Estimate the covered play deck extension

You are the Estimator in the Estimating and Contracts team.

Simulated workplaceAdvanced missionCAQA Keystone Construction and Plumbing

What is going on

Bayview Early Learning Group has asked Keystone to price a covered outdoor play deck and pergola at the rear of its Berwick centre. The drawings show a 48 square metre timber deck on stumps, a steel and timber pergola with a polycarbonate roof, balustrade, a drinking fountain and two external power points. The specification calls for a slip-resistant decking board and a balustrade that complies with the National Construction Code for childcare premises. The Estimating and Contracts Manager wants the estimate ready for review by 11 September and has asked that anything on the drawings that would not comply be flagged rather than priced silently. Subcontractor quotes are needed for the electrician and the plumber.

Leila Haddad, Estimating and Contracts Manager
Subject: Estimate request: deck and pergola extension, Berwick

Bayview Early Learning has asked for a price to add a covered outdoor play deck and pergola to the rear of the Berwick centre. The drawings and the specification are in the project folder. I need a full take-off, a labour and material schedule and a priced estimate ready for my review by 11 September. Include the subcontractor allowance for the electrician and the plumber for the drinking fountain, and flag anything on the drawings that does not comply with the National Construction Code for childcare centres.

Your brief

Produce a quantity take-off from the drawings, a labour and material schedule, subcontractor allowances and a priced estimate with margin, and a short list of compliance issues found on the drawings, ready for the manager's review.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the drawings and specification, list every element of the work and note any item that appears to conflict with the National Construction Code requirements for a childcare centre.
Measure and calculate quantities for stumps, bearers, joists, decking, pergola posts and beams, roofing, balustrade and fixings, showing your working in a take-off sheet.
Build a labour and material schedule that groups the quantities by trade and stage and applies Keystone's labour rates and current supplier prices.
Request or allow for subcontractor quotes for the electrical work and the drinking fountain plumbing, and record the allowances and their basis.
Apply preliminaries, supervision, plant hire, waste and margin to arrive at a total, and prepare a one-page summary with exclusions and assumptions.
Check the site diary for the Berwick project to identify access, hours and school-day restrictions that affect the program and cost.
Write a review note for Leila Haddad listing the compliance issues to raise with the client under the Quality Management Policy before the estimate is issued.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

Quantity take-off sheet
Labour and material schedule
Priced estimate summary with assumptions and exclusions
Compliance issues note for the manager

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.