Linear Accelerator Room Construction Startup Costs for a 22-Project Year
Key Takeaways
Site gear is startup CAPEX; project materials are not.
Technical compliance costs scale with revenue and project type.
Software splits between subscriptions and implementation, not one invoice.
Staffing should match 22 projects, not the full ramp.
Estimate Startup Costs with Calculator
Startup CAPEX Calculator
Estimates capitalized startup assets only for a linear accelerator room construction firm.
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Excluded from CAPEX This calculator covers owned startup assets only. It excludes pre-opening fees, payroll ramp, bonding collateral, client project costs, working capital, deposits, debt service, inventory runway, marketing runway, and operating expenses. Large items may need vendor quotes.
What hidden costs should a linac room contractor plan for?
If you're pricing a linac room job, the hidden costs are the cash gaps around the build, not just the room itself; see What Are The Operating Costs For Linear Accelerator Room Construction?. Plan for bid prep, prequalification packages, hospital credentialing, insurance deposits, surety bonding collateral, payroll before collections, subcontractor deposits, retainage float, travel, site safety documentation, technical documentation, and delayed reimbursement. With $46,200 per month fixed overhead as the burn-rate floor, these working-capital needs can hit before broader staffing starts.
Startup cash gaps
Bid prep costs come first
Credentialing slows cash collection
Insurance and bonding need deposits
Payroll often leads collections
Project cost buckets
$125,000 per LINAC Vault
$48,000 per PET Shield
$70,000 per HDR Suite
$650,000 per Proton Bay
How should founders fund a linear accelerator room construction business?
For Linear Accelerator Room Construction, founders should fund the first year from a bridge plan backed by a tight model, not from a guess. At the 22-project target and $17.95 million revenue, that’s about $815,909 per project, but you still need to map owned CAPEX, startup costs, monthly burn, bonding needs, retainage exposure, and project cash timing before asking for loans, investors, or surety capacity. Fixed overhead is $46,200 per month, and the CEO salary adds $220,000 a year or about $18,333 a month, so known cash burn is at least $64,533 a month before project labor and materials.
Funding plan
Build the first-year cash model
Phase hiring to signed backlog
Test equipment and insurance quotes
Price bonding collateral and software
Model checks
Estimate retainage holdbacks by project
Track cash in and cash out
Measure startup expenses separately
Validate assumptions before funding talks
How much does it cost to start a linear accelerator room construction company?
Starting a Linear Accelerator Room Construction company can’t be priced as one client vault build; the provided model is a first-year operator plan, not a complete startup funding total, so use How To Launch Linear Accelerator Room Construction Business? to frame the launch around 22 projects and $17.95 million in planned first-year revenue.
This table shows CAPEX and excluded launch cash for a linear accelerator room construction firm.
Highlighted CAPEX$650,000Base planning example
Excluded cash needs$1,171,000Outside CAPEX total
Funding need$1,821,000CAPEX + excluded cash needs
Cost Category
Base Estimate
Main Cost Driver
CAPEX Calculator
Heavy Material Handling Fleet
$350,000
Heavy lifts, site moves, and transport across jobsites
Yes
Physics Modeling Server Cluster
$120,000
Engineering compute for shielding and design work
Yes
Radiation Survey Equipment
$75,000
Measurement and compliance checks before room handoff
Yes
Warehouse Storage Racking
$60,000
Storage for shielding parts, tools, and staging inventory
Yes
Office and Engineering Workstations
$45,000
Desktops and workstations for design, admin, and project control
Yes
Opening Cash Reserve
$1,171,000
Monthly fixed overhead, payroll ramp, and first-month working capital
No
Linear Accelerator Room Construction Core Five Startup Costs
Vehicles, Tools, and Site Gear Startup Expense
Field gear
This startup cost covers the gear your crew needs to work a vault safely: work trucks, tool packages, laser measuring or scanning equipment, temporary containment gear, site safety equipment, jobsite storage, ladders, owned lifts, and field communications. It does not include the client’s linear accelerator, major shielding materials, or leased heavy equipment.
How to size it
Use a simple build-up: units × unit price for trucks and tool kits, plus quotes for scanners, safety gear, and storage. Add any owned lift purchase only if you plan to buy it. Lease costs belong in operating expense. The key question is how many crews and active sites you want covered at launch.
Keep it lean
Buy shared gear first, and rent specialty lifts unless utilization is high. Standardize tool packages so crews swap parts fast, and track loss on small items because that quietly adds up. One clean rule: if a tool only helps one job type, rent it. That keeps cash in the business without hurting site control or safety.
Job-cost items
The source model treats project materials as client job costs, not startup CAPEX: $45,000 high density concrete, $35,000 lead lined shielding panels, $25,000 specialized neutron doors, and $15,000 direct installation labor per LINAC Vault. Keep startup cash focused on the field gear needed to open.
Shielding Engineering and Compliance Setup Startup Expense
Launch Setup
Before the first bid, budget for pre-bid relationships with shielding engineers, medical physicists, architects, structural engineers, and QA documentation advisers. This is a launch capability cost, not final hospital engineering. The source model uses 6% revenue-linked technical and compliance cost by project group, so setup spend should build pricing and review capacity.
Cost Inputs
This line includes quote-driven retainers and review fees for third-party physics review at 12%, shielding certification labor at 20%, structural analysis fees at 18%, and high-energy physics modeling at 20%. Estimate it as units of review scope times quoted price, then map it to expected project groups. Actual pre-opening retainers need sourced quotes.
Keep It Tight
Use scoped reviews tied to live bids, not broad monthly retainers. Keep the planning anchor at 6% of revenue-linked technical and compliance cost by project group, then replace it with real quotes before launch. That keeps startup cash focused on capability, while the client’s final engineering stays in project cost.
Quote each discipline separately
Pay only for bid-stage scope
Move client work into job cost
Budget Guardrails
Build the startup budget around adviser access, review cycles, and QA documentation support, then swap in sourced retainers before opening. The clean rule is simple: use 6% as the model, but treat the hospital client’s shielding engineering as project cost, not startup CAPEX.
Software, Estimating, BIM, and Systems Startup Expense
Software Stack
Your software budget should cover takeoff tools, estimating databases, BIM coordination, project controls, accounting, document management, cybersecurity, and client submittal workflows. Keep recurring subscriptions separate from one-time implementation and IT hardware CAPEX, because they hit cash in different months.
Budget Inputs
Use the source numbers: $3,500 a month for engineering software subscriptions, plus project management software at 0.5% of revenue. On $17.95 million of Year 1 revenue, that allocation is about $89,750 ($17,950,000 × 0.005). That figure is project-cost logic, not always the first software invoice.
Keep It Lean
Start with the modules that touch bids, BIM, and submittals first. Delay extra seats and add-ons until backlog is real, and do not mix hardware purchases into monthly software run-rate. One clean rule: buy what the team uses in the first 90 days, then expand after the first project wave.
Cash Timing
What this estimate hides is timing. A vendor may bill annual subscriptions upfront, implementation may land once, and hardware may sit in CAPEX. For launch planning, treat the $3,500 monthly base as recurring burn and the $89,750 as a project-linked budget line, not a cash bill due on day one.
Licensing, Insurance, Bonding, Legal, and Credentialing Startup Expense
What it covers
This startup cost covers the paperwork and risk controls needed to bid and build safely: state contractor licensing, general liability, workers’ compensation, professional liability, builder’s risk coordination, surety bonding, contract review, hospital vendor credentialing, and regulatory setup. It is separate from project job costs and should be budgeted as a launch overhead line.
Budget the fixed costs
Here’s the quick math: the sourced fixed run rate is $8,000 per month for professional liability insurance plus $5,000 per month for legal and regulatory compliance, or $13,000 per month combined. Add state-by-state licensing, bonding quotes, and hospital credentialing fees on top, since those vary by jurisdiction and client.
Keep it tight
Use state-specific quotes early, then renew only what the next 3 to 6 months of work needs. Don’t treat permit or fee rates as universal; planning commission permits at 12% and environmental impact fees at 05% are project-linked assumptions, not blanket startup costs. That keeps cash tied to real projects.
Get written insurance quotes
Match bonding to contract size
Credential before mobilizing crews
State rules first
For a linear accelerator room contractor, the real trap is assuming one licensing package works everywhere. Requirements change by state, county, and hospital, so build a compliance matrix before bidding. If a project needs extra credentialing or a stricter bond, price it into that job instead of spreading it across all startup spend.
Staffing, Payroll Ramp, and Working Capital Startup Expense
Launch payroll
For a linear accelerator room contractor, this cost is the people and cash needed to open, not a building asset. It covers the CEO and Principal Engineer at $220,000 a year, plus the first project manager, superintendent, estimator, admin help, recruiting, safety training, proposal work, travel, and the cash float before collections start.
Match backlog
Here’s the quick math: $220,000 is about $18,333 a month, and adding $46,200 monthly fixed overhead puts base burn near $64,533 a month before broader staffing. Size payroll from the first-year plan of 22 projects, not the five-year ramp to 82 projects, so hires match booked work and proposal flow.
Hire against signed backlog.
Keep bid help flexible.
Review burn every month.
Control burn
Keep launch spend lean by delaying full team hires until volume is real. Use contract help for estimating or admin work if the backlog is uneven, and keep travel and recruiting tied to signed jobs. The mistake is staffing for 82 projects too early; the safer check is whether the first 22 projects can carry the team.
Keep non-core roles flexible.
Limit spend to active jobs.
Pause hires when backlog slips.
Working capital
Treat payroll ramp and cash reserve as pre-opening expenses or working capital, not capital spending (CAPEX). CAPEX is for equipment and site assets; this bucket funds wages, recruiting, proposal development, and the gap before first collections.
Compare 3 Startup Cost Scenarios
Scenario table
At 22 Year 1 projects and $17.95 million revenue, startup cost swings mainly come from what you self-perform. Lean shifts work to subcontractors; Full adds staff, equipment, and cash strain.
Lean, Base, and Full launch paths
Scenario
Lean LaunchPartner-led, low bond
Base LaunchCore team, moderate bond
Full LaunchIn-house, heavy bond
Launch model
Use subcontractors for specialty engineering and field work, keep owned equipment light, and stay flexible on project mix.
Use a small internal team for estimating, controls, and credentialing, then backfill field capacity with select partners.
Build most work in-house with a wider staff, more owned equipment, and tighter control over QA and BIM.
Typical setup
Small office, limited fleet, outsourced physics and specialty design, and simpler software.
Core tools, project controls, insurance, credentialing, and a small leadership bench.
Broader staff, more equipment, deeper BIM and QA systems, and higher working capital.
Cost drivers
Subcontractor fees
light owned equipment
lower fixed payroll
tighter bond terms
simple software stack
Core tools
credentialing and insurance
selective equipment ownership
project controls software
moderate bond load
Owned equipment fleet
broader payroll
BIM and QA systems
higher working capital
heavier bonding
Planning rangeCAPEX only
Quote-based low bandLower cash draw
Quote-based mid bandModerate cash draw
Quote-based high bandHigh cash draw
Best fit
Best for founders who want the lowest fixed start and can manage partners closely.
Best for teams that want control, a real internal bench, and moderate upfront spend.
Best for sponsors that want in-house control and can fund a heavier cash build.
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Planning note: Ranges are researched planning assumptions, not vendor quotes; reset them with local bids, bonding terms, and reserve targets.
