Elemental cost planning is a system of Cost planning and Cost control, typically for buildings, which enables the cost of a scheme to be monitored during design development.
1951 saw the publication of the Ministry of Education Building Bulletin No 4 which essentially introduced the concept of elemental cost planning to the UK construction industry. Its Author was James Nisbet. The concept has been refined and developed over more than 50 years in the UK by BCIS (the Building Cost Information Service of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors).
Elemental Cost Planning relies upon the adoption of a Standard Form of Cost Analysis for buildings which allows costs to be compared on a common format and forms the basis of the benchmarking analysis central to the concept of Elemental Cost Plans.
It should :-
- Ensure that the tender amount is close to the first estimate, or that any likely difference between the two is anticipated and is acceptable.
- Ensure that the money available for the projects is allocated consciously and economically to the various components and finishes.
- Always involves the measurement and pricing of approximate quantities at some stage of the process.
- Aim to achieve good value at the desired level of expenditure.
Elemental cost planning is often referred to as 'designing to a cost' or 'target cost planning' since a cost limit is fixed for the scheme and the architect must then prepare a design not to exceed this cost.
Famous quotes containing the words elemental, cost and/or planning:
“The hawk is aerial brother of the wave which he sails over and surveys, those his perfect air-inflated wings answering to the elemental unfledged pinions of the sea.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“One must always be aware, to notice—even though the cost of noticing is to become responsible.”
—Thylias Moss, African American poet. As quoted in the Wall Street Journal (May 12, 1994)
“In the planning and designing of new communities, housing projects, and urban renewal, the planners both public and private, need to give explicit consideration to the kind of world that is being created for the children who will be growing up in these settings. Particular attention should be given to the opportunities which the environment presents or precludes for involvement of children with persons both older and younger than themselves.”
—Urie Bronfenbrenner (b. 1917)