Building cost estimations, definition of cost estimation, process of cost estimation? Methods of cost estimation?

The cost estimation is the procedure or calculation of the total amount of the budget or money required to building the structure. The values of cost estimation are different for various structures like roads, bridges, buildings, irrigation projects etc.

For the building structure an average of 2000 Indian rupees are considered per square feet area of the slab section. The complete calculation of estimation of 1000sft slab area and cost of 3BHK building with detailed concepts are explained in my previous posts please read below.

Complete cost estimation of 3BHK building

Cost estimation of G+ 2 building structure

The detailed cost estimation of the two above articles are determined by using long wall and short wall method which is frequently used cost estimation procedure for accurate estimates.

Cost estimation of structures

The building cost estimation is determined depending upon the usage like residential, commercial, educational, office or industrial building etc. for the residential building structures it is required an average of 2000 Indian rupees per square feet area as per the now a day’s materials cost.  For example let us consider a building which is having 1400 square feet slab area. If we want to build this structure it is approximately requires 1400X2000 with total sum of 28 Lakhs Indian rupees. In the same process for 1000 square feet area of slab it is required approximately a sum of 14 lakhs Indian rupees as per the current rates of materials.

Procedure used in cost estimation

The processes of determining the cost for the building structure the following points are considered which are mainly divided into following 7 points.

1. Earth work excavation

In this stage the total cost is determined for excavation work which may adopt by using man power or by using machinery equipment. The dimensions of foundation initially taken as per building designing detailing based on those dimensions the soil is excavated for the project.

2. P.C.C (foundation)

This is the second stage in the cost estimation procedure in this stage the basement construction, gravel filling is determined with suitable dimensions of the foundation as per the design of buildings.

3. Beams, columns and slab construction

This is the third stage in the detailed cost estimation procedure at this stage the cost required to contract the beams related to the plinth beams, roof beams, other beams, columns and slab are taken in this stage also initially the volume of concrete is determined for the specified or particular frame member and then we have to determine the total cost required to make the beams, columns and slab cots estimation.

4. Steel reinforcement detailing

The steel reinforcement details are nothing but determining the amount of steel in beams, column, slab and foundation as per the IS 456-2000 code specifications. Generally the reinforcement details are calculated based on the software packages like staad pro, etabs, sap or tekla or manual methods as per the specifications. The reinforcement details of the building are varies depending upon the total amount of the load which is acts in gravity direction or perpendicular to the gravity direction. The gravity loads are taken as dead load, live load or floor load and lateral loads related to the seismic and wind load are considered.

5. Flooring ( marbles or tiles)

Mainly marbles or tiles are used in the floor construction and for the parking the parking blocks or used in the building construction.

6. Painting

This is the sixth step in the cost estimation procedure in this stage the cost required for the paining the walls are determined depending upon the quality and type of materials used in the building construction process.

7. Electricity works

This is the seventh stage of construction process in this step the electrical cost is determined based on the requirement of the electrical floor plan which is provided by the structural engineer. For the buildings it is average of 7.5% of the total construction cost.

8. Other finishing works

At the last stage we need determine the finishing works like water supply sanitary works required in the building.

Methods used in the cost estimation of building

For the determining the cost estimation for the buildings basically we used two methods by using those methods one can easily determine the cost required for the project those are

1. Long wall and short wall method
2. Center line method

Long wall and short wall method 

The long wall and short wall method is most frequently used cost estimation methods adopted for building structures. In this case firstly we will measure the lengths of the walls for the particular rooms. The walls which are having higher length dimensions are taken as long wall and the walls which are having lower dimensions compared to the length are taken as short wall. In the long wall the length from footing to super structure is decreases and for the short wall the length from footing to super structure is increases.

Center line method

The center line method is used in building structures when the wall is having equal dimensions of length and width dimensions. In this method the total center length of the wall is multiplied with width and depth of that particular item or member. This method is used mainly to prepare the quick estimations of the building structures.

Conclusion of cost estimation in building construction

Well now the above explained concepts are related to the definition of cost estimation, procedure of cost estimation and methods used in the cost estimation of buildings. Estimation of money or budget required for the project is call as cost estimation in simple words. For determining the cost estimation of the particular project we will use basic seven key points which are mainly related to the earth work excavation,  P.C.C (foundation),  Beams, columns construction, Steel reinforcement detailing,  Flooring ( marbles or tiles), Painting, Electricity works, other finishing works.

The methods used in the cost estimation are related to the long wall short wall method and center line method. The long wall short wall method is used if the dimensions of the wall are not equal and center line method is used if the length and width of the wall is equal values.

Please follow our previous posts here

Cost estimation of marbles and tiles for 1000sft and1500sft slab area click here to read

Volume of concrete per cubic meter click here to read

What is slab? Types of slabs? Difference between one way slab and two way slab ? click here to read

What is minimum and maximum center to center distance between RCC columns click here to read

What is cost estimation of 3BHK building click here to read

Please watch interesting concepts in my YouTube channel Civil engineering by shravan. Please feel free to text us at contact us page for any quarries.

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Your Shravan

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