Dr. AlBahar, President of PROMIS, Project Management Engineering Systems, is an expert in construction contracts and claims analysis and project management tools and techniques. His recent consulting work is focusing on analysis of delay claims using CPM schedules and amicable settlement of disputes between Clients and Contractors. Dr. AlBahar is a frequent regional and international speaker on all subjects related to project management, construction contracts, tendering procedures, claims analysis and evaluation, contract administration and management, and value engineering.

Dr. AlBahar is a registered arbitrator in the Emirate of Dubai, U.A.E., the State of Kuwait, and was a full time professor at Kuwait University where he taught project management, contracts and specifications, construction management, construction methods, surveying, legal, social and ethical aspects of engineering. He was formerly a marketing and business development manager for Morrison Knudsen Corporation in San Francisco, California

Dr. AlBahar has conducted over 500 public and in-house training courses in the last 25 years on subjects related to contracts, claims, project management, PMP Exam Preparation Workshops, value engineering, budgeting and cost estimating and effective project administrative procedures. His most recent consulting agreement, and as part of team, was to review and rewrite the General Conditions of Contracts and Consultancy Agreement (both General and Particular) for Dubai Municipality and Public Works in Abu Dhabi. He is a Contract Advisor for Qatar Petroleum, Doha, Qatar.

 DAY ONE

FUNDAMENTALS OF COST ESTIMATING

•  Purpose and Stages of Estimating
  • Introduction to project cost estimating
  • Cost estimating fundamentals
  • Developing Ground Rules and Assumptions
  • Estimating at various project stages
  • Types of estimating techniques - Order of Magnitude, and other cost estimating techniques
  • The retrieval and use of historical cost data
  • Estimate summaries
•  Cost Estimating Principles
  •  Cost Estimate Considerations
  • Cost Estimating Principles
  • Direct vs. Indirect Costs
  • Variable vs. Fixed Costs
  • Purpose of an Estimate
  • Project Cost Estimating and Project Management Body of Knowledge

 DAY TWO

• Initial Cost Estimates
  •  Importance of early estimates?
  • Risk in initial estimates
  • Initial estimates for different contract strategies
  • Estimating techniques for initial estimates
  • Suitability of estimating techniques for project stages
  • Practical aspects of initial estimating
  • Lessons Learned of previous projects
• Cost Estimating at the Design Stage
  •  Feasibility cost estimating
  • Proposal estimating
  • Cost estimating for management’s approval
  • Conceptual design and costing
  • Detailed design and costing 
• Conceptual (Preliminary) Cost Estimates
  • What is Preliminary Cost Estimate?
  • Purpose of Preliminary Cost Estimate
  • Preliminary Cost Estimating Techniques
  • Cost-Capacity Relationship
  • Square-Foot (SQ M.) Cost Estimating
  • Cubic-Foot of Volume Cost Estimating
  • Range Estimating (Factored Cost Estimating)

DAY THREE

DEATILED COST ESTIMATING

• Cost Estimating for Construction
  • Tender and Construction stage final costs
  • Competitive environment
  • Importance of cost estimating at this stage
  • Tendering process, and decision to tender
  • Planning the production of the cost estimate
  • The Estimate Skeleton: The Work Breakdown Structure
  • Integration of Time and Cost
  • Collecting the ingredients of the estimate
  • Labor, Material, Equipment, Sub-contracts
  • Probability approach for cost estimating
  • Preparing the base cost estimate
  • Unit rate estimating, examples
  • Operational estimating, examples
  • Develop Overhead and Administration cost estimates
  • Allowances and Contingency
  • Dealing and Applying Escalation and Inflation (Cost Growth) Factors
  • Analyzing, Adjusting, and Supporting the Cost Estimate
•  Parametric Cost Estimating“Elemental Analysis Cost Estimate”
  • What is Parametric Cost Estimate? An Overview
  • Origin and Purpose of Parametric Cost Estimate
  • Design Parameters Available for Parametric Cost Estimate
  • Parametric Cost Input
  • Difficulties and Accuracy Level with Parametric Cost Estimates
  • Applicability of the Parametric method

DAY FOUR

• Cost Indexes (Indices)
  • What is a Cost Index?
  • Purpose of Cost Indices and Their Use in Cost Estimates
  • Input Cost Indices vs. Output Cost Indices
  • ENR Construction and Building Cost Index
  • Development of a Cost Index
  • Uses and Limitations of Cost Indices 
• Unit Price Estimates 
  • Purpose of Unit Price Estimates
  • Labor, Material and Equipment Cost Estimates
  • Unit Price Proposal
  • Pay Items vs. Cost Items
  • Allocation of Costs into Pay Items
  • Unbalancing Opportunity with Unit Price Estimates!
• Human Factors in Cost Estimating
  • Skills and characteristics of the estimator
  • Influence of experience, and key questions to ask
  • Contingency margins
  • Risk analysis
  • Factors affecting cost estimate accuracy
  • Pareto’s law (80/20 rule)
  • Interpretation of cost data, and documentation of cost data
  • Obtaining good cost quotes for suppliers and vendors

DAY FIVE

• Contract Consideration
  • Basic contract types
  • Fixed Price arrangements
  • Cost reimbursement arrangements (Cost-Plus)
  • Unit-Price Contracts
  • Contract clauses
  • Negotiation, Award, and Audit
  • Ethics
• Project Cost Control
  • Establish Information Reporting Requirements
  • Cost Baseline
  • Analyzing the Cost Performance Information Reports
  • Earned Value Concept (Budgeted Cost of Work Performed)
  • Progress vs. Planned vs. Actual Costs Analysis
  • Cost Variance Analysis (CV)
  • Establish Variance Thresholds for Mandatory Reporting
  • Determine Actual Cost Status
  • Cost Performance Key Indicators (CPI)
  • Forecasting Cost to Complete Projects
  • Analyze Short and Long Impact on Project Cost
  • Identify Possible Corrective Action(s) to be Taken
  • Cost Change Control System
  • Forecasting estimate at completion (EAC)
  • Lessons Learned for costing future projects