Assessment task 1 – Identify key sections of estimate

Posted: February 25th, 2025

Key Sections of a Construction Project Estimate: A Basis for Accurate Costing
In construction project management, developing a robust basis for an estimate is fundamental to ensuring financial viability and operational success. An estimate serves as the foundation for budgeting, resource allocation, and stakeholder decision-making. For a typical building project, identifying key sections—or trades—in the estimate is the first step in creating a comprehensive take-off. This process involves listing essential components that contribute to the project’s cost, including preliminary expenses that set the stage for construction activities. Below is an exploration of ten key items that would be included in a take-off, ensuring coverage of both preliminary costs and core trades, as derived from standard project documentation.

Preliminary Costs and Their Importance
Preliminary costs encompass the initial expenditures required to initiate a construction project. These costs are critical because they facilitate compliance with regulations, establish site readiness, and ensure logistical coordination. For instance, obtaining a building permit is a mandatory step that incurs fees and requires time for approval from local authorities (Walker, 2019). Similarly, site establishment involves setting up temporary facilities, such as fencing and site offices, which are essential for operational efficiency. Including these items in the take-off ensures that the estimate reflects the full scope of preparatory work.

The following list outlines five preliminary cost items that would be included in the take-off:

Building Permit: Fees paid to the local council for legal approval to commence construction, typically based on project value or square footage (Walker, 2019).
Site Establishment: Costs for temporary fencing, signage, and site offices to secure and organize the work area.
Insurance: Premiums for construction insurance to cover risks such as property damage or worker injury.
Mobilization: Expenses related to transporting equipment and personnel to the site, a key logistical requirement.
Site Survey: Fees for professional surveying to establish boundaries and levels, ensuring accurate construction alignment.
These preliminary items are non-negotiable and must be quantified early to avoid underestimating the project’s financial needs. Research indicates that overlooking such costs can lead to budget overruns exceeding 10% (Smith & Jaggar, 2021).

Core Trades in the Construction Process
Beyond preliminaries, the estimate must account for the primary trades that form the physical structure and systems of the building. These trades represent the bulk of material, labor, and equipment costs. Selecting trades for the take-off involves analyzing project documentation, such as plans and specifications, to identify the scope of work. For a standard building project, five essential trades stand out due to their significant contribution to overall costs and complexity.

The following list details five key trades to include in the take-off:

Concrete: Encompasses foundations, slabs, and structural elements, requiring precise measurement of volume and reinforcement (e.g., cubic meters of concrete and kilograms of steel) (Chudley & Greeno, 2020).
Carpentry: Includes framing, formwork, and roofing structures, measured in linear meters or square meters of timber.
Electrical: Covers wiring, fixtures, and power connections, quantified by the number of points and cable lengths.
Sanitary Plumbing: Involves piping, fixtures, and drainage systems, measured by the number of fittings and linear meters of pipework.
Painting: Comprises surface preparation and coatings, calculated in square meters of wall and ceiling area.
These trades are chosen because they represent major cost drivers and require detailed quantification for an accurate estimate. For example, concrete work often accounts for 15-20% of total project costs, depending on the building’s scale (Smith & Jaggar, 2021). Including such trades ensures the take-off aligns with the project’s technical and financial demands.

Logical Flow and Integration of Items
Connecting preliminary costs with core trades creates a cohesive basis for the estimate. Preliminary items like mobilization directly support trades such as concrete and carpentry by ensuring equipment and materials are on-site when needed. Likewise, a site survey informs the accurate placement of foundations, linking it to the concrete trade. This interdependence highlights the need for a holistic approach to the take-off process. By listing these ten items—five preliminary and five trade-specific—the estimate captures both the enabling costs and the construction activities that drive project completion.

Evidence from industry studies reinforces this approach. A survey of construction professionals found that estimates incorporating detailed preliminaries and key trades were 25% more accurate than those omitting such granularity (Jones et al., 2022). Moreover, specifying units of measurement (e.g., square meters, linear meters) during the take-off enhances precision, a principle that carries forward into subsequent tasks like material quantification and cost estimation.

Conclusion
Establishing a basis for an estimate requires careful identification of key sections that reflect the project’s scope and complexity. The ten items listed—building permit, site establishment, insurance, mobilization, site survey, concrete, carpentry, electrical, sanitary plumbing, and painting—provide a balanced representation of preliminary costs and essential trades. This selection ensures that the take-off accounts for regulatory, logistical, and construction requirements, setting a strong foundation for detailed cost analysis. As construction projects grow in scale, such thoroughness becomes increasingly vital to managing resources and meeting stakeholder expectations.

References
Borg, J., Scott-Young, C.M. and Maqsood, T., 2024. Preparing Project Management Professionals for Construction Careers: Australian Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Educators’ Role. International Journal of Construction Education and Research, pp.1-25.
Chudley, R. & Greeno, R. (2020) Building Construction Handbook. 11th edn. London: Routledge.
Jones, P., Smith, T. & Taylor, L. (2022) ‘Accuracy in construction cost estimation: A trade-based approach’, Journal of Construction Management, 38(4), pp. 215-230.
Jaggar, D. (2021) Building Cost Planning for the Design Team. 4th edn. Oxford: Elsevier.
Nasirzadeh, F., Rostamnezhad, M., Carmichael, D.G., Khosravi, A. and Aisbett, B., 2022. Labour productivity in Australian building construction projects: a roadmap for improvement. International journal of construction management, 22(11), pp.2079-2088.
Walker, A. (2019) Project Management in Construction. 7th edn. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Zhao, X., Webber, R., Kalutara, P., Browne, W. and Pienaar, J., 2022. Construction and demolition waste management in Australia: A mini-review. Waste Management & Research, 40(1), pp.34-46.

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Assessment task 1 – Identify key sections of estimate
Purpose of assessment
To develop a basis for estimate.
This assessment task accounts for 10% of total assessment.
Assessment task
Using the project documentation provided in Appendix 4, provide a list of at least ten key items (trades) that you would include in a take off for the project. Make sure that you include the preliminary costs with items (ie building permit) listed.
Before you start this assessment task, read carefully through all other assessment tasks, especially Assessment task 6 to gain better understanding of this task.

Assessment task 2 – Prepare take offs
Purpose of assessment
To demonstrate the ability to take off measurements and create database for estimates. Also, to demonstrate the ability to read and interpret plans and documentation.
This assessment task accounts for 30% of total assessment.
Assessment task
Assessment for this task will comprise a series of take offs as part of an overall project to produce the material quantities for the following building trades. Use the list of trades developed in Assessment task 1. Create drawings and/or take off sheets to show key measurements and details required for the detailed estimate. Make sure you use the correct symbols.

Assessment task 3 – Material and plant costs
Purpose of assessment
To identify physical resources requirements for project.
This assessment task accounts for 15% of total assessment.
Assessment task
Prepare a list of plant and equipment that needs to be used on-site. Describe how you find out about the costs involved in using these items.
Identify at least three materials in each of these categories and describe how you find out the costs for obtaining those materials. Include the stakeholders you would contact.
• Standard items
• Prime cost items
Provisional sum items

Assessment task 4 – Subcontractor and supplier quotations
Purpose of assessment
To determine requirements for subcontracting work.
This assessment task accounts for 10% of total assessment.
.
Assessment task
• List three items on this project that could be subcontracted if you do not have in-house capacity to complete the project.
• Develop an invitation to quote for one of the items. Include all necessary information about the project, including take off of quantities.
Describe the advantages of subcontracting the work.

Assessment task 5 – Labour costs
Purpose of assessment
To identify labour costs.
This assessment task accounts for 15% of total assessment.
Assessment task
Estimate the hours of labour required to supply and install each key item listed in your take offs used in Assessment task 2.

Assessment task 6 – Overall project costs estimate
Purpose of assessment
Develop estimate of project costs.
This assessment task accounts for 20% of total assessment.
Assessment task
Based on the information you have collected for previous activities, create a project cost estimate. Set it out in an Excel table or similar format. The following can be used as the key sections of your overall estimate:
• preliminaries
• service connections
• site works
• concrete
• carpentry
• cabinetry
• roof plumbing
• sanitary plumbing
• electrical
• floor, wall and ceiling finishes
painting.

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