construction projects.

How to use

Connect to the MCP server using your MCP client. You will access five tools that are available from the server. You can: 1) list all items, 2) get details for a specific item by its code, 3) search items by a keyword, 4) filter items by category, and 5) calculate the total project cost by supplying item quantities and an optional labor rate. The data comes from a publicly accessible Google Sheet, so you can rely on up-to-date information without requiring authentication.

Practical usage patterns include: fetching the complete item catalog to understand what’s available, drilling into a particular item to see its specs, narrowing results by category such as concrete or finishes, and performing a cost estimate for a defined bill of quantities. When you run calculate_cost, you provide a list of items with their codes and quantities, and you can override the labor rate if needed. The server will return a total cost based on materials plus labor.

How to install

Prerequisites: Python 3.11+ and pip.

Step 1. Clone the repository.

cd construct_cost_calc

Step 2. Create a virtual environment.

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

Step 3. Install dependencies.

pip install -r requirements.txt

Step 4. Run the MCP server.

python server.py

Configuration and environment variables

The server reads settings from environment variables. You can customize the Google Sheet source and runtime behavior with the following variables.

GOOGLE_SHEET_ID: Google Sheet ID that contains the cost data. Default shown is 1laH5l1FjwWC5HXLp8xkG1eolwScKHIlxB6PohBWQjh0.

SHEET_GID: Sheet tab GID. Default is 0.

CACHE_TTL_SECONDS: Cache duration in seconds. Default is 300 (5 minutes).

DEFAULT_LABOR_RATE: Default labor rate in $/hour. Default is 75.0.

Available tools

list_all_items

Retrieve a list of all construction items available in the data source.

get_item

Fetch detailed information for a specific item by its code.

search_items

Search items by a keyword or phrase to find matching items.

get_items_by_category

Filter items by a specified category to narrow results.

calculate_cost

Compute the total project cost using item quantities and labor rate.