{"id":61055,"date":"2019-07-31T09:10:12","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T08:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=61055"},"modified":"2024-06-28T10:40:32","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T09:40:32","slug":"construction-cost-benchmarking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/digital-construction-news\/bim-news\/construction-cost-benchmarking\/61055\/","title":{"rendered":"The best data for construction cost benchmarking"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pitfalls of using industry averages for construction cost benchmarking<\/h2>\n

As a construction estimator<\/a>, you\u2019re under pressure to work quickly. As soon as you finish one bid, you\u2019re on to the next. Faced with a never-ending workload, your ability to produce estimates efficiently is key. But speed isn\u2019t the only thing that matters. You\u2019re also expected to produce construction bids that are as accurate as possible.<\/p>\n

Cost benchmarking provides a methodology to check your estimates against typical costs to gain more assurance of their accuracy. Industry cost averages are one source of cost benchmarks. This information is fairly easy to come by and seems \u2013 on the surface, at least \u2013 like a decent source of information for producing a construction estimate that\u2019s reasonably accurate.<\/p>\n

But general construction cost averages are not the best data source for cost benchmarking.<\/p>\n

While they may seem good enough because they\u2019re backed by project data, industry cost averages are limited in their ability to help you produce precise estimates. More likely, they\u2019re too generic to accurately reflect the details that can significantly affect costs, making them an unreliable source for cost benchmarks.<\/p>\n

Generic cost averages can\u2019t ensure accurate construction estimates<\/h3>\n

The reality is that third-party data has the potential to be misleading, especially when you don\u2019t have a full understanding of where it\u2019s coming from and how it was compiled. Construction cost averages are no exception.<\/p>\n

When you use generic averages for cost benchmarking, you\u2019re relying on costs without a clear understanding of how they were derived. They may give you a general idea of the cost of a certain kind of labour or material type, but they fail to account for a number of variables.<\/p>\n

As an estimator, you know that each construction project<\/a> has unique qualities that play a factor in what the actual costs will be. In fact, part of your job as an estimator is to account for all of those different factors as best you can to ensure the quoted bid is as accurate as possible.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019re building your estimates on industry averages, you\u2019re building on shaky ground. You have no visibility into the specific details that could have a significant impact on price, including:<\/p>\n