Estimating The Costs Of Constructing A Car Park At Your Own Premises

The cost of constructing a car park can be either high or low depending on a number of factors. But what should be noted is that these costs include both the initial capital cost and the subsequent maintenance and operation costs. That being said, construction cost estimating needs to be done so as satisfy the clients and increase business profitability. Nevertheless, if estimated costs are too low, this can lead to loss of money or loss of customers if too high.

How should car park construction estimates be done?

Generally speaking, there is no universal guide to proper construction cost estimating. How so, you might ask. Well, the best estimating a car park construction estimator or contractor can do for his or her clients depend on the following:

• His or her cost estimating judgment and experience
• The type of a car park for which the cost estimates are being made
• Efficient, accurate tools and processes

Even where the construction processes can greatly benefit from cost estimating standards and best practices, or where a project allows the reuse of other successful cost estimates, construction experience differs in each case. After all, no two cost estimators or even construction contractors have worked on precisely the same projects. Moreover, no two construction contractors have the same track record or the same capabilities, constraints and internal organisation. Here are some factors affecting car park construction cost estimation:

Speed

Potential car park owners expect their estimates to be done as fast as possible. For industrial and commercial projects, property owners are unlikely to wait weeks for a contractor to have the cost estimates. Moreover, for building projects such as home extensions and renovations, people might simply accept the first estimate they get, as long as it looks reasonable to them.

Accuracy

A contractor’s construction business can only prosper if his or her cost estimating is accurate so as to make a profit without giving his or her clients any objectionable surprises between the final amount to be paid and pre-construction estimate.

Money

Construction cost estimates involves calculating your costs, applying your markup and then presenting the total to your clients.

To meet all the three construction cost estimating criteria at the same time, a construction contractor will require utilizing the correct tools such as construction estimating software. Basic functionality or features of this kind of a tool include:

Cost estimates calculator

This includes calculations for estimates in worksheets that are generated by the software application to lay out requirements and estimates to various levels of detail, corresponding to conventional “abstracting” or “squaring out” and activities of cost estimators.

Integrated cost databases and takeoff tool

These can utilize commercially available data such as RS Means and a contractor’s own data for cost estimation. Takeoff tool is useful when taking measurements from digital plans or even plain paper for cost estimating purposes.

All in all, construction estimating software is used to accelerate a large part of an estimator’s work. Where a computer does the manual and repetitive work, a greater part of a cost estimator’s time can be spent on improving the process by improving the presentation of estimates.