Heaven, Hell and Estimating: They say that all good jokes are based on bits of truth. I don’t know if this is the case with all humor but it does hit close to home with a joke I heard about the estimating skills of us engineers. The joke went like this; Question: What is the definition of an “engineer’s estimate”? Answer: The cost of construction in heaven. Not so funny, but so true. The reality is engineers (and architects alike) do not have the best track record for budgeting project costs accurately. Why would this be when typically these folks are great with math and numbers? The answer is that construction, (particularly remodeling) has so much more to do with the “hell” of sight specific challenges and hassles than it does with the “heaven” of neat, organized plans and specifications where lines always meet and things neatly fit together. Accurate budgetary estimating requires the estimator to know and include both the good (heaven) and the project specific challenges (hell) in the estimating process. They all have a cost!
Types of Scope: The accuracy of a construction cost estimate is directly related to the estimators understanding of the projects complete scope! Painfully many project owners have been faced with the dilemma of the real cost of their project proving to be much higher than the budgetary estimate. This happens all the time. Some of this difference can be explained but too often the difference is due to an incomplete understanding of the whole scope required to build the project. All contractors have faced this at one time or another where they were low bid on a project and learn as the job unfolds why they were low bid. It is painful and it all comes back to scope, scope, scope!! The design professionals define the project scope in plans and specifications; plans being the defined quantity of work and specifications being the defined quality of the work. For construction estimating the Architect/ Engineer Scope is incomplete. Scoping construction for estimating purposes goes well beyond the plans and specifications and must include field specific or Context Scope realities such as:
· On-going operations
· Weather
· Time of year
· Access/ egress
· Soils conditions
· Security
· Protecting the existing
· Traffic volume & control
· Travel distance
· Market factors
· Local restrictions
These and other context specific issues can significantly impact the cost of a project and are variable from site to site. The third type of scope common to all projects is that which is required to execute the work or the required “means and methods” for building the project. Execution scope varies from contractor to contractor and site to site but includes thinking through the processes of building what the AE defines within the realities of the context. Some examples are:
· Equipment requirements
· Staging
· Safety requirements
· The critical path order
· Labor needs
· All means and methods
Good estimators are made great through their knowledge of construction and their ability to mentally build the project multiple times before the project is actually built. If you want to improve at construction estimating then improve at knowing construction. That is construction estimating….build it before you build it, think like a contractor, scope beyond plans and specifications! Some of the best estimators I know are those that come from the field and understand that estimating is NOT just about unit costing and a good spreadsheet but more so about capturing the complete AE, context and execution scope on a project. Welcome to the world of heaven and hell in construction estimating.
