It’s vital to estimate a project during the construction management process. Also, before the construction process starts, the building contractors and developers need to have a project cost baseline to be compared with the overall costs of the finished work. With an in-depth cost estimation, it’ll be easy for the project manager to monitor the construction process and ensure the project stays within the agreed budget. Besides this, every MEP engineer needs to fully understand the nature of the construction to estimate an accurate project cost. Therefore, the MEP engineers need to carry out MEP cost estimation after the design phase. These engineers can have a broad project cost estimate before completing the design process, but an in-depth calculation needs project specifications and project drawings.
Note that project cost estimation is a time-sensitive procedure because the industry conditions keep changing from time to time. For example, a cost estimate of a project that was finished 6 years ago cannot apply in the current building industry.
Labor expenses and material costs usually increase over time. Also, some technologies become cheaper over time. For example, regulatory conditions, such as import taxes, can change over time – and they usually dictate the material costs.
How MEP Estimation of a Building Is Done?
To get an in-depth cost estimation, every MEP engineer must fully understand the building project’s scope. They will use this scope as the starting point and then use the following method to get the project cost estimate:
- The MEP engineers need to break down the project scope by areas, like plumbing, electrical and mechanical. Engineers often refer to this process as Work Breakdown Structure in project management.
- The MEP engineers need to also divide each building system more into cost pieces, with measurable labor and material quantities. A significant percentage of construction tasks also feature equipment costs.
- The MEP engineers need to assign each item/piece a unit cost based on the local prices.
- They then need to multiply each unit cost by the corresponding work quantity. The overall sum of all pieces/items gives the project cost estimate.
Cost estimation is a simple procedure, but it can take much of your time, mainly when focusing on large projects.
Estimation Tools
Modern MEP engineering firms like S3DA Design rely on powerful equipment that makes the entire process easy, allowing the MEP engineers to concentrate more on making reliable technical decisions. Building Information Modeling is an excellent example of design tools that modern engineering firms use to simplify the cost estimation process.
MEP engineers can develop a digital building system model and then allocate material properties to all components. Expect material take-off with a manual process to take several days. However, modern software simplifies the entire procedure by performing cost estimate calculations within seconds.
Also, note that the MEP cost estimation process needs experience (with even the latest design tools) and technical knowledge. Remember, the software can provide beneficial results only when correct design parameters and inputs are available.
Moreover, a significant percentage of project cost estimation procedures involve making decisions between various system layouts or equipment. Also, it’s only a qualified MEP engineer who can select an optimal configuration.
Final Thoughts
Project cost estimation is a crucial step to take, but MEP engineers should also weigh the overall ownership costs over the construction’s service life. Mainly, you can achieve cost savings without interfering with performance. Besides this, intelligent decisions can help some projects to achieve higher performance and lower costs.
It’s vital to avoid cost-saving processes that involve sacrificing performance. Consider implementing this tip because additional project expenses, in the long run, can be significantly more than the initial cost savings.
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