Estimates are a key deliverable for clients, often used for:

• Financial planning
• Programming
• Option selection
• Funding approval
• Cost control

In both public and private sectors, the reliability of the cost estimate will often:

• Decide the preferred option
• Have an impact on the financial and economic viability of a development
• Determine whether or not a project proceeds

Opus has extensive experience with a wide variety of clients in producing estimates throughout the life of a project. We provide monitoring and reporting of actual expenditure against budgets. In fact, the production of estimates is an integral part of Opus projects and commissions. We have staff experienced with the specific requirements of large clients, such as large roading projects for Transit New Zealand and Land Transport New Zealand. Opus also has staff registered as external estimate reviewers for Transit New Zealand roading projects.

Cost estimating is not an exact process, and an estimate is generally not a single discrete value. A degree of uncertainty is inherent in the estimating process, with a greater degree of uncertainty being present in the early project development phases.

Opus undertakes risk-based estimating, including complex analyses using specialised software including @RISK. The risk analysis approach to cost estimating explicitly recognises the uncertainty that surrounds an estimate. This approach allows rigorous consideration of the risk drivers on any given project, thereby establishing an improved level of confidence in the predicted outcome.