Estimating 1 Assignment: Early Stage Building Cost Estimation Factors

This report, prepared for Estimating 1, examines the factors influencing the accuracy of building cost estimates, particularly during the early stages of a project. It explores the impact of external factors such as weather conditions, government regulations, and industrial relations on cost estimation. The report also compares elemental cost analysis with trade cost breakdowns, providing a comprehensive overview of cost estimation methodologies. The analysis highlights how factors like weather can lead to cost alterations and project delays, emphasizing the need for accurate assessment of these variables. Furthermore, it discusses how government regulations and industrial relations affect the accuracy of cost estimation. The report concludes by stressing the importance of considering these factors to achieve project goals efficiently and effectively, and ensure accurate cost estimation. The report includes a detailed bibliography of relevant sources.

Assignment 1 in Estimating 1
Assignment 1 in Estimating
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

Assignment 1 in Estimating 2
Part 1 Factors affecting accuracy of early stage building cost estimates
Part 1 Factors affecting the accuracy of early-stage building cost estimates
Estimation is part of any project and the accuracy of the estimate is very crucial in determining
the success of any project. Accurate estimation of the construction cost of a project is important
from an early stage. The accuracy of estimating the construction cost of a project depends on
several factors such as project characteristics, client and consultants, material markets, labor
market, the financial market as well as many other external factors such as weather effects,
industrial regulations, and government regulations. There several studies and literature that have
explained how these factors influence the accuracy of building cost estimation at an early stage
of a project, (Ashworth and Perera, 2015). This part we are going to discuss how other external
factors influence the construction cost estimation in a project. These external factors such as
weather effect can cause an alteration in the budget estimated, therefore, they should be
considered during early stage construction cost estimation.
Government regulation plays a role in determining the accuracy of the estimated construction
cost of a project. This is because all major construction projects must comply with several
regulatory standards such as environmental standards before they are approved. Acquiring these
approvals from the mandated regulatory agencies is a costly process and that may include hiring
experts such as surveyors and structural engineers to access credentials of the construction
project, (Khodakarami and Abdi, 2014). Evading these government regulations could call for
legal fines and affects with the proposed timeline of the construction project. Therefore, in order
for accurate estimation to be achieved, all the government regulatory requirements should be
identified and their cost should be included as part of the construction cost at an early stage of
the project.
Weather conditions cannot be predicted accurately and these conditions have an adversative
bearing on the overall cost of a construction project. In order to come up with accurate
construction cost estimates and realistic schedule for a construction project it is very crucial to
consider the possible weather effects on the project. Poor weather condition can either cause a
partial or complete loss in a construction project (Lee, Kim, and Yu, 2014). The partial loss is
associated with the reduced labor productivity caused by poor weather while the complete loss is
associated with a complete work stoppage that interrupts the construction activities. In
construction projects there are hired equipment or machinery and other standing charges that
must be paid for even when the construction activities have stopped due to poor weather
conditions. The prevailing and expected weather patterns during the project execution period
should be analyzed and considered in the scheduling and planning of the construction activities,
(Fellows and Liu, 2015). Considering the potential impact of weather on the cost of construction
is very important since it facilitates proper brisk management in the project and this allows the
project to run within the projected budget allocation.

Assignment 1 in Estimating 3
Industrial relations also play a role in determining the accuracy of construction project cost
estimation. The term industrial relations explain the relationship between employees and
management which stems directly or indirectly from the union-employer relationship. In any
construction project, there is the top management and the other team members that make up the
project construction team. The formal and informal relationship between the management and
the team members should be good in order to facilitate the formulation of an accurate cost
estimate of the project, (Brook, 2016). There should be a good communication channel that
allows a good flow of information across all level of the project and this will allow creativity and
innovation. Also, the relation between the management and other external stakeholders such as
suppliers is very important. Having a good relationship with suppliers, for instance, will enable
the project manager to acquire good procurement deals and loyalty from the suppliers. Poor
industrial relations may discourage some suppliers and this may lead to acquiring the
construction materials and costs at a higher price and this may lead to huge alterations in the cost
of the project (Walker, 2015). Therefore, it is very important to consider industrial relations as
one of the external factors that determine the accuracy of construction project cost estimation.
Part 2 Elemental vs Trade cost breakdown comparison
Elemental cost analysis is most likely among the best available product based cost models as it
provides data that can be used in elemental cost planning, (Kirkham, 2007 p.173). Surveyor and
construction managers have used this method in the early design stags of projects for so long.
Elemental cost analysis is basically cost information of a project gathered from bills of quantity.
An alteration may arise from the cost predicted in the prepared bill of quantity by the successful
tender and the actual cost of the products and in order to have an accurate cost estimation in a
project, this should be also be considered, (Ahiaga-Dagbui and Smith, 2014 p 59). Below is an
illustration of service as an element and the related trade items.
Services
1. Conveying -Elevators and lifts, Escalators and moving walks, other conveying
systems
2. Plumbing- Plumbing fixtures, Domestic water distribution, Sanitary waste, rain
water drainage, other plumbing systems
3. HVAC- Energy supply, heat generating Systems, distribution systems, terminal
and package units, control and instrumentation, system testing and balancing
4. Fire protection- sprinklers, standpipes, fire protection specialties
5. Electrical Installation- Electrical service and distribution, lighting and branch
wiring, communications and security

Assignment 1 in Estimating 4
Conclusion
The main objective of every construction project is to achieve the predetermined goals
efficiently and effectively. In order to achieve this goal estimation is very essential. Estimation of
the cost of a construction project has to be accurate and this accuracy depends on several factors.
There are several external factors such as weather effects, industrial regulations and government
regulations that influence the accuracy of a cost estimation of a construction project. Elemental
cost analysis is basically cost information of a project gathered from bills of quantity. The
analysis is also important in bridging the gap between the estimates and the reel price in market.
Therefore, it is important to consider the factors that determine the accuracy of the cost estimate
of a project.
Bibliography
Ahiaga-Dagbui, D.D. and Smith, S.D., 2014. Rethinking construction cost overruns: cognition,
learning and estimation. Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction,
19(1), pp.38-54.
Ashworth, A. and Perera, S., 2015. Cost studies of buildings. Routledge.
Brook, M., 2016. Estimating and tendering for construction work. Routledge
Fellows, R.F. and Liu, A.M., 2015. Research methods for construction. John Wiley & Sons.
Khodakarami, V. and Abdi, A., 2014. Project cost risk analysis: A Bayesian networks approach
for modeling dependencies between cost items. International Journal of Project
Management, 32(7), pp.1233-1245.
Kirkham, R. (2007) Ferry and Brandon’s Cost Planning of Buildings, 8th edition,
WileyBlackwell, Oxford.
Lee, S.K., Kim, K.R. and Yu, J.H., 2014. BIM and ontology-based approach for building cost
estimation. Automation in construction, 41, pp.96-105.
Walker, A., 2015. Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons