Enhancing the Role of the Construction Cost Consultant

摘要

As the global economy continues its sharp decline into the depths of recession, the effects are being resoundingly felt throughout the construction industry. All around the world, projects are being put on hold, or cancelled altogether, as developers and lenders adjust to the increasingly difficult task of attaining construction financing. While there are many significant negatives attributed to the situation that we currently find ourselves facing, there is also the potential for the professional construction cost consultant to increase his or her profile and offer "new" and innovative ways to prospective clients to manage and maintain construction costs. In an ideal world, the design team and developer should be using cost information as an integral part of the design-decision making process and designing the project within a pre-detennined cost plan as the project evolves. The design team should be relying on the construction cost consultant to provide continual, impartial, cost advice on design decisions as they are made. The development of a viable, defendable cost plan, together with an impartial formal approach to cost management, is the only sure means of managing construction cost and saving developers time and money.