CONSTRUCTION COST MANAGEMENT

*Cost Consulting* *Project Management* *Scheduling* BACK TO HOME PAGE	Can we help you? *Construction Cost Management* can save you money, reduce your risk, and give you more control over your costs. BID DAY - THE SECRETS OF CONSTRUCTION COSTING A hands-on Workshop for the Design and Management Team
	What determines the cost of a construction project? Does the contractor know just how things will turn out as the building is completed, or is it all a wild gamble? How are costs determined from a set of documents ? Is it a logical, calculated process by an omniscient estimator, or do a bunch of people throw random numbers into a hat? During *Bid Day* the answers become apparent. With the specialized subcontractor organization of the American construction industry, the prices that make up a complete job cost come from a variety of sources. How these numbers are obtained and assembled is a unique process. Experiencing this process is a great way to understand the business of construction. Competition, and the comparison of one company's prices with another, is an essential part not only of the bidding process but of the way the industry works. Of course documents are essential to determine the scope of a construction project - but how are they used to work out the prices and put together the final proposal ?. This overview of the Bid Day process helps a designer understand how drawings, specifications and other documents are used to cost a building - before any part of it has become reality. Participation in these *Bid Day* workshops gives a revealing glimpse into actual construction costing practices. A peek at the mechanics of practical estimating and bidding is rarely available outside of a general contractor or CM's organization; now there is a chance to learn about bidding methods by participating in a hands-on simulation. And all this in the convenience of your office during lunch hour sessions. Part One - Seminar A presentation of the main components of project estimating: The different types of estimates The agenda of the participants What happens as a Contractor assembles a bid or proposal Part Two - Workshop A hands-on session where participants use material that we supply to put together a bid. Divided into teams representing competing contractors, the members check the scope of the project, assemble the costs for the contractor's general conditions, and receive bids from various subcontractors and vendors. At the end of the session, which lasts for an hour to an hour-and-a-half, each team submits their bid and, in spite of similar information given to each team, we see how one bid is lower than the other and how different assumptions were made to arrive at the "bottom line".






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**Each of the players involved in the construction process has their own agenda**


Owners have their priorities, usually stressing cost and value, and completion on time with minimum problems	The architects' point of view has to do with producing good architecture and satisfying the client.

The General Contractor or CM(Construction Manager)is the company that holds the contract, ie is obligated to complete the work. They seldom do the work directly with their own people. Their interest is making sure that the scope for which they are responsible is covered in their price, and that the work can be efficiently completed in a timely manner.	The sub-contractors are the people who actually carry out the construction work, each one being responsible for only a portion of the scope. Their interest is in doing work that is within their capabilities, having an agreed price that will cover their costs and make a profit, having a project organized in such a way that they don't incur extra expenses, and in being paid promptly.

The traditional method of bidding a job with completed drawings to an array of contractors, and choosing the lowest bidder to do the work, may have changed in many cases. But even where there is a Construction Manager chosen in advance of firm price bidding, there is still competition at the sub-contractor level. This is where the real hard pricing is generated, by the specialist trade contractors who will carry out the work. So whether a project is subject to public open bidding, competitively bid to a select list of GCs or CMs, or controlled by a Construction Manager, the same process and insights that can be experienced in the BID DAY workshops are valid. We can see in a practical way how the documents are used, some of the factors that influence pricing, and the communication - or lack of it - between the different players.

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Contact us for more information dsherwin@constructioncostman.com
CCM - Construction Cost Management
308 South Avenue
PO Box 11
Media, PA 19063
USA
(610)892-8860