Questions and Answers of Construction Cost Estimating

List these positions in order of who reports to whom: Senior project manager, OIC, PM, PE, and intern.
Draw an organization chart of a project you have worked on.
Which of the project attributes in Figure 4.1 is(A) The most important to the project stakeholders (owner/designer/GC/subcontractors/city), and, conversely,(B) Which is the least important to the
What are the advantages of(A) A staff estimator taking the point on development of a project estimate over a PM or, conversely,(B) A PM taking the point on the estimate in lieu of a staff estimator?
List at least three estimating activities a PE can be involved with in development of a project estimate.
Which of the project attributes shown in Figure 4.1 can be eliminated and still consider the project successful?Figure 4.1 Document Cost Schedule Jobsite Team Safety Quality
Why should the PM and the superintendent be directly involved with preparing the project estimate and schedule?
Why would a construction contractor perform precon for free? Why would they do so below cost? Would an estimating or scheduling consultant do this work at a loss?
Draft a preconstruction proposal with a stated scope and fee andduration and include a space for your client to sign it.
Why would the GC offer to chair the weekly design coordination meetings and prepare meeting notes?
Prepare three value engineering ideas from one of our case study projects and include them in a VE log.
Why does estimating typically precede scheduling?
Provide a three-point argument why the client should hire the GC earlier rather than later during preconstruction.
A VE log may also be known as a _____________ log.
As the architect or client, why would you NOT want to hire the GC early during design?
What is the difference between TVD and VE?
Other than the preconstruction services described earlier, what service might a consultant or contractor offer the client during design?
What is the difference between an LOI and a precon agreement?
Assume a major subcontractor, such as mechanical or electrical or elevator or laboratory casework, is added to the precon team. Describe the process when and how they should be chosen, contracted,
As a GC, which would you prefer, a LOI, precon agreement, or construction contract?
Building on Exercise 6, how does the precon process with a subcontractor conclude? How are these situations handled and what are the implications if:(A) The subcontractor is dismissed or,
What is the difference between a post-contract VE proposal and a COP?
Match these estimate types with the design phases. You can use each answer more than once or not at all, and some may have more than one answer. Design phases Programming Conceptual design Schematic
How would your answers to Exercises 6 and 7 change if the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing subcontractors were:(A) Design-bid-build, with a separate designer working for the architect, or (B)
In your opinion, should GCs receive an incentive bonus for VE proposals, or, conversely, should they credit back the fee on VE cost deductions?
What might cause a project not to proceed ‘as planned’ such that the LOI does not roll into a construction contract? There are several possibilities.
Looking back to the organization charts presented in the previous chapters, and those that you may have prepared for an outside case study project, list three members from the GC’s team who should
What happens if an estimator assumes neat-cut footings, but the superintendent chooses to form them?
Anchor bolt templates are used to locate ABs before placing concrete and often hold them in place until the concrete is set. This is not an error-proof process. What would happen if an AB was out of
Why would a contractor prefer to use expansion bolts for steel columns versus anchor bolts?
What would happen to the superintendent who, instead of disposing of the surplus excavation materials properly, dumped them in nearby wetlands?
What would happen to the contractor if the estimator assumed all of the foundation excavation material could be reused as backfill, but then it was rained on and the inspector rejected it?
What size of lumber is typically utilized to form a 10″ deep continuous footing? What is the lumber’s actual (or planed) size? How is the difference accommodated by the formwork crew?
Perform a QTO for a substructure system introduced in this chapter for one of our case study projects included on the book’s eResource. Electronic copies of all of the estimating forms used in this
Place the work items from the bullet list in question 4 in the logical order that the work will be performed.
If one pre-cast concrete element was to be connected in the field to another pre-cast element, how is that connection accomplished?
Assume a concrete tilt-up building with an outside footprint of 200′ × 250′. Assume that panels are 9 inches thick and no larger than 30 feet wide and all panels are 27 feet tall. The building
When would a contractor choose to cast concrete in place or pre-cast concrete?
Match the labor craft (laborer, electrician, surveyor, cement mason, operating engineer, ironworker, and carpenter) with the following concrete activities. Note some crafts are utilized more than
When would a contractor choose to site-cast pre-cast concrete rather than purchase from a supplier?
What is one large cost savings of a tilt-up wall compared to a CIP wall, and what is one large extra cost?
Why does the structural engineer ‘of record’, or the building structural engineer, not provide design for concrete formwork or shoring or tiltup bracing and others?
How many pounds are there in a ton?
Looking back to Chapter 5’s discussion of constructability, what suggestions might a GC make to the structural engineer with respect to the structural steel drawings?Data from chapter 5One
Why do we separate different estimating categories by types of craftsmen, for example, carpenters versus ironworkers?
Figure 8.1 is an abridged QTO for the Dunn Lumber case study project utilized in the book. The actual steel QTO would be several pages long. Compare this QTO to the drawings on the book’s
What are the average wage rates in Exercise 3? What are the systems costs? Are those reasonable? How might you verify?Data from Exercise 3Utilizing a standard database and making whatever assumptions
Should the rental equipment necessary to erect structural steel be included with the labor cost to install the steel or with the jobsite general conditions, and why there?
Although our Lee Street Lofts case study included on the book’s eResource is primarily a wood-framed building atop cast-in-place concrete walls, there was a substantial amount of structural steel
Wide flange columns and beams have the abbreviation of WF. What are some of the other past and present abbreviations for wide flanges?
Including allowances for gussets, etc., compute the total tonnage for the following quantities and sizes of rolled steel members. You will have to look up the weights of the steel members for this
Why would an angle iron not necessarily make a good column choice?
How many LF of bar joist are there in an area measuring 100′ × 100′ where the joists are 30 inches on center?
Why are different steel categories (rolled shapes, bar joist, miscellaneous steel, and decking) usually supplied by different vendors?
Building on the joist question in Exercise 5, assume that WF girders sit atop steel columns which are 33′ apart and the joist span from girder to girder. How many joists will be in this 100′
If a GC were to install only one of the four categories of steel, which one would it be, and why that one?
Looking to the list of materials in Exercise 4, and assuming that each steel member was the same length, let’s say approximately 30′, and all things being equal (which they never are, but…),
Why would a GC prefer para-bolts over anchor bolts?
How many BF are there in MBF?
(A) List three reasons why a GC may choose to subcontract an item of work that they might normally self-perform or for which they are signatory to that particular trade union, and conversely,(B)
Why do we separate different estimating categories by types of craftsmen, for example carpenters versus ironworkers versus glaziers?
How many total MBF are there in this group of lumber sizes and lengths?A. 1,000 LF of 2 × 4 studs and plates.B. 500 LF of 2 × 6 studs and plates.C. 820 LF of 2 × 8 joist.D. 160 LF of 4 × 8
Quantify all of the different types of lumber in Len’s Shed. You are going to have to make some assumptions for this exercise, and likely develop a sketch or two, but these are both common
How many 2 × 12s would it take to build up a 12 × 12 column cut from individual members or sticks?
If we have a residential kitchen that measures 12′ × 16′ which has full upper and lower cabinets on one 12′ side and one 16′ side, and an 8′x 3′ island in the middle without upper
If the GC is confident it will receive competitive subcontractor bids on items described in this and previous chapters, why is it prudent for the estimator to do a detailed QTO anyhow?
Perform detailed carpentry QTOs for the Lee Street Lofts case study included on the book’s eResource. There are a variety of systems available for this exercise including rough carpentry, siding,
In what part of the country do HF trees grow?
Which person costs the contractor a higher percentage of labor burden, the CEO or the carpenter foreman?
What is the difference between labor taxes and labor benefits?
What is the difference between a loaded wage rate and a blended wage rate?
When is a summary recap page used?
Create a pricing recap sheet for the concrete walls quantified in Exercise 1 of Chapter 7. Using a current published database, price the material. Price the labor costs using the productivity
How is a crosscheck performed?
Combine the wage rates of one each laborer, carpenter, cement mason, operating engineer, and ironworker from Chapter 10 and calculate an average wage rate. Why would a GC(A) Use the average wage for
Looking back at the CIP elevated slab formwork example at the end of the CIP concrete systems section, which of the three estimating options would be the best choice:(A) In a budget estimate.(B) In
What can an assemblies check indicate?
If concrete redi-mix supply prices came in on bid day of $95/CY and $102/CY and $107/CY for 3,000, 4,000, and 6,000 psi mixes, respectively, what would be a potential bid adjustment the estimator
What are the assembly costs/CY of each of the concrete systems in Figure 11.3?Figure 11.3 Project: Dunn Lumber Location: Seattle, WA Arch./Engr.: Flad CIP Concrete Description Interior Spot
If the estimator (not you) made the mistake of using the wrong units on the pricing recap, as in the example given at the beginning of this chapter, how much would have been included for the plywood?
What is the cost/CY of our tilt-up example shown in Figure 11.2?Figure 11.2 Project: The Training Center Location: Kent, WA Arch./Engr.: LM Division 3 Concrete Code Description Tilt-up Wall Panels
Why should CIP concrete systems be priced separate from pre-cast or tilt-up concrete?
In Chapter 6 we discussed both detailed and rule-of-thumb methods for quantifying rebar weights. We have not given you rebar solutions for each CIP concrete system. Using 100#/CY as an average and
What is an advantage of using UMH over labor unit costs?
Why do the dollar totals in the self-performed option of boxed-in elevated CIP slab example included in this chapter not exactly match the values in Figure 11.3?Figure 11.3 Project: Dunn
Should a GC issue a purchase order or a subcontract agreement for each of the following different concrete scopes:a Form purchase.b Form rental. c Rebar supply.d Rebar installation.e Concrete pump.f
Why should estimators utilize standard estimating forms?
Prepare a pricing recapitulation page for the lumber quantities from Chapter 9 Review Question 3. Utilize published database productivity rates and material unit prices. Utilize the carpenter wage
What is the downside of using labor unit rates, such as $3.55/SF, versus labor productivity rates, such as 0.1 MH/SF?
How would mistakes from the QTO process discussed in the four earlier QTO chapters affect the pricing processes in these four pricing chapters?
Utilizing a standard database and making whatever assumptions are necessary (yes, estimators do this), price up Chapter 9’s Exercises 3, 4, or 5. Utilize standard pricing recap forms.Data
What happens if the estimator’s hours and the superintendent’s hours do not agree?
In addition to IWs, what other crafts may be involved with steel erection?
Some estimators used ‘loaded’ wage rates on their pricing recap sheets; others use bare wage rates. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
In addition to carpenters and laborers, what crafts may be involved with concrete system construction?
Prepare an argument why an estimator would choose to(A) Use one standard average wage rate for all work and, conversely.(B) Use different wage rates for different crafts.
What is wrong with a residential wood framing subcontractor figuring a labor estimate for a new house on a $/SFF basis? They often do that.
What are four sources that might be used to obtain construction equipment needed for a construction project?
Without looking ahead to our general conditions chapter, what equipment not addressed in this chapter might also be estimated and cost-coded to jobsite general conditions?
Even if it is not a union project such that a full-time operating engineer was required to run the forklift, why is that still a good idea?

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