Cost Estimating for Construction Projects

Explore how productivity and activity duration drive labor cost in construction, comparing unit-based and duration-based methods, and applying daily output to estimate hours and days.

Build a spreadsheet to estimate total clothing costs, applying discounts of 40% off suits, 35% off pants, 20% off shirts, tees, and dresses, plus 7% tax.

Explore the five to one classes of cost estimating, from ballpark to detailed estimates, and learn how accuracy, feasibility studies, and WBS guide budgeting and project control.

Explore competitive bidding, selective bidding, and direct or indirect award methods, and learn how time matters with plus D and lane renting incentives, including A plus B decision logic.

Collaborate in groups to practice basic cost estimating concepts from chapter three, solving true/false and multiple-choice questions, and submit your elaborative answers to the exercise three box on e-courses.

Apply the A plus B method to compare three bids for a construction project, weighing daily value and bid duration to select the optimal bidder under different daily worth scenarios.

Compute labor costs for two crews over three weeks with four workers at $30 per hour. Add workers' compensation and overhead—builders insurance, bonds, and architecture fees—to determine the initial estimate.

Compute workers' compensation insurance cost for a three-week, full-time construction crew in North Carolina, with two crews, four workers and one foreman, at specified hourly wages.

Estimate the mechanical and electrical portion of a $3.3 million municipal project using median table percentages and square-foot costs; compute the engineering fee at 4.9% of the $762,000 subcontractor size.

Learn to interpolate and extrapolate costs between RSMeans items when exact matches are missing, using closest items and linear formulas. Apply to excavating costs and hauling distances with overhead.

Explore how inflation and cost escalation affect construction project estimates by applying the compound interest formula to calculate future costs, using historical cost indices and annual escalation rates.

Calculate the total cost of laying 10,000 square yards of polypropylene stabilization fabric in Nashua, New Hampshire, using labor at $31 per hour and equipment at $40 per hour.

Estimate concrete formwork costs by selecting element type and material, and performing quantity takeoff. Apply productivity, local labor rates, and overhead to determine bare and total costs.

Estimate precast concrete elements such as beams and columns, including delivery and installation costs. Understand bare cost versus total cost with overhead and profit for precast versus cast in place.

Perform a practical cost estimate for columns and footings, calculating formwork area, rebar quantities and sizes, concrete volume, pumping, and total project cost.

Learn to build a construction estimate by mapping Masterformat 2016/2017 data to concrete formwork, rebar, concrete mix, and placement for columns and footings using ready-mix 3500 psi.

Identify and reference formwork and reinforcement quantities for beams, girders, columns, elevated slabs, and slab-on-grade, converting areas to linear feet and tonnage with 10% contingencies to complete the cost calculation.

Explore division seven's thermal and moisture control, building envelope concepts, and practical roof calculations, including rafter length via Pythagorean theorem and roof slope factors.

Compute the volume of all wood elements and practice, with the answers posted by midnight for review tomorrow.