Cost Estimating Essentials

Practicing the art of cost engineering means walking a fine line between theoretical knowledge and practical experience. If you are part of a team which tries to complete any type of project in an industrial environment, a basic knowledge of cost estimating will allow you to forecast the cost involved in your project.

  • Information
  • About the course
  • Who should attend
  • Program

About the course

The Cost Estimating Essentials course by the Cost Engineering Academy teaches you the basics of cost estimation. Over the course of 4 days, our expert instructors will delve into the terminology and approaches used for different aspects of the estimating profession. As the Cost Engineering Academy emphasizes practical experiences as well as theoretical knowledge, a number of cases will be covered during the course. This will help you consolidate your knowledge and prepare you for it’s use in real-world scenarios.

What you’ll learn

By the end of the course, you will have gained:

  • An understanding of the essential definitions of cost estimation, cost control and planning.
    You will also be able to read utilize cost engineering reports.
  • The knowledge to prepare and evaluate estimates more quickly and accurately.
    This will immediately improve the control you have over your projects.
  • The ability to make your own factor estimates and validate those prepared by others.
  • The insight to identify major cost risks of engineering.
    When combined with the estimating methods, this will enable you to estimate the engineering involved in your projects.
Our Clients

The Cost Engineering Academy is trusted by many industry leaders, such as:

This course is aimed at:

  • Project manager / director;
  • Finance project executive / manager;
  • Project engineer;
  • Cost estimator;
  • Project cost engineer;
  • Discipline leads;
  • Members of the purchase department;
  • Members of a tendering team;
  • Work preparators
  • All who are involved in technical projects, cost estimation, cost control and planning and contract review in their organizations.

Requirements

There are no specific requirements to be able to attend this course.

Program

On the first day, you will learn about specific approaches to estimating and their related terms. You will also learn what estimates can be used at what stages of your projects. The second and third day focus on detailed and factor estimating, the two main estimating techniques and how to apply them.

The fourth and final day focuses on estimating the cost of the actual engineering work. Engineering not only defines the cost of your project by the design that is made, but the engineering process in itself is part of your project cost as well. Focus of this day is on estimating those engineering cost. It will help you keep the cost down for your engineering phases, but as a result you can also prevent budget overruns.

 

Day 1 – Introduction to cost engineering
  • The basic definitions of and ties between cost estimation, cost control and planning;
  • Various contract forms;
  • The position of estimating in each phase of the lifecycle of a project;
  • Definitions within estimating;
  • Value Engineering.
Day 2 – Detail estimating
  • Estimating methods;
  • Different approaches to estimating;
  • Principles of the quantitative method;
  • Buildup of unit rates;
  • Direct versus indirect;
  • Cases in preparing estimates by using various techniques for different disciplines.
Day 3 – Factor estimating
  • Different factor estimating methods;
  • Advantages and disadvantages;
  • Quantitative estimating method;
  • Estimating of equipment.
Day 4 – Estimating of engineering
  • Engineering activities;
  • Engineering effort in engineering phases;
  • Methods of estimating engineering;
  • Detailed approach per discipline.