Estimates

Audience

Owners

Purpose

• a piece of their overall budget

• set limits of available scope and quality

• frame a contract or delivery method (i.e., lump sum or cost plus)

• frame change management

• level of detail may vary depending on contract delivery time

• implies a duration of time

Style

• informal proposals (cocktail napkin, emails, memo, oral)

• formal proposals (emails, RFP response, presentation, letter, preprinted)

• range of detail from rough order of magnitude (little to no detail) to detailed, itemized estimate

• conditions and methods of cost determination included

• basis of scope and quality as a function of the budget are important components

Audience

Design Teams

Purpose

• establish boundaries around project scope and quality

• confirm a proposed design will be within budget (validation)

• establish professional fees (often a percent of total construction cost)

• in absence of a design, estimate may set a framework for a design

• may be milestone to advance the design (validation)

Style

• informal proposals (cocktail napkin, emails, memo, oral)

• formal proposals (emails, RFP response, presentation, letter, preprinted)

• range of detail from rough order of magnitude (little to no detail) to detailed, itemized estimate

• conditions and methods of cost determination included

• basis of scope and quality as a function of the budget are important components

Audience

Construction Firms

Purpose

• establish boundaries around project scope and quality

• confirm a proposed design will be within budget (validation)

• establish a contract baseline

• manage contract change

Style

• rough order of magnitude estimates - broad scope

• staged estimates to the level of design completion - medium scope

• detailed estimates - narrow scope

• formal bids and proposals

• monitor productivity (profitability)

• change management documentation

Audience

Bankers

Purpose

• determine project value (appraise worth)

• measure as a component of the financial proforma

• serves as a marker for insurable replacement value

Style

• limited budget with major categories defined and subtotaled, focused on the total project cost. (They typically don’t get into the “cost weeds” unless they believe the budget to be too low or too high)

Audience

Government

Purpose

• set permit value and utility access charges

• establish tax basis

• sets cost data for capital improvement projects (CIP)

Style

• total cost with little detail, unless needed to verify or augment their database

Audience

Public

Purpose

• inform a public expenditure

• determine a tax basis (i.e., estimate to determine a special tax assessment)

Style

• limited budget with major categories defined and subtotaled, focused on the total project cost