Two marks

Various methods of approx. estimation:

a. Unit area or Service Unit Method

b. Plinth Area or Square Metre Method

c. Cubic rate or Cubic Metre Method

d. Typical-bay Method

e. Approximate Quantities Method

f. Empirical Equations for materials and manpower.

Difference between carpet area and plinth area

Plinth area is the covered built-up area measured at the floor level of any storey or at the floor
level of the basement. Plinth area is also called as built-up area and is the entire area occupied
by the building including internal and external walls. Plinth area is generally 10-20% more than
carpet area.

Carpet area the covered area of the usable spaces of rooms at any floor. It is measured
between walls to walls within the building and is the sum of the actual areas of the
rooms where you can carpet.

How to identify first class bricks

 You can see the bricks should be burnt thoroughly without being vitrified and
have deep red, cherry and copper color.
 Bricks should have regular and uniform in shape and size with sharp and square
edges and parallel faces.
 Bricks should give a clear ringing sound on being struck together and are free
from flaws, cracks, chops, stones and lime.

 Bricks should not absorb water more than 20% of its own dry weight after 24
hours, immersion in cold water.
 Bricks should have a minimum crushing strength of 105 kg per sq. cm when
tested according to the specification.
 Bricks should not show appreciable sign of efflorescence either in dry state or
subsequent to soaking in water.

BRIEF SPECIFICATION OF A THIRD CLASS BUILDING:

(a) Foundation and plinth: Foundation and plinth shall be 2nd class brickwork in lime
mortar over lime concrete.
(b) Damp proof course: Damp proof course shall be 2cm thick cement mortar 1:2
mixed with standard water proofing compound.
(c) Superstructure: Superstructure shall be of second class brickwork in mud mortar.
Doors and windows opening shall be provided with arches of 2nd class brickwork in
lime mortar or with wooden planks.
(d) Roofing: Roofing shall be of mud over tile or bricks or planks over wooden beam or
of tile or G.I. sheet or A.C. sheet sloping roof.
(e) Flooring: Flooring shall be of brick-on-edge floor over well rammed earth.
(f) Finishing: Inside and outside walls shall be plastered with lime mortar and white
wash three coats.
(g) Doors and windows: Chaukhat shall be of salwood and shutters of chir mango or
other country wood. Doors and windows shall be painted two coat with ordinary paint
over one coat of priming.

Long answer

1. BRIEF/GENERAL SPECIFICATION OF A FIRST CLASS BUILDING:

(a) Foundation and plinth: Brickwork in foundation and plinth shall be of first class
brick in cement or lime mortar over cement or lime concrete.
(b) Filling: Foundation trenches and plinth shall be filled up with local sand.
(c) Damp proof course: D.P.C shall be 2.5cm thick cement concrete or 2 cm thick
cement mortar with 5% pudlo by weight of cement or other standard water-proofing
material.
(d) Superstructure: Superstructure shall be of first class brickwork in cement mortar.
(e) Roofing: The roof shall be 10 cm average thick lime terracing over it.
(f) Flooring: Mosaic flooring shall be provided in all floors including staircase.
(g) Finishing: Inside and outside shall be 12mm thick cement plastered. The inside of
drawing, dining and bedooms shall be distempered and remaining portions whie-
washed three coats. The outside shall be two coats decorative waterproof cement
coating. Wall surface of lavatory shall be covered with glazed tiles upto the top level of
door.
(h) Doors and Windows: Doors and windows frames shall be of seasoned teak wood
and shutters of 3cm thick teak wood panelling. Brass fittings shall be provided. Doors
and windows shall be varnished with French polish.
(i) Miscellaneous: Rain water pipes shall be of Asbestos cement or cast-iron, finished
with paint. All sanitary, water supply and electrical fittings shall be of first class
materials.
2. BRIEF/GENERAL SPECIFICATION OF A SECOND CLASS BUILDING:
(a) Foundation and plinth: Brickwork in foundation and plinth shall be of first class
brick with lime mortar over lime concrete.
(b) Filling: Foundation trenches and plinth shall be filled up with earth.
(c) Damp proof course: D.P.C shall be 2 cm thick cement concrete with 5% pudlo by
weight of cement or other standard water-proofing material.
(d) Superstructure: Superstructure shall be of second class brickwork in mud mortar.
(e) Roofing: The roof shall be flat terraced roof or R.B roof.
(f) Flooring: The flooring shall be 2.5 cm cement concrete over 7.5cm lime concrete.
(g) Finishing: The inside walls shall be plastered with lime or cement mortar, ouside
walls shall be pointed or plastered with lime or cement mortar. Inside shall be white
washed three coats and outside colour - washed two coats over one coat of white-wash.
(h) Doors and Windows: Doors and windows frames shall be of seasoned teak wood
and shutters of 4.5cm shisham or deodar wood panelled. They shall be fiited with iron
fittings. Doors and windows shall be painted withtwo coats.
(i) Miscellaneous: Rain water pipes shall be of cast-iron. Electrification, sanitary and
water supply fittings shall be of class B-type.

3.BRIEF SPECIFICATION OF A THIRD CLASS BUILDING:

(a) Foundation and plinth: Foundation and plinth shall be 2nd class brickwork in lime
mortar over lime concrete.
(b) Damp proof course: Damp proof course shall be 2cm thick cement mortar 1:2
mixed with standard water proofing compound.
(c) Superstructure: Superstructure shall be of second class brickwork in mud mortar.
Doors and windows opening shall be provided with arches of 2nd class brickwork in
lime mortar or with wooden planks.
(d) Roofing: Roofing shall be of mud over tile or bricks or planks over wooden beam or
of tile or G.I. sheet or A.C. sheet sloping roof.
(e) Flooring: Flooring shall be of brick-on-edge floor over well rammed earth.
(f) Finishing: Inside and outside walls shall be plastered with lime mortar and white
wash three coats.
(g) Doors and windows: Chaukhat shall be of salwood and shutters of chir mango or
other country wood. Doors and windows shall be painted two coat with ordinary paint
over one coat of priming.

TYPES OF ESTIMATES
There are eight different types of stimate:
I. Detailed estimate

II. Approximate estimate

III. Quantity estimate

IV. Revised estimate

V. Supplementary estimate

VI. Revised estimate & Supplementary estimate due to reduction of cost

VII. Complete estimate

VIII. Annual maintenance and repair estimate.

There are two ways by which the estimate can be taken
a. Separate individual wall method
b. Centre line method

I. DETAILED ESTIMATE
A detailed estimate provides schedule of all the possible items and an amount which is
very near to the final amount of the structure and the above is prepared for the following
two purpose.
a. Execution process

b. Obtaining technical sanction

The whole project is subdivided into various stages, the stages broken up into various
items of work having same specifications and rates.
The detailed estimate comprises the cost as follows:
1. Total cost of various items of work

2. Allowance of the contingencies to accommodate unforeseen expenditure on missed

items, variation in quality and or rate in different items.

3. Establishment charges for supervision.

4. Estimated amount for the service charges like water supply, drainage, sanitary
arrangement and electrical installation.

5. Miscellaneous expense, prime cost, provisional sum, etc.

The detailed estimate is comprised of:

1) General report

2) Specifications

3) Detailed drawings showing plans, elevation, sections, key plan, drainage layout,
electrical drawings, structural drawings, etc.

4) Design data and calculations and

5) Basic rates adopted in rate analysis, etc.

To prepare detailed estimate, the Unit-quantity method is adopted.

Second part of detailed estimate includes abstract of Estimated cost. This estimated
cost is increased by 5% for any unforeseen expenditure which is called Contingencies.
Other additional expenses like water charges, contractor profit, insurance charges,
purchase of tools and equipments for big projects, etc are also calculated and added for
arriving at final estimated cost.
ABSTRACT OF AN ESTIMATE
The main functions of an abstract of an estimate:
1. The total estimated cost of the project is known.
2. The various items of the work are known.

3. Creates a part of the tender document.

4. It is the basis of which percentage tenders are called after excluding the amounts of
contingencies.

5. The bills of work done are also prepared on the basis of abstract of estimate.

6. Comparative cost of different items of works can also be known.

7. The nomenclature of item provides concise description of the nature of the work,
name of the materials & quantities, workmanship, period of curing, consideration of land
& lift, scaffolding, shuttering, dewatering operation including all transport, tools and
plants.

8. Generally items of estimate is arranged to the progress of construction work.

Sequence of items may be:

1. Earth work.

2. Brickwork or RCC work in foundation & plinth.

3. Damp-proof course.

4. Brickwork in superstructure.

5. RCC work in superstructure including centering & steel reinforcement

6. Woodwork for doors, windows & ventilators.

7. Structural steel works & grill work.

8. Paving & floor finish

9. Plastering (internal, external & ceiling)

10. Terracing (weathering course and water proofing – flat tiles)

11. Painting & colour washing (Doors, windows, ventilators, grills and cemented
surfaces)

12. Water supply and sanitation

13. Electrification

14. Miscellaneous (Overhead tank, sump, elevation finishes, platform, septic tank,
compound wall gate, etc)
Important factors for detailed estimate:
1. Availability of local labour

2. Availability of materials

3. Location of site

4. Transportation of materials

5. Quantity of materials

II. APPROXIMATE ESTIMATE

Normal to take approximate estimate in the beginning
The reasons for this are:
1. Preliminary studies

2. Investment

3. Financial aspect

4. Tax schedule

5. Insurance

Approximate estimate preparation consists of multiplying the numbers of items or units

in the proposed structure by the known cost of a similar item or unit in a similar existing
structure.
It involves the following two operations:
1. Fix up the unit and count the number of such units in the proposed work.

2. Fix up the unit cost by studying the actual cost of similar existing structure
constructed in near past.

The approximate cost of a building can be found by the use of any one of
following six methods:
a. Unit area or Service Unit Method

b. Plinth Area or Square Metre Method

c. Cubic rate or Cubic Metre Method

d. Typical-bay Method

e. Approximate Quantities Method

f. Empirical Equations for materials and manpower.

A. UNIT RATE/ SERVICE-UNIT METHOD:
Indicates most important unit in a structure
School building - Classroom
Hospial - Bed
Watertank - Litre
Apartment - Tenemant
Stadium - Seat
Prison - Cell
Office building/Hotel - Room
Approximate cost of structure = No. of service units in structure X Cost of
corresponding service unit in a similar existing structure
B. PLINTH AREA / SQUARE METRE METHOD:
In this method the area of each floor in the proposed building is worked out in square
metres.
Approximate cost of proposed building = Total area of all floors X Cost per
Square Metre of a similar existing building
Following factors affect the Approximate cost:
1. Shape of Building: Cost of square building is less than the rectangular building.
Eg: 10mx10m=100sq.m, 20mx5m=100sq.m
Hence, the perimeter of a square building is less and hence the cost is less.
2. Spacing of columns: The spacing of columns affects the floor system and is
considerably changed and this afects the cost of structural members.
3. Change of Price level
4. Ceiling Height
5. Type of construction
6. Large openings
7. Location of the building
8. Nature of soil
9. Numbers of floors
10. Use of buildings
11. Situation of buildings
C. CUBIC RATE/ CUBIC METRE METHOD:
In this method the cost per cubic metre is used as a base for finding out the
approximate cost of the proposed building.
Approximate cost of proposed building = Total Cubical contents of proposed
building X Cost per cubic metre of a similar existing structure
The floor area is taken and multiplied by the floor height to get the cubical contents.
D.TYPICAL BAY METHOD:
It is useful in case of buildings which have several similar bays. A bay is a space from
centre to centre of two successive columns.
A typical interior bay is selected and its total cost is worked out.
Approximate cost of building = Number of bays in the proposed building X cost of
one bay.
E. APPROXIMATE QUANTITIES METHOD:
In this method, the wall foundations are measured in linear measurements i.e., in
running metres. The approximate quantities of items such as excavation, foundation,
concrete, brickwork upto plinth level and damp proof course are computed per running
length and with the help of rates of these items. Similarly, the super structure is
measured in running measurements and a suitable price per running metre is built-up
including brickwork inside and outside, finishing, wood work, etc.

III. QUANTITY ESTIMATE

It is a complete estimate showing quantities of all the items, required to complete the
project. The quantity of each individual item is worked out from the drawing and it is
then multiplied with the rate per unit for that item to find out the cost. In this type of
estimate only bills of quantities are prepared for all necessary items and when they are
priced, gives the complete estimate of the project.

IV. REVISED ESTIMATE

It is a detailed estimate for the revised quantities and rates of items of original estimate.
It is necessary due to the following reasons.
1. Sanctioned estimate likely to exceed more than 5%.

2. Expenditure of works exceed more than 10%.

3. Material deviations.

4. Sanctioned estimate is found more than the actual requirements.

V. SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATE
Some changes or additional works due to material deviation or a structural nature from
the originally approved design maybe thought necessary when the work is in progress,
for all such items a detailed estimate is prepared. It is to be attached with a detailed
report describing the reasons for new additional work.

VI. REVISED ESTIMATE AND SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES DUE TO

REDUCTION OF COST
When a certain section of a project costing not less than 5% of the total sanctioned cost
of the project is abandoned or deviation results in savings the estimate is revised.

VII. COMPLETE ESTIMATE

A complete estimate is prepared after adding an estimated cost of all items of the
project to the main detailed estimate. It includes the cost of the land, cost of legal
expenses required between the owner and the contractors, engineering fees, architect’s
fees, cost of supervision or works and a detailed estimate with contingencies.

VIII. ANNUAL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR ESTIMATE

It is required to maintain the completed project for its proper function and estimate is
prepared for the same in the form of a detailed estimate. This includes items of renewal,
replacement, repairs, etc.