Return to question Mercer Asbestos Removal Company removes potentially toxic asbestos insulation and related products from buildings. There has been a long-simmering dispute between the company's estimator and the work supervisors. The on-site supervisors claim that the estimators do not adequately distinguish between routine work, such as removal of asbestos insulation around heating pipes in older homes, and nonroutine work, such as removing asbestos contaminated celling plaster in industrial buildings. The on-site supervisors believe that nonroutine work is far more expensive than routine work and should bear higher customer charges. The estimator sums up his position in this way: "My job is to measure the area to be cleared of asbestos. As directed by top management, I simply multiply the square footage by $2.70 to determine the bid price. Since our average cost is only $2.405 per square foot, that leaves enough cushion to take care of the additional costs of nonroutine work that shows up. Besides, it is difficult to know what is routine or not routine until you actually start tearing things apart." To shed light on this controversy, the company Initiated an activity-based costing study of all of its costs. Data from the activity-based costing system follow: Activity Cont Pool Activity Measure Total Ativity Removing asbestos Thousands of square feet 800 thousand square feet Estimating and job setup Number of job 500 jobs Working on non routine Jobs Number of nonroutine joba 100 nonroutine Jobu Other (organization-sustaining costs and idle capacity costo) None Note: The 100 nonroutine Jobs are included in the total of 500 jobs. Both nonroutine jobs and routine jobs require estimating and setup. $ Conta for the Year Wages and salaries Disposal fees Tiquipment depreciation 323,000 759,000 90,000 Reg 1 Reg 2 Req 3A to 3C Using the activity rates you have computed, determine the total cost and the average cost per thousand square feet of each of the following jobs according to the activity-based costing system. (Round the "Average Cost per thousand square feet" to 2 decimal places.) a. A routine 1,000-square-foot asbestos removal job. b. A routine 2,000-square-foot asbestos removal job. c. A nonroutine 2,000-square-foot asbestos removal job. Show less Total cost of the job Average Cost per thousand square feet Routine 1,000 sq. ft. job $ 1,364 $ 1,364.00 Routine Nonroutine 2,000 sq. 2,000 sq. it. job ft. Job 1,229 $ 4,788 $ 614.50 X $ 23,294.00