Cost Estimating Practices of Gaza Strip Construction Contractors Yaser Al-Shanti

1. Cost Estimating Practices of Gaza Strip Construction Contractors Yaser Al-Shanti Dr. Kamalain Sha'ath

2. Research Aim The aim of this research is to explore the existing local practices in cost estimate for the building construction projects in Gaza Strip.

3. Research Objectives • To investigate the local practice of cost estimating in contracting companies in Gaza Strip. • To explore the influence of the Israeli closure on material prices, materials availability, and projects cost.

4. Research Objectives(Continue) 3. To explore the main obstacles which affect the cost estimation process. • To evaluate the extent of using computerization in estimating.

5. The questionnaire consists of three sections • Company profile • Estimating and bid study • item estimating techniques, • database, • indirect costs, • the effects of closure on project cost, • the accuracy of bid estimates, • the risk factor. • Computer aided estimating.

6. Field Study Population & Sample • Gaza Strip Construction Contractors Data Analysis • Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is used in data analysis.

7. Estimating Method Distribution Survey Results & Discussions

8. Pricing the Items • 82.5% of contracting companies usually use detailed analysis for all components of single item (material, labor, plant, and subcontractor).

9. Database • Most respondents (92.5%) agree that developing materials database is necessary for the estimating process.

10. Indirect Costs • The majority of respondents (82.5%) calculate the site overheads in details as specified in bid documents, while the rest calculate the site overheads as a percentage of the total direct cost of the project.

11. Effect of Security Closure on Construction Cost • All respondents (100%) agree that the closure has a big effect on the prices of the basic materials such as cement and aggregate.

12. Factors that Reduce the Accuracy of Bid Estimation • The limited time allowed for estimating process. • Unclear project plans. • The estimating overload in the company.

13. Risk Factor • Almost all respondents (97.5%) believe that the closure has very high effect on determining the risk factor. • Increasing material prices is ranked second

14. Using Computer Applications in Different Areas

15. The obstacles which are affecting on the usage of Cost Estimate Software • Shortage of user friendly CES. • Shortage of qualified persons in using CES.

16. Factors that Reduce the Accuracy of Bid Estimation • The limited time allowed for estimating process. • Unclear project plans.

17. Conclusions • The results confirm that the most used tool is using detailed analysis in estimating bid items. On the other hand, the least used tool is using of same item rate from previous projects

18. Conclusions(continue) • All surveyed contractors believe that the Israeli closure on Gaza Strip is considered the main element that affects risk factor.

19. Conclusions(continue) • Most of contracting companies are still estimating their bids manually. Shortage ofsuitable estimating software is considered the main obstacle for estimating computerization, another important factor is lack of availability of qualified persons in using computerized estimating packages

20. Conclusions(continue) The main advantages that can be obtained from using estimating software according to contractors’ opinions are: • Building database. • Building archive for previous projects. • Simplicity of updating the prices. • Fast estimating and saving time. • Minimizing errors and human omission.

21. Thank You