Development of Historical Cost Databases for Construction Estimating

Construction cost estimators rely on historical cost and production information in order to estimate the cost of future projects. In the past, estimators depended on the data stored in their memory to perform these estimates. However, recent advances in computer technology have made the use of databases in project cost estimating applications a very logical and advantageous choice. No longer do the estimators have to rely on their memory or shuffle through hundreds of historical paper files to retrieve crew productivity values they need to perform a new estimate. They can now store past project information in a database and then be able to recall the information at a later date with relative ease by accessing it with a database management system. Today\u27s estimating software uses a static database for the storage of cost and crew productivity information. These inefficient databases have been populated with information that must be updated at regular intervals whenever certain information related to production changes. Changing this information can be very time consuming and requires an experienced estimator to properly modify the productivity information. This thesis suggests a method of making the estimating process faster and more consistent by organizing historical productivity information into computer databases rather than paper files. The estimator would simply perform a search through the database to find the productivity values of a similar project that the company has constructed to use in the new estimate. A computer search mechanism will allow for faster retrieval of information from historical projects that closely match the conditions of a new project to be estimated