#6 Task cost estimate; workforce, materials, equipment.

Using National Construction Cost Estimator (NCCE)

Quantity take-off
All construction estimating, by any software program or hand written, use as a first step a "take off" of unit quantity from the contract or construction documents.

A square foot of brick work installed will have a material, labor and equipment component. The Unit cost of a installed element, brick work, can be costed as a complete assembly based on historical data, or can be broken down to sub-elements each with their own historical cost data.

National Construction Cost Estimator and most estimating software provide both assembly costs and sub-element costs based on the software companies past construction industry cost research reduced to statistical means.
So by definition all cost data is not current, and may not accurately reflect true costs for specific conditions and a particular project.

The software approach to cost estimating produces values for a typical project by a typical GC. Each project and GC with have specific conditions that may not be accounted for in the software, and take-off elements may not have an exact correlation in the software data base.

The quantity take-off, or quantity survey (a Chartered Quantity Surveyor in the countries of the British Commonwealth and Ireland is a licensed professional) provides a detailed list of quantities and components that will become materially part of the finished project, and the processes and operations to complete the project.

The Estimators Role
The GC's estimating staff, or estimating consultant in the first run of a project estimate assigns dollar values based on the GC's cost data from previous projects, quotes from sub-contractors and suppliers, and assigned values from estimating software where real numbers are not yet available.

The GC's project staff will review the first run of the estimate with a preliminary project schedule and may make adjustments to schedule and estimate. The estimate develops with updated information.

Subcontractor and component mark-up
The GC's project staff will assign mark-up percentages to each subcontractor, components and activities that are not performed directly by the GC.

The estimate at some point in time before the bid due date will reach a stage at which further refinement produces minimal change.

The GC's project staff will then review and assign percentages for overhead, profit and competitive advantage.

The assignment for Monday will be a sub-element assignment of cost from NCCE for asphalt paving and curbing, assume subgrade below stone base has been established, include layout crew. Do not include overhead and profit.

Coming next;
#7 Task cost estimate; mark-up, overhead, profit, competitive advantage
#8 Project bid cost estimate and documents required with bid
#9 Schedule of values /Project Schedule
#10 Payment voucher/cash flow


To be discussed;