Cost Estimates in Early Stage Building-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Factors Influencing Accuracy of Cost Estimates In Early Stage Building. Answer: Introduction In the estimation of cost, a number of factors have to be considered. This is due to the market posting an estimation influence in the cost. The estimation factors which tend to affect the estimation cost are such as material prices, material, quality and material availability. Together with the influencing factors come some of the methods which are able to produce answers to early building cost estimation. Methods that can be used are a cubic method, functional unit, storey enclosure and floor are a unit(Pratt David, 2011). Factors that influence cost accuracy in early stage building estimates. Material prices The wide market presents very many factors that fluctuate and material prices is one of them. In a construction site. Materials that are used compose of various categories. There are large items such as concrete, gravel, timber, bricks, steel, plumbing and electronic fittings. The small items are such as the nails and screws that are mainly very basic in building sites. During buying these materials, their cost varies(Smith, et al., 2016). The cost is also under the influence of the manufacturer and the ability to produce them. The manufacturers production ability is influencing such that any purchase during periods of numerous orders makes the prices be set high due to high demand. These prices also drop in times that the orders are low. The ratio of the volume of buyers to the volume of the materials in store also affects the material price. In times when the buyers have a larger volume of the materials present, the prices are set high(Goodman, et al., 2016). Material Quality. When estimating, one has to take in the quality of the material at hand. Quality is judged as for whether it is of low or high quality. Materials having high quality instantaneously affect the cost estimation in that the initial cost becomes high. The cost of constructing a building may also be high because of the use of low-quality materials. Low-quality materials have the tendency to get damaged during construction. They may break during temporary storage or in transit to construction sites. After damage, funds will have to be routed for replacement thereby raising the cost estimation. Materials that damage easily is due to the poor standard of manufacture and management system of the material(Spain Bryan, 2010). Hence when a contractor is intending to make a profit in the building, materials being used have to be of high quality in that they meet the minimum requirements of the standard before being flagged for use. This tactic makes the contractor escape repairing of the buildin g that could increase expense. Buying high-quality material is a big move that later pays off since the structures built last longer. It concludes that buying faulty materials should not be an option(Ashworth Perera, 2015). Material Availability Material availability means how easy a building material can be found or purchased or obtained. The availability is a factor that proves costly for some building structures while some it is a diminished factor. The dependency of the cost of estimation for example taking stone or timber as a raw material, if they can be purchased easily then the estimation cost becomes less. On the other hand, materials that are difficult to find make the cost high. The factor of sustainability of materials in construction is an inclusive command. To make it clearer is by using the example of easily available raw materials in the surrounding construction site. These materials have reduced cost whereas those that are not easy to locate increase their prices. A clear raw material is the teak tree. Teak has the tendency to only grow in suitable climates hence they can only be found easily in these areas. Such areas have the teak tree cheap at price. If the site is not located in environmentally friendly zones the tree will not grow, hence will need to be transported. Transportation means increased cost in estimation(Austroads Elisa, 2014). In incursion in transportation leads to increased cost per meter. Contractors are therefore advised to use the locally available raw materials that can be cheaply obtained. This method is cheap and inexpensive. The construction site can also be surveyed and located at a place near a source of raw material to be used. Methods involving this technique tend to avoid the transportation cost that usually raises the cost estimation. Material availability in the category of bulk is also crucial. When the construction company decides to buy materials in bulk, the overall cost is reduced to minimal. The opposite occurs when the same materials are bought from various producers. An additional reason for buying from the same supplier is the reduction in loss of materials. Thieves take the opportunity to steal material when in transit from various places. Also, there is wastage of resources such as fuel for transporting from the many producers. Examples of materials that could be bought from one supplier are timber and bricks. The availability of material is affected by the regularity and adequacy of supply. Irregular delivery or any late delivery might delay the proceedings in a construction site. Moreso, when one delivers a wrong raw material, the relating activities stop. Such proceedings lead to the surpassing of the deadline of building completion. If that happens more expense come in. the availability of a material can be assured by the use of various techniques such as thievery anticipation, wastage anticipation, and an increase of the total cost estimation by a small percentage. Contractors who use such techniques get insured off increased costs(Chudley Greeno, 2016). Comparison of majorly used preliminary estimation techniques ESTIMATING TECHNIQUE DESCRIPTION ACCURACY REQUIRED INFORMATION POPULARITY CONVENIENCE Functional Unit Method Estimates are taken from similar project Accuracy is low. Projects historical data. Used in public projects. Similar projects can be prepared. Floor Area Unit Method Area of walls and floor are taken without deductions for items. Relative accuracy. Areas square meter cost calculated. Most popular. Used in simple designs. Cubic Method Buildings cost is proportioned to its volume. Low accuracy. Buildings volume and proportional cost. Less used. Has simplicity. Storey Enclosure Method. Depiction of shape, horizontal and vertical areas of a building using an estimation system. Most accurate. Vertical and horizontal plane area. Little application Used in designing complex designs. Conclusion. Material quality heavily influences the cost estimation in early stage building. More factors that tend to affect the estimation proceedings are the material availability and the material prices. The quality of materials the level of standard in its manufactured outcome. Prices usually come in handy when contractors would want to ship items to construction sites whereas the availability is the influence of raw materials sustainability during construction. The cost estimation is also determined by the use of the estimation techniques discussed so as to produce an economic building construction procedures(Curtis Veechi, 201). Reference List Ashworth, A. Perera, S., 2015. Cost Studies of Buildings. 6 ed. Townsville: Taylor Francis. Austroads, L. Elisa, C., 2014. Building and Construction Procurement Guide: Principles and Options. Perth: Austroads Limited. Chudley, R. Greeno, R., 2016. Building Construction Handbook. 11 ed. Hobart: Routledge. Curtis Veechi, 201. Small Business For Dummies. 3 ed. Melbourne: John Wiley Sons. Goodman, R., Buxton, M. Moloney, S., 2016. Planning Melbourne: Lessons for a Sustainable City. 1 ed. Melbourne: Csiro Publishing. Pratt David, 2011. Estimating for Residential Construction. 2 ed. Sydney: Cengage Learning. Smith, J., Jaggar, D. Love, P., 2016. Building Cost Planning for the Design Team. 3 ed. Sydney: Routledge. Spain Bryan, 2010. Spon's First Stage Estimating Handbook, Third Edition. 3 ed. Mackay: CRC Press.