LandTech often includes preparation of a construction cost estimate in connection with our professional engineering design services. Preparing an “accurate” construction cost estimate can be an elusive undertaking.
We refer to this task as an “opinion of probable construction cost”, in accordance with language used by the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC; http://www.ejcdc.org/). According to EJCDC documents:
…..because [the] Engineer has no control over the cost of labor, materials, equipment, or services furnished by others, or over contractors’ methods of determining prices, or over competitive bidding or market conditions, [the] Engineer cannot and does not guarantee that proposals, bids, or actual Construction Cost will not vary from opinions of probable Construction Cost prepared by [the] Engineer. If [the] Owner requires greater assurance as to probable Construction Cost, [the] Owner must employ an independent cost estimator…
An opinion of probable construction cost estimate can be performed at different stages of design; i.e., concept design, preliminary design, final design, etc. The earlier in the design process the estimation is performed, the less accurate it will be since more specific information will be available for estimation as the design plans are completed.
When preparing an engineer’s opinion of probable construction cost, LandTech typically use construction cost data available from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) or RSMeans.
Average unit price information can be found for TDOT projects on their website here http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/construction/Average_Bid_Prices.htm. When using TDOT data it is important to remember how the size of a project might affect unit prices (i.e., economies of scale). For example, the unit prices for asphalt pavement may be smaller for a ten mile roadway project as compared with a small parking lot project.
RSMeans is a construction cost estimation database published by Reed Construction Data, which has been providing construction cost data for over 70 years. Updated construction cost data manuals are published annually. RS Means staff collects cost data for materials, labor, and equipment; and includes provisions for construction overhead and profit, and city cost indexes.
Please contact LandTech if you need assistance with developing an opinion of probable construction cost for your project or if you need advice with any other aspect of the land development process, including civil engineering or land surveying services. http://landtechco.com/home
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