ESTIMATING AND Chapter QUANTITY SURVEYING INTRODUCTION Estimating may be defined #s the forecast of the probable cost of the building or a project prior to the commencement of the job. Il requires skill, experience, foresight and good judgement on the part of the person making the estimate besides a sound knowledge of cost of materials and labour involved in the work. A good estimate should not differ from the actual cost of the project after completion by more than 15% proviced the cost of labour and material remain unaltered. Guess-work means to make a random judgement not based on alll the factors concemed. If may result in a tow high or too low a value. Estimating helps in altering or modifying the project to suil to the given budget, It is useful in formulating the tenders for the works and to check the werk carried out by contractors for the purpose of interim and final payments. [t alse provides a basis for fixing the standard rent of buildings. A fully dimensioned drawing to scale along with sectional views, detailed specifications about the materials to be used, and a schedule of rates of all the items of construction are the essential requirements to proceed with estimating. Quantity surveying may be defined as the working out or measuring the quantities of a work based on standard method of measurement in a systematic and scientific manner, which when priced give the estimated cast to a reasonable degree of accuracy. The different types of estimate are 4) Det id estimate or Item Rate estimate or Intensive estimate. (ii) Plinth area estimate. (ii) Cubicle content estimate or the cube rate estimate, (iv) Revised estimate. (e) Supplementary estimate.Detailed estimate is an accurate estimate and is prepared in two stages. In the first stage the details of measurement of cach item are taken out correctly from the drawings and the quantities under each item are computed, In the second stage the cost of each item of work is calculated and all the costs are added to give the total cost. A certain percentage of the estimated cost is added to take care of certain items, which do not come under any head of items and also some unforeseen items. This is known as contingencies. The contingencies is usually taken as 5% to MM. Some percentages may also be added against workcharged establishment. In plinth area estimate the plinth area rate is arrived at by dividing the cost of existing structures with similar specifications and construction in that locality by the plinth area. Now the estimated cost of the proposed structure is calculated by multiplying the plinth area of the structure with the plinth area rate. Thus for example if the plinth area rate is € 1500 per sq.m. the plinth area estimate ofa building with a plinth area of 1011 sq. m will be € 1,50,000. The plinth area is computed as the covered apea by taking the external dimensions at the floor level, Courtyard and other open areas are excluded. The cube rate estimate is made by multiplying the cubical contents of the proposed building by the cube rate which is deduced from the cost of the similar buildings having similar specifications and construction in the locality. Both plinth area and cube rate estimates are approximate. Revised estimate is a detailed estimate which is prepared when (i) there are major deviations from the original proposal, or (i) when the original sanctioned estimate is likely to exceed by 5%, or (iii) when the expenditure exceeds the administrative sanction by 10%. Supplementary estimate is a detailed estimate which is prepared when additional works are added ta the original works. When the engineering departments take up the works of other departments some amount s charged to meet the expenses of establishment, designing, planning, supervision etc, This called the centage charges and it varies from Ila ta 15% of the estimated cost. The main items of work in the detailed estimate are (i) Earthwork —both in excavation and filling, the quantities are in’. (ii) Concrete in foundations —quantity in m* (ii!) Soling, —quantity in m2, this is nothing but one layer of bricks put below the foundation concrete. (io) Damp proof course —quantity in m2. (o) Masonry —quantity in m*. (vi) Lintels over openings: —quantity in m*. (oii) RCC. work —quantity in m*, (oiif) Flooring and roofing quantity in m?. (ix) Plastering and pointing —quantity in m*. (x) Pillars —quantity in m',(xf) Doors and windows wood for frames and trusses in m# wood for door and window shutters in m?, (xii) Iron and steel —quantity in quintals or tons. (iii) White-washing or colour-washing, —quantity in m?, (atv) Painting —quantity in m® (xv) Electrification —about 8% of the estimated cost: (xvi) Sanitary and water supph —about 8"% of the estimated cust, While working out the quantities of mascnry work the deductions are made for the openings bearings, ete. as follows: Openings of less than 0.1 m?area ~—no deduction Bearings of floors. and roofs slabs ©» —no deduction For other openings —full deduction. In R.C.C. works, if details are not given the volume of steel may be taken as 0.6% to 1. R.C.C, volume. No deduction for steel is made in the volume of concrete. Deductions allowed in the case of plastering and painting are as follows: Openings of less than 0.5 m* area —no deduction. Openings of area between 0.5 to 3m? —deduction is made for one face only and the other face is allowed for jambs, soffits, sills etc. Openings of area more than 3m? —deductions is made for both faces and the jambs, soffits and sills are accounted for, Weight of iron hold fast is usually taken as one ke. When not specified, 4 hold fasts for window and 6 hold fasts for doors are taken. For painting works the outer dimensions of doors and windows are taken for computing areas. The standard size of modular brick is 12 em » 9 em » 9 om. The thickness of wall for the Purpose of estimate is taken as an integral multiple of the width of the brick. For example for one brick wall it is 20cm, for ane-and-a half brick wall it is 3lhcm, for two brick wall if is 40 cm ete. Bat, for the 3-brick walls and above the thickness of the wall is actually measured after construction for the purpose of payment, The price of an item of work is made up of the following components: {i) Cost-of the material (if) Cost of the labour (fi) Cost of tools and plants (iv) Cost of the overheads 0) The profit. ‘The determination of rate per unit of a particular item of work, from the cust of quantities of material, the cost of labour and other expenditure required for its completion is known as the analysis of rate. The profit for the contractor is usually taken as 10%. Tn earthwork the nominal lead and lift for the disposal of the excavated soil are 30 m ard 1.5 m respectively. The number of standard modular bricks required for one cubic metre of masonry is 500,