Top-Down Approaches for Estimating Project Times and Cost

Ratio Methods
- Use ratios, or surrogates to estimate project times or costs.

Example:
Mrs. Tolstoy and her husband, Serge, are planning their dream house. The lot for
the house sits high on a hill with a beautiful view of the Appalachian Mountains.
The plans for the house show the size of the house to be 2,900 square feet. The
average price for a lot and house like this one has been $120 per square foot.
Fortunately, Serge is a retired plumber and feels he can save money by installing
the plumbing himself. Mrs. Tolstoy feels she can take care of the interior
decorating.

24 % Excavation and framing complete

8% Roof and fireplace complete
3% Wiring roughed in
6% Plumbing roughed in
5% Siding on
17 % Windows, insulation, walks, plaster, and garage complete
9% Furnace installed
4% Plumbing fixtures installed
10 % Exterior paint, light fixtures installed, finish hardware installed
6% Carpet and trim installed
4% Interior decorating
4% Floors laid and finished

a. What is the estimated cost for the Tolstoy’s house if they use contractors to
complete all of the house?
b. Estimate what the cost of the house would be if the Tolstoys use their talents
to do some of the work themselves.
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really.html#:~:text=It's%20pretty%20typical%20for%20solid,LOC%20per
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Apportion Methods
- Used when have similar past projects in features and cost.

Total project cost

$500,000

Design Program Test Document

 100,000 150,000 200,000 25,000 25,000

D-1 D-2 P-1 P-2 P-3

10% 10% 20% 5% 5% Doc-1 Doc-2 CD-1
2% 3% 5%
50,000 50,000 100,00 25,000 25,000
0 10,000 15,000 25,000

T-1 T-2 T-3

10% 10% 20%

50,000 50,000 100,00

0

Below is a project WBS with cost apportioned by precents. If the total project
cost is estimated to be $600,000, what are the estimated costs for the
following deliverables?
a. Design?
b. Programming?
c. In-house testing?

Function Point Methods

- Used weighted variables called function points

4. Firewall Project XT. Using the “complexity weighting” scheme and the function
point complexity weighted table shown below, estimate the total function point count.
Assume historical data suggest five function points equal one person month and six people
can work on the project.
 Complexity Weight Table
Number of inputs 10 Rated complexity low (2)
Number of inputs 5 Rated complexity average (3)
Number of outputs 20 Rated complexity average (6)
Number of inquiries 10 Rated complexity average (4)
Number of files 30 Rated complexity high (12)
Number of interfaces 10 Rated complexity average (10)
Number of interfaces 50 Rated complexity high (15)

a. What is the estimated project duration?

b. If 20 people are available for the project, what is the estimated project
duration?
c. If the project must be complete in six months, how many people will be
needed for the project?

The total function point count is:

Complexity Weighting
Element Count Low Average High Total
Inputs 15 =
Outputs 20 =
Inquiries 10 =
Files 30 =
Interfaces 60 =
TOTAL =