Gransberg, D D and Riemer, C (2009) Impact of inaccurate engineer's estimated quantities on unit price contracts. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 135(11), pp. 1138-1145. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
This paper discusses the issue of unbalanced bid prices in unit price highway contracts. It analyzes the reasons contractors unbalance their bids and looks for ways that allow public transportation agencies to discourage this practice. It reviews the results of a study of quantity estimating accuracy of 462 transportation projects in Oklahoma, and finds that one method to reduce unbalanced bid prices is for the agency to ensure that the bid quantities used in the engineer's estimate are as accurate as possible. Doing so reduces the need for contractors to unbalance to protect fixed costs and target profit on bid items that will underrun the quantity used in the engineer's estimate.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | contracts; estimation; highway and road construction; pricing |
| Index terms: | unbalance, public transportation, estimating, agency, profit, accuracy, transportation project, road construction, estimate, pricing, estimation, engineer |
| Subjects: | profession, economic analysis, financial and cost management, analytical methods, professional development, civil engineering, infrastructure and transport systems, sociology |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here