ENGINEERING - MANAGEMENT

How Consultants Affect the Accuracy of Construction Cost Estimating

How Consultants Affect the Accuracy of Construction Cost Estimating

Introduction

One of the most important things that must be kept in mind when one talk about the cost of the project is that all estimated of the costs should be accurate. It is really important to get it right in the first go as the client will not be really satisfied with the cost of the project is the costs estimates are later said to be revised. Most of the times, the cost proceeds in two ways, as sometimes the consultant will be providing client with the maximum budget figures or there is a initial stage in which costs are estimated.

Size of the Project

The smaller the project is in terms of number of square feet, the greater will be the cost of the project. Most of the times, contractors and consultants have this start up cost. They remain more or less same in real terms, and they are the small percentage of the total cost of the project. For instance, if the total cost of the project is $ 1,000,000 and the start up cost of the project is $ 100,000, the total start up costs being 10% of the project. However, if the same project is of $ 2,000,000, then the same cost becomes 5%, so start up costs are big factor in the cost estimation of the project (Kerzner, 2013, p.40).

Type of Project

The type of project that is undergoing also has an impact on the total costs of the project. There are many factors contributing to it, as if contract requires certain level of specialization and cost of material needed to carry out that certain project will obviously take the cost to higher level.

Complexity of the Project

When there are projects that call for complex technicalities in them, there is a need for careful detailing. For instance, the detail and complexity of the restaurant project would be really different from a logistic project. These two projects would require different amount of time and different level of expertise to carry them out. As logistics project would be different in its nature, its cost estimates are bound to be on the higher side.

Variables of the Project

This is one thing that unfortunately clients do not understand that well but there three variables in any project which are:

Level of Quality

The Size ...