Professional Documents
Culture Documents
14
Estimating and design cost analysis
Robert P. Charette
Brian Bowen
1 Introduction
Need for a classification of building elements of an elemental project description (specification) based on
The building industry needs a format or classification framework to UNIFORMAT at the schematic design phase. The objective of the
serve as a consistent reference for the description, analysis, evalua- classification format was to improve communications and coordina-
tion, monitoring, and management of facilities during their life cycle, tion among all parties involved in a project, particularly between the
from the planning, feasibility and design stages through to design team and the client. The ASTM standard was approved in 1993
construction, occupancy and disposal. A classification of building el- and designated E 1557-93 “Standard Classification for Building Ele-
ements such as UNIFORMAT II provides an approach to meeting ments and Related Sitework - UNIFORMAT II.“ In 1996, revisions
these objectives. were made (ASTM 1996), providing a distinctive alpha-numeric des-
ignation for the elements similar to that incorporated by CSI (1992).
Building elements are traditionally defined as major components, Designated as E-1557-96, the newly revised ASTM classification of
common to most buildings, that perform a given function, regardless elements is listed in Table 1.
of the design specification, construction method, or materials used.
In practice, an element may be any part of a logical work break- The objective for establishing UNIFORMAT as a national and inter-
down structure whose purpose is to control project scope, cost, time national standard was to provide a degree of consistency in cost plan-
and quality. ning, cost control, and estimating during the programming and de-
sign phases of a project. The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI)
The development of the first elemental classification is attributed to recommends UNIFORMAT II for schematic phase preliminary project
the British Ministry of Education following the post World War II descriptions. Numerous applications demonstrate that the classifica-
school-expansion program. The methodology was adapted to construc- tion system can provide a link between all phases of facilities pro-
tion programs in other British Commonwealth countries, such as gramming and design and for all phases of the life cycle of a project,
Canada, and then to the United States in the early 1970s. In 1973, the including construction and operations.
American Institute of Architects undertook to develop an elemental
estimating format called MASTERCOST. In conjunction with the Element selection criteria
General Services Administration, a consensus format named The following criteria are the basis for deciding what items to include
UNIFORMAT was produced. Though not an official national stan- as elements in the classification and in which parts of the classifica-
dard, it has since formed the basis for any elemental format called for tion to assign or list them.
in the United States. In 1989, the American Society of Testing • The UNIFORMAT II classification is applicable to any building
Materials (ASTM) Sub-Committee E06.81 on Building Economics type, while allowing for details appropriate for specialized build-
appointed a task group to develop a UNIFORMAT standard. In 1992, ings or cases. The classification of building elements is separate
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued a from the classification of building-related sitework. The classifi-
special publication (Bowen, Charette, and Marshall 1992), in which cation is hierarchical to allow different levels of cost analysis,
the name UNIFORMAT II was selected to emphasize that it is aggregation and summarization. It is easily related and/or refer-
an elemental classification similar to the original UNIFORMAT. enced to other elemental classifications such as the original
Improvements based on experience since its first inception made it UNIFORMAT and the classification of the Canadian Institute of
more comprehensive, particularly with respect to mechanical systems Quantity Surveyors (CIQS).
and sitework.
• Items to be included in the classification are determined as any
In 1992, the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) issued an in- element that has bearing on project cost, significant either in mag-
terim edition of UNIFORMAT based on the work in progress of ASTM. nitude or quantity and which help in understanding constructability
CSI also published a practice entitled “FF/180 - Preliminary Project and cost. Elemental categories provide a framework for cost con-
Descriptions and Outline Specifications“ which recommended the use trol and other applications such as early design specifications. The
decision as to where, to include specific items among various cat- Description of UNIFORMAT II elements
egories or classification elements is based on professional judg- Tables B-1 and B-2 (See Appendix B-10) present the UNIFORMAT
ment. If it is not obvious based on where a particular item may II classification, as building and building-related sitework, respec-
logically be placed in the building system, a simple guideline is tively and given as three hierarchical levels:
to choose that classification category or element where design
- Level 1 for major group elements.
and building professionals in current practice normally look for
such items. - Level 2 for group elements.
- Level 3 for individual elements.
• UNIFORMAT II is not intended to classify elements of major civil
works other than buildings. It is obviously based upon the defini- A full description or index of specific items included and excluded at
tion of elements in the construction of buildings. The Level 3 is provided in ASTM (1996). Listings of inclusions and ex-
UNIFORMAT II classification of building-related sitework has clusions are not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, they provide a gen-
been developed to provide a compatible system for guidance so eral outline of what to expect in that element consistent with the se-
that planners of the larger infrastructure related to buildings lection criteria outlined above. Exclusions are listed to help readers
do not have to resort to multiple elemental classifications for find items quickly. An example of inclusions and exclusions presented
one project. in the standard is shown in Table 2 for A10 Foundations.
• Breaking down construction tasks into a simple, logical, hierar- 3 Elemental estimate example
chical Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) of elements / systems / Office building example
assemblies, that follows the construction sequence. Having a suit- A simple office building described in Fig. 3 illustrates the application
able WBS established early and consistently developed through- of the UNIFORMAT II classification for estimating, The building
out the project is one of the basic principles of effective project has eight floor levels above ground level, one basement parking level,
management. and a total gross floor area of 54,000 sq. ft. A brief description or
• Preparing relatively simple but overall accurate estimates during outline specification based on the UNIFORMAT II classification
programming and early design, which find their validity in the is presented in the caption, which links the estimate directly to the
accuracy and currency of the element cost figures. Readily as- specification, thereby improving project team communications
sessing the costs of major changes at any phase of programming and coordination.
and design, evidenced by the record of design drawings.
The estimate summaries are presented in four distinct tables to facili-
• Indicating the anticipated quality level of a building and its ele- tate design cost analysis.
ments, by reference to both design specification and cost impact
reflected in the element unit rates and providing effective design • Table 3 illustrates an example element cost calculation for floor
cost analysis based on the parameters and ratios generated in the finishes, with rates based on U. S. averages costs.
system summaries. • Table 4 is an example building elemental cost summary. This is a
• Setting Design-to-Cost (DTC) targets for each discipline based stand alone estimate that provides the total estimated cost of the
on the facilities program estimate and establishing effective moni- building (including all contingencies, escalation, overhead and
toring of costs element by element from the facilities program- profit) as well as analytic parameters and ratios for design cost
ming phase through completion of final design (the audit trail). analysis, i.e., the total estimated cost for the building only is readily
identified, i.e., $4,781,072 ($88.54 per sq. ft. of gross ft. area.
• Identifying cost overruns and clarifying design and specification
alternatives at the earliest possible so that corrective action may • Table 5 indicates an example sitework elemental cost summary.
be initiated without delay. This is also a stand alone estimate that allows total estimated
Notes:
[1] The Code designations for line items are from 1997 R. S. Means “Assemblies Cost Data“ manual.
[2] The resulting rate of $3.74 / SF of finished floor area shown for element C3020-Floor Finishes, is an average rate for the element based on the total quantity
and total cost of floor finishes.
Fig. 3. Example - office building plans and elevation (source: R. S. Means 1997).
C20 STAIRCASES - Steel with concrete fill. E10 EQUIPMENT - Automatic parking garage access gate, dock leveler, waste handling
compactor.
C30 INTERIOR FINISHES - Wall Finishes - lobby, mahogany paneling on furring, re-
mainder plaster finish to ceiling height (partition and wall surfaces), paint. Floor Fin- E20 FURNISHINGS - Vertical venetian blinds for all exterior windows. Washroom vanities.
ishes - 1st floor lobby, corridors and toilet rooms, terrazzo, remainder, concrete, tenant G SITEWORK - The one acre site (43,560 SF) must be cleared and excavated in part to
developed 2nd thru 8th, toilet rooms, ceramic tiles, office and corridor, carpet. Ceiling obtain required elevations; paved parking stalls with barriers and painted lines; shrubs,
Finishes - 24" x 48" fiberglass board on Tee grid. trees and hydraulic seeding for landscaping; water supply, sanitary and storm sewers; gas
D10 CONVEYING SYSTEMS - Two 2500 lb capacity, 200 F.P.M., geared elevators, 9 service piping; underground electrical power and cabling in conduit, exterior lighting,
stops. duct bank for telephone cabling; lawn sprinkler system.
Other applications
Additional applications have emerged since the publication@of
UNIFORMAT II as an ASTM standard in 1993. The range of applica-
tions extends from the planning phase of a facility to all phases of its
construction and life cycle maintenance and covers:
• Facilities planning and programming. For performance specifi-
cations and design criteria, space program requirements sched-
ules, budgeting and program estimates.
• Facilities design. For schematic and design development phase
specifications, design estimates and cost control, functional area
estimates, scheduling, risk analysis (Monte Carlo simulation), fil-
ing product literature, CAD layering, code conformity analysis,
and classifying construction graphic standards.
• Building construction. For progress reports, deficiency reports,
mortgage monitoring, commissioning.
• Facilities and assets management. For maintenance planning and
budgeting, building condition assessment, long term capital re-
placement budgeting, reserve funds, capital cost evaluation.
• Other applications include structuring element / assemblies cost
data manuals, maintenance and repair cost data manuals, life cycle
costing data, and directing value engineering sessions.
Additional references
Bowen, Brian, Robert Charette, and Harold Marshall. 1992.
UNIFORMAT II - A Recommended Classification for Building Ele-
ments and Related Sitework. NIST Special Publication 841.
Gaithersburg, VA: National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Bowen, Brian. 1994. “Construction Cost Management.” The
Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice. American Institute of
Architects. David Haviland, editor. Washington D. C. AIA Press.
Charette, Robert and Anik Shooner. 1995. “Using UNIFORMAT II in
Preliminary Design and Planning.” Chapter 25. Means Square Foot
Estimating. Second Edition. Kingston, MA: R. S. Means Company.
R. S. Means. 1997. Means Assemblies Cost Data Manual. Kingston,
MA: R. S. Means Company.
Parker, Donald E. and Dell’Isola, Alphonse J. 1991. Project Budget-
ing for Buildings. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
CSI. 1992. “FF/180: Preliminary Project Descriptions and Outline
Specifications.” CSI Manual of Practice. Alexandria, VA: The Con-
struction Specifications Institute.