Cost engineering provides independent, accurate, and reliable cost assessments for
investment funding and project control, enabling owners, financiers and contractors to operate in an informed environment.

The Challenge
It is vital for both owners and contractors that a project’s budget is as accurate as possible.

If, through error, an owner’s project budget is too low and tenders exceed it, the owner may be compelled to reduce the project scope and receive less or in some extremes abandon the project altogether.

If, through error, the project budget is too high, the owner may needlessly decide against developing the project due to false unviable project return forecasts.

For contractors, tendering accurately is crucial - tender too low and lose money, tender too high and lose the tender.

Cost engineering will ensure what is designed and built is the most cost effective solution to meet performance requirements
and a balance is struck between the capital, operational and maintenance costs.

Expertise
Evans & Peck has the capacity to secure the best value from a project by considering the whole range of cost and risk inputs. We bring an inherent understanding, gained through experience, of the costs of particular projects.

By identifying all the risks and developing mitigating strategies, we can minimise the negative impacts of risks and reduce the overall project cost.

Cost engineering encompasses the following areas of Evans & Peck’s expertise:

• cost estimating: calculating the cost of a capital expenditure project, Facilities and Asset Management costs, or a facilities management project;
• optioneering: looking at different options for developing a project. A project that otherwise would not proceed because its capital cost is too large can be ‘optioneered’ to deliver various alternatives to reduce the capital costs but retain the functionality required to reach the most beneficial outcome;
• pre-tender or tender box estimates: we can prepare an independent estimate in order to demonstrate tenders are value-for money and that there is little risk of collusive tendering;
• value management: managing the scope and cost of a project to ensure that best value-for-money outcomes are achieved; and
• risk management: a systematic way of dealing with risk and opportunity costs.

Further complementary expertise offered by Evans & Peck is as follows:

• procurement management: managing the procurement process from preparing Registration Of Interest (ROI) documents,administering the ROI process and assessment, preparing tender documents, administering the tender process and assessing, negotiating and preparing the final terms of the contract;
• contract administration: diligently administering the contracts and managing the risks;
• control of scope and variations: when a contract has been awarded and the scope changes, the cost of those changes need to be ascertained. Is it a change that entitles payment? If so, what is the fair price to be paid?; and
• commercial advice, contract administration and litigation support: expert witness in commercial disputes and claims advice.

Experience
A significant proportion of Evans & Peck’s core business contains a component of cost engineering. Evans & Peck has provided a variety of cost engineering services across a broad range of projects including:

• major road infrastructure: BOOT, and design construct and maintain schemes;
  • Gateway Upgrade Project, Brisbane;
  • M5 East Motorway, Sydney
  • Cross City Tunnel , Sydney
  • Lane Cove Tunnel, Sydney;
  • Tugun Bypass, Queensland;
• rail projects;
  • Epping to Chatswood Rail Link, Sydney
  • Clearways Projects, Sydney
  • Cabramatta freight line options
  • Feasibility studies
• water and waste water schemes;
  • Burnett Dam
  • Northside Storage Tunnel, Sydney
  • Bondi STP RIAMP, Sydney
  • Sydney Water Priority Sewerage Scheme
  • Shellharbour STP, NSW
  • Holsworthy Sewerage Scheme Transfer,
  • Minchinbury water reservoir, Sydney
  • Rouse Hill STP & Recycled Water Plant,
• Industrial Process facilities.
  • Bluescope Steel

The ultimate aim of cost engineering is to optimise the commercial management of the project: how to best develop a design and technical solution that meets the performance requirements, and which fits within the budget.