Project Cost Estimating

Helping to Get Your Project Approved

CEI™ uses several methods of developing project cost estimates to support the funding of projects for our clients with the effort tailored depending on the degree of accuracy required. Banks and other financial institutions have accepted our preliminary engineering cost estimates as valid support of the funding of new food processing projects for many of our largest clients. The level of detail in the estimate depends on the stage of engineering the estimate is produced in and degree of accuracy required for making sound economic decisions. The more engineering done prior to development of the cost estimate, the more accurate the estimate is.

Cost estimates are generally completed within the conceptual or preliminary engineering stages of a project as this is still early enough that the engineering costs are relatively low. A preliminary cost estimate is more accurate than a conceptual estimate since more engineering is done to allow development of some detail to support the estimate. In both cases, an appropriate contingency is applied to cover unknowns inaccuracies in the estimate, timing of the work, and changing economic conditions. The contingency is not intended to cover scope changes.

CEI™ has experience in estimating projects from several thousand dollars to 100 million dollars. We have provided project cost estimates for all different types of new food processing plants.

Conceptual Project Cost Estimate

The conceptual project cost estimate would typically be based on information such as:

Identification of flexibly and growth objectives.
Building costs based on estimated $/sq ft for different construction types.
Estimate of process & process support equipment costs from vendor budget proposals, CEI data base, and estimating guides.
Estimate of equipment installation costs using past experience to develop a multiplier of equipment cost.

Conceptual level of design detail.
Preliminary process criteria/production rates.
General scope and definition of the project.
Basic identification of building areas with approximate size (no layouts).

Contingency: 20% to 25%
Level of accuracy: -15% to +25%

Preliminary Project Cost Estimate

The preliminary project cost estimate would typically be based on information such as:

Preliminary engineering and level of design detail.
Development of process/packaging flow diagrams.
Determination of detailed scope (including not-in scope).
Development of general equipment layout & elevation drawings.
Development of milestone schedule.

Development of project implementation team with roles & responsibilities identified.
Building costs based on programming details, preliminary proposals from contractors, estimating guides, unit costing, and material costs from suppliers.
Determination of process & process support equipment costs from vendor proposals based on outline specifications, CEI database, and estimating guides.

Contingency: 10%
Level of accuracy: -5% to +10%

Looking for help on your next project?

Our team understands what it takes to execute projects in working food plants that must adhere to strict quality and food safety standards and do not have the luxury of being able to shut down. We work on retrofit projects in existing plants as well as new greenfield and brownfield facilities with capital ranging from a few thousand dollars to 230+ million dollars.

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