Calculating quantities (costing and ordering)

What is estimation in construction?


What is estimating and why is it important?

Before you start a job, you must have a clear and accurate understanding of:

  • how much it will cost
  • how long it will take

Every job is different - site conditions, building design, labour, etc., so each job needs an individual estimation. Underestimating or overestimating can have serious downsides.

Over the years, the building industry has developed ways to go about making estimates.

Introduction to estimating

Watch this video on an introduction to estimating. It is long, so you may want to break it up your viewing:

James Lee. (2016, December 19). Introduction to estimating '17 [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NdMVIeY-T0