Estimating The Cost Of A Front Fence Variation: A Builder's Essay For P10 Format.

Part A

Trade…………………………..                                                 Reference…………………….

1. Labour required for the instalment of the metal panels is based on the length of the face to be installed. The labour charges which were calculated were done based on the perimeter of the front fence which was to be constructed.
2. The labour of the project will be priced at the same rate. If the project was tendered and adjusted on the original document the process of construction would be slowed down resulting to delays. There was the deployment of skilled and unskilled labour from the subcontractors, and the main contractor was to be in charge of the subcontractors.
3. The construction of the project was to be halted due to the delays of supply of the sandstone capping. The sandstone capping was manufactured by precast hence there was the risk of delays to supply to the site. The project was to halt till the sandstone capping were yet to be delivered. This risk can be solved by ensuring that the suppliers are informed on the urgency under which the materials should be delivered to the site. Also to reduce the risks it is important to ensure close supervision of the process of delivery of the materials to the site.

1. The benefit of estimating the cost of a task.

• There are many benefits which are associated with the cost estimation before the construction of the project as discussed below.
• The quantity and quality of the materials which are required for the task to be carried out can be full and accurately determined before the construction of the project starts. That gives the client a better idea of how much resources are required for the project to be completed.
• The flexibility of the task improves. Determining the number of materials, labour and other resources which will be required for the task to be completed always there is a room which is left for adjustments. The adjustments which will be required to be implemented during the construction stage would have been catered for thus improving the flexibility of the task.
• The delays are reduced. Estimating the cost of the project before construction allows one to know the estimated amount of material, labour, and other resources which will be required during the construction period. The client or contractor assembles all the resources which are required before construction the different parties who also will be involved in the construction are assigned their task, and their deadlines are set of which they work to beat in that way the delays are reduced.
• The administration of the task is fastened. The project manager or the client knows what exactly is to be done in the project and what is needed. The project manager can come up with the schedules on how the different tasks can be completed before the construction of the project starts.
• The overall quality of the task improves because it allows the client or project manager to plan in advance on how to bring on board various experts into the implementation of the project.
• It makes it easier to control (cost) finance of the project. Each of the subcontractor during the agreement is allocated the amount of money which will enable him/her to accomplish the work which is allocated to them. It is then the responsibility of the subcontractor to ensure that the finance and the resources which were allocated to him/her have been managed well to accomplish the intended task.
• It enables the main contractor come up with system for proper labour allocation and equipment maintenance. Once the agreement has been reached between the main contractor and the subcontractors each of the subcontractor knows the exact amount of labour required to enable him/her to accomplish the task which was assigned to him/her. The subcontractor is responsible to maintain the equipment which are used by the subcontractors instead each of the subcontractors is responsible for his/her equipment maintenance. That reduces the work of the main contractor in maintaining the equipment.

2. Considerations which decision making on whether to tender on a project or not.

• The availability of labour, materials, and equipment which are required for the project to be completed have a great impact on whether one is to tender the project or not.
• The available time for the project to be implemented. Time plays a very important role in decision making on whether to tender or not. In most cases, clients tend to tender their projects when they have insufficient time.
• The size and purpose of the project. Most people tend to tender big projects which they cannot manage to execute on their own. Small projects in mostly are carried out by the owners as they are easy to implement.
• The budget of the project. This is the fundamental factor which determines if one is to tender or not. The decision of tendering has arrived if one has enough resources to tender out.
• The type of the project. The input towards the project is greatly influenced by the type of the project. The public and commercial projects will tend to require more materials, labour and other resources which forces one to tend the project out. Most of the small private projects are in most cases administered by the clients because they require very little input which the client can manage on his/her own without necessary tendering out.
• The available resources greatly depend on the size of the plant to be acquired to accomplish the excavation process on site. In cases where the client or the contractor has enough resources, he or she can be able to acquire a large and powerful plant to carry out the excavation process.

3. Factors influencing the size of the plant required to complete the task.

• The type and size of the project.
• Massive projects are known to require deep extractions, unlike the small projects. Deep extractions require large machines to do the excavations. Some of the projects which have basements will require more excavations than the projects which do not have excavations due to that they will require large and power machinery to enable them to accomplish the depth and size of the excavation.
• The depth and size of the excavation.
• The size of the hole to be excavated has a great impact on the size of the machinery and equipment which will be required to carry out the task. Large excavations in most cases require large and powerful types of machinery unlike the small excavations.
• The volume of the waste soil that has to be excavated.
• The size and ability of the machinery which are required to do the excavations greatly depend on the amount of soil that has to be excavated. Large machines are required to remove large amounts of soils such as in the cases where the foundation of the project requires removal of all the black cotton soils before laying the foundation.
• Type of soil to be excavated.
• The characteristics of the soil to be excavated has a great impact on the size of the plant required to complete the excavation task. Some soils characteristics are known to complicate the excavations process thus requiring the large plant to do the excavations.

4. The builder’s margin contents include

• Setout
• Progressive cleaning
• Temporary services
• Insurances
• Council inspection
• Supervision
• Rubbish removal
• Access
• Safety equipment
• Site fencing

5. Reasons why engineering drawings take precedence over architectural drawings when estimating and constructing a project.

• The engineering drawings can be used in the verification of the bill of quantities which have been generated whereby the architectural drawings cannot be used in the verification process.
• The ideas in the engineering drawings are logically presented which makes them be consistent. The consistence in the engineering drawings allows the various cost estimators to complete various parts of the quantity survey, or be continued later.
• Engineering drawings tend to be the same globally that makes it easier in coming up with a system through which the engineering drawings can be used in the estimation of the cost of the project. The architectural drawing lacks that aspect of uniformity which makes it very difficult in estimating the cost of the project.
• The engineering drawings allow an engineer to be involved in generating a structure or system that will assist in researching and developing alternative methods that will result in cost optimization, unlike the architectural drawings.
• The engineering drawings are internationally accepted to be used in the cost and duration estimation of different construction standard. On the other hand, the architectural drawings are not internationally acceptable in the cost estimation process.

6. The purpose of sub-contracting projects during the construction process.

• Improves the Product’s Quality

Subcontracting brings in much expertise from different fields into the construction of the project. Involving the project team of members who are specialized in different fields boosts the final product which is the project being constructed.

• To Increase Productivity

Subcontracts are well laid out, and each of the subcontractors knows what is exactly is expected of them thus working to achieve the best within that subcontract thus increasing the productivity of the overall project team.

• To reduce delays.

During the agreements of subcontracting both of the parties who are involved agree on the duration which the task should be done. There are very clearly start and the deadline for the project. All the subcontractors work to ensure that they meet the deadlines thus reducing the delays.

• The quantity and quality of the materials which are required for the task to be carried out can be full and accurately determined before the construction of the project starts. That gives the client a better idea of how much resources are required for the project to be completed, and during the subcontracting, each of the subcontractors knows the exact amount of materials he or she requires.
• To ease the control of finances

During the process of subcontracts all the subcontractors are required to present their proposed bill of quantities, and from there the cheapest of them with quality is selected and then financed according to what was on the bill of quantities in that way the finances of the project are controlled and well managed.

• To eliminate sub-used labour and equipment maintenance.
• Each of the subcontractors knows exactly the number of employees he/she requires to complete the intended task. Each subcontractor knows how to deal with his/. Her own labour which and equipment which in turn reduces the sub-using different labour at different phases of the project.
• To allow the main contractor acquire new connections with other contractors while developing the skills which he/she might be lacking in the company. At the same time, the main contractor may decide to sub contract due to lack of resources such as machinery and skilled labour.
• To give an opportunity for other developing companies to show their capability. Most of the well-developed contractors sometimes they opt to subcontract their projects to the developing contracts to allow them to develop their skills such as in the cases of internship and the industrially based learning for institutions.

7. Issues of obtaining quotations from a new company or specialist traders.

• The new company or the specialist trader is likely to come up with an exaggerated bill of quantities whereby the number of materials and labour which will be needed will be wrongly estimated. Thus the bill of quantities which will be obtained will not be able to fully and accurately represent the quantity of the material, labour, time and work which will be done.
• The obtained quotation cannot be used in the administration of the project because most of the contents which are contained are wrongly calculated.
• Similar projects which will be carried out cannot use this quotation to estimate the cost and duration of the project because most of the estimations which were carried out were exaggerated.
• The new company or he specialised trader may be using the rates and standards which one is not used with and in that way it will make it very difficult to interpret the contents of the quotation thus making the quotation to be meaningless.
• The possibility of the entire project failing is increased due to the poor project administration which may occur due to the poor quotation.

8. On-costs which are associated with the directly employed labour.

• Commissions
• Piece rate wages.
• Pension contributions
• Direct labour salaries
• Payroll tax.

9. The Conditions of a contract which may have an impact the cost of the project and are included in the bill of quantities.

• Price variations clauses
• Validity considerations
• Payment conditions
• Penalties
• Contract change conditions

10. How to come up with the cost estimation of a project when you do not know the time involved to carry out the work.

In the situation where the cost estimator does not know of any of the techniques which are used to estimate the cost of a project. The best way is to use the analogous method whereby he/she will compare different aspects of the project with the same aspect of their past similar project. From there after comparing the different components of the project with the current project, it is easier to come up with an estimated cost of that project

Another way through which one can calculate the cost of the project is to use the individual judgment and in that case, one is expected to use the knowledge he/she has in the construction sector to come up with the estimation.

Computer programs are another option through which one can easily come up with an estimation of the project cost and duration. The tutorials which can guide one on how to use the programme can be downloaded then followed to enable one to come up with the estimated cost of the project.

References

Justin Sweet, Marc M. Schneier, Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering & the Construction Process (Cengage Learning, 8th Ed, 2015) 120-596.

Thomas E. Usher and Philip Davenport, Fundamentals of Building Contract Management,
UNSW Press, 3rd Ed, 2014) 67-312.

John Mullen and R Peter Davison, Evaluating Contract Claims,( John Wiley & Sons,2^nd Ed,2014) 110-222.

Franklin and Andrews, Spoon’s Fabrication Norms for Offshore Structures: A handbook for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries,( CRC Press 1^st Ed,2015) 45-294.