New cost-estimation tool for construction industry

The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS), launched today, will give the construction industry access to real-time cost data, leading to more precision in the pricing and scoping of major building and infrastructure projects.

The product is an electronic cost-estimation platform and is for managing project risk - thereby reducing project cost - at a time when the federal government has designated infrastructure a key economic priority. It was jointly developed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the University of NSW (UNSW) and modelled on a similar system pioneered in the UK 40 years ago by RICS.

RICS Asia Pacific Director Kaye Herald said there is “a link between our ability to price and scope a new project accurately, perceived project risk and attractiveness to funders. We need to manage that link better and BCIS will be a live, organic tool that does just that, by assisting construction professionals, developers and investors estimate project costs more precisely.”

BCIS will make available comprehensive sets of cost data, updated in real time, to industry professionals for the purposes of pricing projects, benchmarking commodity and materials, labour and other input costs, and modelling the economic performance of projects. The system will capture price movements of openly traded commodities as they occur, as well as costs attached to real projects as reported by participants in those projects.

Designed for use by groups as diverse as quantity surveyors, contractors, engineers, architects, all levels of government, developers and project investors, RICS expects the real-time data available through BCIS to replace existing estimating services, typically published volumes of cost estimates presented in broad ranges updated annually. Users will have the ability to undertake:

• Benchmarking: Extract, manipulate and benchmark cost data in the course of designing new projects, as well as contribute fresh data from projects underway or just completed:
• Cost comparison: Compare building costs between different locations or construction types;
• Trend analysis: Over time, build up detailed trends in the costs of materials, labour and other inputs in different parts of the country.

The product will be demonstrated at the following RICS seminars for industry professionals:

• 28 October, 4-6 pm: Baker & McKenzie, Level 27, 50 Bridge Street, Sydney.
• 30 October, 4-6 pm: Mills Oakley Lawyers, Level 6, 530 Collins Street, Melbourne.