The Cost of Doing a Cost Estimate

This article provides a model for estimating the cost required to do a cost es-timate. The cost of the cost estimate in thousands of dollars, CE, is found to be approximately given by CE = KC0:35P, where CP is the estimated cost of the project in millions of dollars and K is a constant depending on the desired accuracy of the estimate, the maturity of the technology, and the cost elements included in CP and CE. Our earlier work provided data for high technology projects. This article adds data from the construction industry that validates the model over a wider range of technology. I