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purpose-of-construction-estimating.md

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+---
+id:
+aliases: []
+tags:
+  - destiny/permanent
+  - status/incomplete
+  - topic/estimating
+  - type/philosophy
+title: The Purpose of Construction Estimating
+---
+# The Purpose of Construction Estimating
+
+The purpose of [[construction-estimating]] in practice
+is not to determine the cost of the scope,
+which would take far longer than allotted for bid,
+
+## For the Solicitor
+
+* Determine feasibility of functional requirements
+
+> [!info] Type 2 Owners
+> For some owners, money is no object,
+> and standardization is far more important
+> than any potential construction savings.
+>
+> These owners can be expected to decline
+> every [[value-engineering]] option offered
+> (see [[gold-plating]]).
+
+## For the Contractor
+
+* Make profit to meet growth target
+* Secure work for current and projected employees (fill backlog)
+
+<!-- TODO: "Determine the sale price of a service" -->
+
+> [!aside]
+> I take increasing issue with the common model
+> of measuring operational success by negative overrun,
+> as it is incompatible with the preferable target of estimate certainty.
+
+### The Role of the Estimator
+
+The role of the estimator
+is to model the potential cost distribution of the project,
+taking actions to reduce the model's uncertainty.
+
+The effect of estimating methods can be represented as $d\sigma$,
+thus efficiency is $\frac{d\sigma}{dt}$.
+
+### The Role of the Executive
+
+The role of the executive is to allocate profit and contingency
+according to the potential cost distribution
+weighted by the organizational desire to win the project.