4 - Cost Management Flashcards
Match each of the phases of a construction project to the corresponding estimating method and then select the appropriate answer. The same estimating method may be used more than once.*
Project phase
1) The functional and technical program for a residential-care centre with 126 beds
2) The budget validation of the construction documents for a new bank branch
3) The schematic design for a 100-m2 addition to a residence with a clay-brick cladding
Cost estimation method
a) Elemental cost
b) Area
c) Volume
d) Unit use
A) 1a, 2c, 3b
B) 1b, 2a, 3c
C) 1b, 2c, 3c
D) 1d, 2a, 3b
E) 1d, 2c, 3c
D) 1d, 2a, 3b
True or false? Tenderers may inflate prices in good economical time and reduce in tie of recession
True.
True or false? Adding a policy such as LEED decrease the price of a project.
False, adding policies (LEED, Passive Haus, ASHRAE, etc) Increase the price of a project however, many governmental grants are applicable in such projects.
How are site characteristics may influence the cost of a project?
- Unusual or unaccounted subsurface condition
- Hazardous waste, decontamination
- Proximity to adjacent buildings additional soil retention or underpinning required; room for construction crew;
- Topography: retention wall, additional excavation
How does the politics and economics are influencing the cost of a project?
- Inflation rates
- Politic stability can drive off the prices
- Wars, disputes, strikes
- union vs non union
- Exchange rate for imported materials
- Supply chain interruption
- Market conditions
- Policies (LEDD, PH, etc.)
Is it more or less expensive to build in the city (vs suburbia and remote)?
- Suburbia is the cheapest - non complicated site, room for construction crew, not crazy far
- City site can be expensive because of competition and difficulty to access site, crane may be required because no room for material/crew, etc.
- Remote location is expensive because of the distance to supply materials, less or imported manpower, etc.
How can the design help with cost control? (8)
Structure material
Building height
Building form
Finishes
Mech, elec, struc - tradeoffs between systems; type of system
Planned life cycle of the project
Off the shelf vs custom made
Sustainable design certification, depend on the city
How can the client & owner drive up the cost of construction? (12)
Unresolve or undefined brief, budget, deadlines
Delays in paying the contractors
Out of norm requests or quality (custom made, more supervision)
Taste, objectives (finishes request, intentions to make building impressive)
Changes in scope of work
New legislation or changes in market conditions
Lack of sufficient detailed information
Change in stakeholders/partners
Accelerated project timeline
Delayed commencement/ completion date
Owners approval process
Construction scheduled around existing ongoing tenancies
Provide recommendations to a client on following a life cycle Costs
value analysis
Total cost = Capital cost+Operating cost+Maintenance cost
Capital cost: initial cost of construction (land, fess, carrying cost
Operating cost: servicing (insurance, electricity, heat, management, etc.)
Maintenance cost: repairs and renewals
Lower capital cost may result in higher maintenance cost
Different construction, technique and material will have a different life span
Maintenance cost can be substantial
Name 3 ways to evaluate the value of a building outside of economicalvalue.
- Life-cost analysis
- Valued engineering
- Embodied Energy Cost Analysis (Embodied Energy Consumption)
What is valued engineering?
Systematic procedure to determine the best optimum value for investments in a construction project
- Early in design process
- Doesn’t take into consideration the architect’s logical and intuitive design process
How do you call a cost estimate only based on previous work you’ve done? Ball-park cost
Analogous Cost Estimating
quick but inaccurate
What cost evaluation requires the most extensive efforts?
Bottom-up Cost evaluation: Breakdown structure and aggregate up to the deliverables and subdeliverables including material, installation, management, logistics, etc.
Evaluation done as part of a bid package. Requires extensive time, effort, knowledge, cost
What is Parametric Cost Estimating and what is its initial requirement?
Applies to measurement of a building, system or component
- Size of building x $/sq.m.
- Area floor x $/sq.m.
- Length of steel lintel x $/m
- Number of light fixtures x $/supply and installation
Requires an initial design
What are the pros (2) & cons (1) of the Elemental Cost using Uniformat II ?
Pros
-Process without construction or specifications
-Useful when trading off between elements to improve the quality of the project without compromising the total budget
Cons
-Cut across traditional construction trade areas, it can be difficult to compare estimated cost information with actual cost info because of a different format (Uniformat vs Masterformat)
