LEAN Construction Cost Data drives an open, transparent approach that is best suited for collaborative construction delivery.
LEAN Construction Cost Data
While it may be generally recognized that detailed line item construction task definition and associated costing methods provide the most beneficial and defensible form of information, there are multiple issues/concerns that must be considered in order to properly leverage and benefit from this highly refined level of construction costing.
Here is a short list of noteworthy factors…
- Expertise in line item construction cost research
- Applicability of specifications to the local area
- Appropriate levels of granular and quantity of line items
- Cost to adequately research data
- Locally research versus “national average” cost data
- Use of common terms, descriptions, and data formats (CSI Masterformat)
- Update frequency
- Granularity – Information breakdown for labor, materials, and equipment
- Productivity – Use of the appropriate crews
Unit price line item cost data collection is expensive in terms of resources required to develop and maintain current and defensible information, thus is generally cost prohibitive for any single real property owner, AE firm, or construction contractor to pursue.
Commercial construction cost databases of approximately 60,000 unit price line are generally adequate to cover 90% or more of commercial projects normally encountered. Some vendors may boast hundreds of thousands of line items, however databases of this size can actually be counterproductive, by creating confusion, delaying initial implementation, contributing to errors, and even lowering productivity.
Interested in learning more?
Request the OpenCost LEAN Construction Cost Data White Paper…
Note: The term “construction” is being used generically to describe any type of construction, including renovation, repair, maintenance, sustainability, and/or new construction projects, unless specifically otherwise stated.
