Estimating Report: Analyzing Design Decisions, Building Cost & Pricing

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of how different design decisions impact building costs and pricing preliminaries, focusing on a 40-storey building. It examines the use of precast concrete facades versus in-situ concrete walls, highlighting the benefits of precast concrete in terms of c...Read More

Effects of Different Design decisions on
Building Cost and Pricing Preliminaries

Cost estimate for a 40 storey building
• Constructing a 40-storey building demand for considerable financial uncertainty.
• To minimise such financial risks it is important to accurately estimate the schematic construction
cost.
• For effective cost estimation schematic costs estimation model (SCEM) is applied.
• SCMD involves a number of practices such as floor plan, elevation views of the exterior, site plan,
roof plan and building section.

Using precast façade to situ concrete walls
for residential blocks
• Precast concrete has been in use for many years because of its aesthetic resourcefulness and
durability.
• Also, precast concrete has other unique strengths other than being flexible and durable.
• Precast concrete is eco-friendly and significantly minimise the time of construction.
• The major significances related to precast concrete include:
1. Control: The use of precast allow the project manager to have more control over the job site and
schedule.

Cont’
• East installation: precast is produced offsite in a covered setting which means that it does not depend
on weather conditions like other site-cast products.
• Offsite production allow for timely delivery hence leading to safe, cleaner construction site timely
delivery of the project.
• Top quality and durable: Precast is well-known for its exceptional quality as well as durability.
• Fireproof: The major advantage with precast it that a fireproof attribute such that it cannot catch fire
and also has the capability to avert the spreading of fire from one room to another.
• Aesthetic value: Currently things have changed and no one would like to construct a building with the
boring grey concrete structures. Certainly, precast concrete has a range of aggregates, colours, shapes
and finishes, which offers the project owner a number of options.

Using steel formwork instead of timber formwork for concrete
• In the recent past steel formwork has been gaining popularity in the construction sector because it
can be used for a long period and can also be reused for quite a long time (Lloret et al., 2015, p.
41).
• steel shattering provide charismatic finishes to concrete surfaces, whereas the use of timber
formwork though easy to produce but it is time-consuming when it comes to big constructions like
the 40 storey tower.
• steel formwork shattering is strong, lasting, durable and waterproof thus it minimises the effect of
honeycombing.
• Moreover, it is easier to install and dismantle steel formwork with a lot of ease.

Pricing preliminaries
• Provision of temporary office: The temporary office provides accommodation room for the site
manager, space for holding meetings and offers storage space for documents of the site.
• Provision of temporary electricity, water and telephones: The site should be well distributed
with water as the Construction design and management (CDM) regulations which work to ensure
sanitary conveniences, drinking water and washing facilities have to be availed on a construction.
• Safeguarding the works and materials and protection of adjoining properties: The owner
making proposal for construction of the building has the responsibility to protect the adjoining
property from probable damage from construction work.

Cont’
• Site internal transport services: Internal transport services is described as the management of movement
of materials, equipment and tools as well as other related objects from the point of discharge to the
point of use.
• Safety, health and welfare of workpeople: To ensure safe construction site entails erecting appropriate
cordons and hoarding.
• This can be achieved using proper signage and lighting in the construction site.
• Removing rubbish and cleaning: The removal of litter around the construction site help to ensure that
the site is free from obstructions.
• Final Clearance and handover: This entails ensuring that the project has met the quality requirements of
the project parameters which include aligning of the project deliverables against its management plan.

Principles for construction pricing
preliminaries
• The process of project cost estimation is core to setting up a base for taking initiatives, making key
decisions, budgeting activities as well as regulating costs.
• The process of cost estimation has to abide by a set of principles which act a basis for determining
and calculating the right project costs (Kern, and Formoso, 2012).
• These principles include information accuracy and relevance, integrity, uncertainty and risk,
validation and release and use.

Bibliography
Lloret, E., Shahab, A.R., Linus, M., Flatt, R.J., Gramazio, F., Kohler, M. and Langenberg, S., 2015.
Complex concrete structures: merging existing casting techniques with digital fabrication. Computer-
Aided Design, 60, pp.40-49.
Kern, A.P. and Formoso, C.T., 2012, August. Guidelines for improving cost management in fast,
complex and uncertain construction projects. In 12th Conference of the International Group for Lean
Construction (pp. 220-233).