Quantification & Costing Flashcards
What is a cost plan?
A high level estimate of cost headings which form the budget. This is based on the design at the time and is made more robust as the design develops.
What is the difference between an order of cost estimate and a cost plan?
A cost estimate is based on the employers requirements on a M2 or functional units, whereas the cost plan is more detailed showing how the costs are distributed across the project.
How is a cost plan structured?
1) Building works (Substructure, superstructure, externals etc)
2) Prelims
3) Overheads & profit
4) Fees + other costs
5) Risk allowances
6) Inflation
7) VAT
What is BCIS?
Building Cost Information Service, which is the leading provider of cost information to the construction industry.
What other alternative sources of cost information is available?
1) Published pricing books e.g Spons
2) Previous projects
3) Speaking with suppliers directly
What are the 8 RIBA stages of work?
0 - Strategic Definition
1 - Preparation and briefing
2 - Concept Design
3 - Spatial Coordination
4 - Technical Design
5 - Manufacture & Construction
6 - Handover
7 - In use
Name 3 requirements for take offs in accordance with NRM?
Use decorating as an example:
1) Surface to be measured e.g walls, ceilings, fence etc
2) Unit of measurement - in this case would be m2
3) Girth/thickness should be stated
Please provide units of measurement for the following works packages:
Partitions & ceilings
Decorating
Structural Steelwork
Blockwork
Metalwork
Partitions & ceilings - Squared meterage
Decorating - Meterage/squared meterage
Structural Steelwork - Tonnage
Blockwork - squared meters
Metalwork - meterage/squared meterage
What are the different types of NRM?
NRM 1,2 & 3
NRM 1 - Quantification for preparing cost estimates and cost plans
NRM 2 - Preparation of bill of quantities & schedules of work
NRM 3 - Cost estimates for maintenance works
In relation to the NLE project, you advised the PM about costs for Luminant stair nosing’s, what options did you consider when giving this advise?
Knowing the specification matched the paint applied to platform copings, I knew we had an agreed rate with the terrazzo flooring subcontractor. I therefore advised we used this rate applied against a take off to form the budget. I then sought to get a price from the painting specialist. The rate from the painting subcontractor came in lower and therefore advised that the scope gap was instructed to them.
How did you ensure the cost you were advising was accurate?
I checked that the rates were consistent with BCIS. I also carried out a sanity check based on the expected labour and material costs and divided by the meterage required.
How did you deal with this 86k cost increase in relation to the overall project budget?
In included this as a forecast variation the painting subcontractors scope, and advised the project leader who revised the budget to build on a quarterly basis.
What is an internal wall?
A wall which provides separation between the internal spaces of a building. They can be load bearing or non load bearing.
What is an external wall?
The wall which forms the external perimeter of a building.
What is the GIFA of a building?
Gross internal floor area, measures the floor space inside the internal side of external walls and therefore excludes any external floor areas such as balconies and canopies.
What is an NEC option B contract and how does it vary from other options from a quantification perspective?
An option B contract utilises a bill of quantities where the rates are agreed but the quantities are not. This means the meterage is remeasurable and will require taking off, whereas an option A is based on an activity schedule where the works are paid the agreed sum on completion of the activity.
Why were you unable to measure the staircase painting using drawings? Did you consider any other alternative methods of measurement?
The staircases were at awkward angles, meaning the heights varied and there was no elevation drawing for each height. It was therefore more accurate to measure on site using a laser pen.
I did consider using the 3d models, there was no guarantee that they were 100% accurate.
What would you have done if your take off was largely different to your counterparts?
I would have worked through our take offs to understand where the difference was, once established i would visit site with the QS and conduct a joint measure of said area.
What is RIBA stage 4 and what happens at this stage?
RIBA Stage 4 - Technical Design
This is the stage where all design needs to be complete to allow manufacture and construction to start. It is the last chance to firm up the design in line with the ER’s, regulations and standards without incurring costs to remediate.
How would you establish a rate per M2?
In this scenario, i knew the costs for a sample of the works. I therefore divided the total cost by the M2 of the area which gave me a rate per M2.
What is a stair nosing and how would you quantify it?
A stair nosing is the extended strip of a step to improve the safety when climbing the stairs, reducing the risk of missing the stairs. The staircase on the NLE were emergency escape stairs and were specified to be painting in a luminant colour to further improve their safety.
As the stair nosing is a single strip per step, it would be quantified using linear metres as per NRM.
Who did you chose to conduct these works and why?
I advised the works would be best suited with the painting subcontractor as they were specialists in this field and their rate was less than the platform copings in the terrazzo flooring package.
Had there have been no rate within the terrazzo package, how would you have determined whether the rate was fair a reasonable.
1) Firstly i would check either BCIS or Spons using the correct inflation adjustments.
2) If it could not be located, i would market test of establish the costs based on first principles and compare on a like for like basis.
You said you managed the drylining package, can you tell me what section of NRM 2 covers the quantification of these works?
Proprietary walls, linings and partitions
