Here are a few things to watch for to make sure your redesign risk is well below 10% and not well above it. Many firms offer cut-price estimating services by taking shortcuts that lower their costs and fees. Better firms do not engage in these practices because we strongly believe they are harmful to the integrity of the resultant cost estimate.

Some estimators cut weeks of man-hours by applying a pounds per square foot, or pounds per cfm, factor instead of measuring ductwork with due diligence. Others cut weeks of man-hours by simply measuring a single structural bay of steelwork and extrapolating the result across an entire building instead of measuring and pricing each structural steel member correctly. A large number of man-hours can be cut by not measuring formwork and rebar at all and attempting to price concrete work on a cubic yard basis. Some estimating firms even price entire CSI divisions on a square foot basis.

There is a plethora of questionable shortcuts that can be taken in order to achieve cut-price fees. However, the end results are highly unreliable.
 
What is the Cost?

The cost of full service estimating of projects in excess of $10 million runs ¼% to 3/10% of construction cost. The risk of incurring redesign costs is minimal. The cost of cut-price services can be as little as half that, but must be weighed against a much higher risk of redesign costs more than offsetting the difference in fees. Revisiting last month's Newsletter quote gives the answer.

"It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money...that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because what you bought was incapable of doing what it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot...it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for the something better." -- John Ruskin (1819-1900)