Process of Estimating

Process Components 

The estimating process can be divided into two major components, viz. measurement and pricing. There are some procedures very closely allied to the estimating process indeed, some say they are hart of the process, such as bidding and cost control. Both measurement and pricing can each be conveniently subdivided into three main parts. In measurement, the three parts are description (specification) of work, establishment of dimensions (interpretation of design and drawings) and calculation of quantities of work. In pricing, the three parts are the establishment of data related to cost and productivity, the computation of prices based on the data and the application of prices to the measured antiquities of work. In the subsequent sections, these six elements will be examined in detail. 

Prioritisation 

One objective of estimating, as already stated, is to maximize information about any given set of proposed construction circumstances, to minimize the unknowns and therefore the risks, and to permit reasonably reliable predictions to be made with respect to construction costs. 

In any construction project, the various component parts that go to make up the whole have varying degrees of economic or other importance. Estimators should be able to identify the significant components, which are normally not many in number and bestow added attention to these components rather than to other insignificant items, which may be large in number. This precept is now referred to as the 20180 rule, which is to say that 20% of the work will generate 808 of the cost, and vice-versa. The necessity of making this distinction comes about from pressures that are imposed on every estimator. There is simply never enough time in the estimating process so give equal consideration to every element of design and construction and to every aspect of cost on any given project.