Minimize Expenses with Construction Cost Estimation

Did you know that an inaccurate construction cost estimate can turn out to be costly in terms of cost overruns or lost contracts? Most often, companies complete their paperwork and then start to bid on a large contract, only to later realize that errors seeped into their building cost estimate while calculating the cost.

Construction cost estimation services aim to solve this problem by helping a prospective company find out areas where cost can be minimized, giving the organization a competitive edge, when it comes to bidding for contracts. Investing in building cost estimation can also fuel a company's growth in the long run.

Why Opt for Construction Cost Estimation?

Construction cost estimation is a great way to build up the profitability of your project right from the start. Apart from saving you hours of precious time, a building cost estimator can also help you cut down on costs.

By outsourcing construction cost estimation to professionals, you need to focus solely on making the final adjustments to complete your proposal for a bid, as the other aspects of construction cost estimation are take care of by the experts. Outsourcing becomes extremely beneficial especially during heavy bidding cycles. Whether you are a residential contractor or a commercial contractor, using a building cost estimation service can help you bid for multiple projects with ease.

If your company invests in building cost estimation, you can leverage these top three benefits:

  • Effectively track construction costs throughout the project lifecycle
  • Get better insight on the profitability of your current endeavors, and evaluate if new proposals can bring in profits
  • Easily bid for a contract with different project parameters, by getting a perfect estimate

Construction Cost Estimation Process

Investing in building cost estimation services is a great way to accurately estimate the cost of your project even before you start building it. Most construction cost estimators start by gaining a thorough understanding of your goals and then follow a structured process to estimate the cost of your building accurately. The process followed by a residential construction cost estimator or a commercial construction cost estimator consists of the following steps -

  • Skilled building cost estimators will collect and evaluate data on all the major factors that can influence the cost of your building, such as, the location, materials, labor, and machinery equipment
  • If need be, you could request for only one phase of the estimation, like electrical construction cost estimation or residential cost estimation
  • Construction cost estimators will use specialized software to come up with an estimation and then offer you with assistance and recommendations
  • To help you find areas where the cost can be minimized, a building estimator will present you with time phase charts and learning curves, to evaluate the cost factors
  • A construction cost estimator will also help you to calculate standard labor hours against a specific number of units. This can help you minimize labor costs significantly

Aspects Considered for Generating Accurate Construction Cost Estimates

In many cases, actual costs may exceed estimated costs due to certain variables such as price changes, governmental regulations etc. Therefore it is imperative that various aspects of the project be considered independently before arriving at a building estimate. Some of the more common aspects considered by experienced construction cost estimators include -

  • Labor Allowances
  • Estimating Supervision, Direct Management and Other Direct Charges
  • The Use of Factors in Estimating
  • Estimating Basic Material Costs
  • Estimating Engineering Activities
  • Establishing and Production Engineering
  • Estimating Establishing, Production, Assembly and Construction Activities
  • Manufacturing Activities
  • Construction Activities
  • Testing

Advantages of Construction Cost Estimation Process

There are various tangible benefits associated with a comprehensive and accurate construction cost estimation such as -

  • Ability to track costs during all project phases
  • Gather insight into currently profitable endeavors and check which proposals can bring in additional prosfits
  • Perfect knowledge of all building estimates ensures that the bidding process for all future contracts become easier
  • Regularly updated expense estimates allow you to efficiently gauge the cash-flow, thereby enhancing the ability to make better pricing and business related decisions
  • Track overtime, wage scales, productivity, etc. related to manpower and other expense-heavy variables, and regulate expenses accurately for better profits

Bid Confidently with Precise Construction Cost Estimation Services

Accurate building cost estimation will take into account every minor detail involved during the course of a construction project, and is your key to bidding and winning more projects. A reputed and professional building cost estimator should be able to cover everything from a new construction, to general repair, facility maintenance, green buildings, etc., while maintaining an exhaustive database of unit costs adjustable for any location. With proper analysis, you can be sure of quality and precision in your cost estimation, and arrive at the most cost-effective building plan, ensuring long-term success for your company.

At Spectra Solutions, we offer a wide variety of engineering services such as -

  • Civil Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Structural Engineering
  • Architectural Design Services