Checking arithmetic instead of scope
Verifying that a bid adds up while missing what it has left out.
For Developers, Owners & Public Entities
Estimating Assistance
Estimating work may support an owner’s evaluation of budgets, proposals or disputed values, depending on the engagement.
An estimating review may consider scope, quantities, resource assumptions, pricing sources and available comparisons. Differences among estimates may raise questions for further evaluation; neither a low price nor a detailed calculation alone determines the outcome.
The same discipline applies to a budget being set, a change proposal being evaluated, and work already performed whose value is contested, though the last depends heavily on what the project recorded at the time.
Possible assignment considerations
In practice
- 01
Consider quantity information
Take quantities from the drawings on the owner's own account rather than checking the bidder's arithmetic.
- 02
Build rates from components
Assemble crew, production, equipment and material assumptions visibly so a submitted price can be tested against them.
- 03
Compare and interrogate the differences
Treat material divergence from a bid as information about how the scope has been read.
- 04
State the basis
Record assumptions, allowances and exclusions so the estimate can be relied on and challenged on the same terms.
Considerations and limitations
Questions and limitations to consider
Comparing prices without their scope assumptions
Pricing assumptions or scope differences whose significance depends on the proposal, contract and project facts.
An estimate with a hidden basis
Without visible quantities, rates and assumptions, an estimate is hard to check or compare.
Estimating Assistance
Talk to a consultant
Also in this practice
Developers, Owners & Public Entities Construction Administration Services
- Baseline Construction Schedule AnalysisReviewing a submitted baseline, its assumptions and the scheduling requirements.
- Schedule Update AnalysisChecking each update against the last, so drift is caught while it is small.
- Project Progress MonitoringTechnical verification of where a project actually is.
- Time Impact Analysis (TIA)Testing whether a submitted time impact analysis actually demonstrates what it claims.
- Request for Extension of Time AnalysisAssessing whether a time request is supported on the contract and the evidence.
- Change Order Requests AnalysisReviewing change documentation, pricing, schedule effects and contract administration.
- Requests for Equitable Adjustment AnalysisAuditing a request for equitable adjustment against the contract and the record.
- Assistance with Preparation for Schedule Requirement SpecificationsWriting the scheduling requirements so the project produces a record worth having.