strategy. They are clearly defined in the design process,
and interface with the generated data base system. Such
programs must be written in COBOL.
C H A P T E R 6.
6 . A N A L Y S I S OF T HE E S T I M A T I N G A N D C O S T C O N T R O L F U N C T I O N S . T he r e are a large n u m b e r of p a c k a g e d c o m p u t e r e s t i m a t i n g
s y stems a v a i l a b l e , some, such as the e s t i m a t i n g s y s t e m f r o m Ma n d a ta , a l l o w the i n t e g r a t i o n of a cost c o n t r o l m o d u l e . M ost of t h e s e p a c k a g e s h a v e b e e n d e s i g n e d for the g e n e r a l c o n t r a c to r , and it w o u l d a p p e a r that v e r y few h a v e b e e n d e s i g n e d s p e c i f i c a l l y for s p e c u l a t i v e h o u s e b u i l d e r s .
E s t i m a t i n g sys t e m s d e s i g n e d for g e n e r a l c o n t r a c t o r s are not u s u a l l y a p p l i c a b l e to s p e c u l a t i v e h o u s e b u i l d e r s for two r e a so n s ; i) E s t i m a t i n g s y s t e m s for g e n e r a l c o n t r a c t o r s are u s u a l l y b a s e d on the s t a n d a r d m e t h o d of m e a s u r e m e n t (SMM), as that is the format of m o s t b il l s of q u a n t i t i e s p r e s e n t e d to them. S p e c u l a t i v e h ou se b u i l d e r s p r o d u c e t h e i r own b i l l s of q u a n t i t i e s (for i n t e rn al use only), and so use a f o r m a t m o s t akin to t h e i r p a r t i c u l a r n e e ds .
ii) The p u r p o s e of the e s t i m a t e for the g e n e r a l c o n t r a c t o r is to a l l o w m a n a g e r s to p r o d u c e a c o m p e t i t i v e t e n d e r for a p a r t i c u l a r c o n t r a ct [insOl].
cost e s t i m a t e s to aid d e c i s i o n m a k i n g and c o nt ro l . In part i c u l a r ;
a) To e s t i m a t e the cost of d e v e l o p i n g a n e w site, w h i ch , w h e n c o m p a r e d to the e s t i m a t e d site r e ve n u e , i n d i c a t e s the site p o t e n t i a l .
b) To e s t i m a t e the cost of b u i l d i n g a n ew h o u s e type, w h i c h can be c o m p a r e d w i t h the e s t i m a t e d s e ll in g p r i c e and o t h e r s i m i la r d e s ig ns to show w h e t h e r the d e s i g n is c o s t e f f e c t i v e .
c) To p r o d u c e p e r i o d i c site b u dg e t s , w h i c h f o rm the b as i s for c a s h flow f or e c a s t s to m a i n t a i n the p l a n n e d level of site c o n s t r u c t i o n .
d) To p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o n to e n a b l e a c c u r a t e cost c o n t r o l d u r in g the site c o n s t r u c t i o n .
6.1. M E T H O D OF A N A L Y S I S .
The e s t i m a t i n g and cost c o n t r o l p a c k a g e was d e v e l o p e d f r o m a n a l y s i s c a r r i e d out at a local m e d i u m size s p e c u l a t i v e h ou s e b u i l d i n g c o mp a n y . This c o m p a n y a l r e a d y u s ed c o m p u t e r s for a c c o u n t i n g and cost a n a l y si s, and, at the t i m e of an a l y s i s , a b e s p o k e e s t i m a t i n g p a c k a g e was b e i n g w r i t t e n usi n g t r a d i t i o n a l s o f t w a r e d e v e l o p m e n t m e t h o d s .
The i n v o l v e m e n t of this c o m p a n y was e n t i r e l y a l t r u i s t i c .