Assignment 1 further

explained

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 Assignment 1
+50%A report on the factors that +55%
influence on the accuracy of
early-stage construction cost
estimate based on a designed
real-life construction project
scenario.

Estimator
+40%
?????? 2
Key Instructions
0 Word limit: Total of
2000 words (+/-10%)
excluding references
and appendices.

0 Project Scenario (500

words)

0 Preliminary estimating
method (500 words)

0 Analysis of factors
(1000 words)

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Key Instructions

0 Follow the given

Formatting Guide in
the assignment 1
outline in vUWS.

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 Assignment 1
0 You are
required
to select
ONE
project
from
Table 1

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 Assignment 1
0 There are three tasks to be done in this
assignment.

Task 1 : Develop a brief project scenario

from the project details given in Column 2
in Table 1
0 This means; you are required to describe
further on the project design, materials used,
services & facilities provided, functional area
allocation, project duration, project cost etc..
E.g. Further development of scenario on design and materials
(few elements) as follows:
Shape : Complex shaped tower with curved aluminum and glass
exterior wall cladding.

Walls : Internal walls are finished with premium quality designer

wall papers.

Floors : Common floor areas are finished with polished granite

flooring and all internal floor areas of residential apartments are
finished with premium quality designer carpets except for toilets.

0 Suggested word limit for this task is 500 words

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 Assignment 1
0 There are three tasks to be done in this assignment.
Task 2 : Details of the preliminary estimating method adopted in
preparing the early stage construction cost estimate
0 You are required to include ;
0 Preliminary estimating method used
E.g. Superficial floor area method (describe how this method was used for the chosen project to prepare the early
stage cost estimate and why this method was selected)

0 What were the information available to prepare the preliminary estimate ?

E.g. sketch plans, functional area schedule etc.

0 At what stage of the project, the preliminary estimate was prepared ?

0 How did you find cost information (various sources)?

0 What were the assumptions made when preparing the preliminary estimate ?

0 Suggested word limit for this task is 500 words

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 Assignment 1
0 There are three tasks to be
done in this assignment.
Task 3 : Detailed analysis of the
chosen factors that influenced on
the accuracy of early stage
construction cost estimate and
caused the final construction cost of
the project to vary significantly
from it.
0 You are expected to select 2 to 3
factors from the predicted list of
factors given in Column 3 in Table 1
for the chosen project scenario.

0 Suggested word limit for this task is

1000 words.

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 Assignment 1
0 There are three tasks to be done in this
assignment.
Task 3 continued…
0 Select factors
E.g. of an influencing factor :
1. Plant, labour, material shortage and price
escalations :
0 Analyze factors by providing supporting evidences
E.g. for the above factor You could :
0 Compare material, labour and plant market information (availability
and price)at the time when the estimate was prepared and the actual
construction happened
0 Provide information on drastic construction boom in Sydney / Sydney
suburbs during 2016 – 2018
0 Include what % of cost (approximate) of the project was affected with
this factor
0 Include some other facts to support your argument
(Your facts should support the argument “though you allowed adequately
for price escalations in your estimate, drastic change in construction
volume during the affected period impacted on the accuracy of your
estimate)

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 Assignment 1
0 There are three tasks to be done in this
assignment.
Task 3 continued…
0 Select factors
E.g. of an influencing factor :
1. adverse weather conditions (droughts) made
site operations difficult :
0 Analyze factors by providing supporting evidences
E.g. for the above factor You could :
0 Compare the weather condition in Wagga Wagga (temperature,
amount of rain) at the time when the estimate was prepared and the
actual construction happened
0 Provide information on droughts condition in Wagga Wagga and
regional NSW during 2016 – 2018
0 Include what site operations were affected by drought condition and
how it affected
0 Include what % of cost (approximate) of the project was affected with
this factor
0 Include some other facts to support your argument
(Your facts should support the argument “though you allowed adequately
for adverse weather conditions in your estimate, unpredicted severe
drought condition impacted on the accuracy of your estimate)

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 Assignment 1
0 Suggested information sources :
0 lecturers and tutorials
0 Published information : Text books, price books, research
papers, newspapers, websites etc.
0 Information from the industry sources :
Example : Developers, Consultants, Contractors, Material suppliers etc.
0 Information from relevant authorities and institutions
Example : Banks, councils etc.
The evidence of data collection from above sources should be
provided in Appendices

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 Marking Criteria
High Distinction (26 or more/30)

[10 marks]

[10 marks]

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 For Referencing
All sources of information, including any interviews undertaken with
building firms, which contributed to your assignment, must be
acknowledged and referenced using WSU Harvard referencing.

0 To refer research articles and books using Harvard see

0 http://library.westernsydney.edu.au/main/sites/default/files/cit
e_Harvard.pdf
0 https://library.westernsydney.edu.au/main/guides/referencing-
citation

0 To refer interviews using Harvard also see this library video:

UWS Library - Referencing a Personal Communication using
UWS Harvard
0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDEnT42mtLk

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