Assessment information

Student toolbox

Additional information to support you in completing training and assessment for units of competency from the Construction, Plumbing and Services Training Package is provided in the Student Toolbox. If you haven’t read through the Toolbox lately, take a few moments to review it now.

Assessment details

This unit of competency specifies the skills and knowledge required to establish estimated costs associated with the acquisition of materials and labour for building and construction projects. It includes factoring in relevant overhead costs and margins.

This unit of competency applies to estimators, builders, managers and trade contractors within the construction industry responsible for producing estimated costs on various residential and commercial construction projects within their scope of work as a trade contractor or builder.

This unit of competency is suitable for those using specialised knowledge to complete routine and non-routine tasks and using their own judgement to deal with predictable and sometimes unpredictable problems.

Completion of the general construction induction training program specified by the model Code of Practice for Construction Work is required for any person who is to carry out construction work. Achievement of CPCCWHS1001 Prepare to work safely in the construction industry meets this requirement.

Licensing, regulatory or registration requirements apply to this unit of competency in some jurisdictions. Relevant state and territory regulatory authorities should be consulted to confirm these requirements.

Assessment for this unit comprises completion of a Site Diary incorporating:

knowledge questions

reflective journals.

A Site Diary Template is provided in this Workbook. You should read through the template before you get started and ensure that you are clear on what you need to do. Speak to your trainer, assessor or workplace supervisor if you have any questions.

Am i ready?

Use this section to check that you are ready to proceed with assessment. You should also use it to record important dates.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this unit.

Completion of the general construction induction training program specified by the model Code of Practice for Construction Work is required for any person who is to carry out construction work. Achievement of CPCCWHS1001 Prepare to work safely in the construction industry meets this requirement.

Evidence of completion of this requirement has been provided:

Yes No

See page:
of Student Toolbox

Assessment checkpoint

I have completed an assessment checkpoint for this unit and I feel ready to undertake assessment for this unit.

Yes No

Student assessment agreement

I have completed and submitted a Student Assessment Agreement for this unit of competency.

Yes No

Important dates

Important dates for assessment are:

Site Diary, Section 1

Knowledge test __________________________________________________

Reflective journal ________________________________________________

Site Diary, Section 2

Knowledge test __________________________________________________

Reflective journal ________________________________________________

Site Diary, Section 3

Knowledge test __________________________________________________

Reflective journal ________________________________________________

Site Diary, Section 4

Reflective journal ________________________________________________

Co-assessment recommended

In some cases, this unit will be assessed alongside other units from the Construction, Plumbing and Services Training Package. Your assessor will advise you if co-assessment is right for you and will talk to you about how this will take place. Keep in mind that, regardless of how and when assessment takes place, the skills and knowledge you are required to demonstrate for this unit don’t change.

Task requirements

In this assessment, you will demonstrate the skills and knowledge that you have developed during your training by estimating the cost of one residential or one commercial building and construction project.

The project that you will work on must be either a ‘live’ construction site (which may be your own workplace or as part of a work placement) or in a simulated workplace at your RTO. If you will be completing you assessment in a simulated workplace at your RTO, your assessor will provide you with access to drawings, plans and specifications for the proposed project, estimating software and the workplace policies and procedures that you will need to complete this task. If you will be completing this task in your workplace, you will need to ensure that you have access to the information that you need to meet the requirements of the unit. Work with your assessor before you get started to ensure that you have everything you need including:

a contract or tender in which to prepare the estimation for

drawings,

plans and spec

ifications

for

one

building project

estimating software

team members to collaborate with

.

Site Diary

As you estimate the cost of your residential or commercial project, you should have the opportunity to complete a number of key tasks. For example:

reading and interpreting construction drawings and specifications, regulations, codes and standards

identifying site requirements and costs

identifying costs associated with compliance and approvals

identifying labour and physical requirements

estimating and calculating costs associated with labour and physical requirements

managing the risks associated with estimating project costs

producing estimated project costs.

By reflecting on what you did in each of these activities and gathering evidence that supports your work in each area or task, you will satisfy the assessment requirements for this unit.

A Site Diary Template is provided for you to work into. It is broken into a number of sections which are mapped against the skills and knowledge that you need to demonstrate. Each section of the site diary includes:

a list of the skills and knowledge that you need to demonstrate

a reflective journal with some questions for you to answer

reminders to attach evidence with some suggestions for suitable examples provided in each case.

In some sections of the site diary, you will also find:

a set of knowledge questions for you to answer.

Your assessor might set these as a homework task or you might complete these in the classroom.

You must correctly complete all parts of the Site Diary and submit sufficient evidence to be marked as satisfactory for this task. Talk to your assessor immediately if you have any concerns about evidence gathering.

Read through your Site Diary before you begin so you understand what you need to demonstrate. You can look at the list of suggested evidence and you might like to make a list of other items you think you could submit that would support your Site Diary statements.

A mapping of the unit requirements against your Site Diary has been provided below for reference.

All interactions (including written) throughout this assessment must be business-like and consistent with organisational policies and procedures. You must use industry-accepted construction terminology when completing this template.

Site Diary mapping

Workplace activity

Site Diary section

Establish project requirements

Read and interpret relevant documentation

Identify and understand the building project

Establish site facilities, communication channels and temporary boundary fencing requirements

Identify waste removal requirements

Identify project specific statutory, approvals or compliance costs

Section 1 – Establish project requirements

Calculate materials and labour costs

Produce a materials and consumables list

Obtain prices from suppliers

Identify and estimate off-site production costs

identify labour requirements and work rates

estimate the labour hours and calculate labour costs

Section 2 – Calculate materials and labour costs

Identify physical resource requirements for the project

Determine limitations, conditions, costs and timeframes for the higher of physical resources

Obtain supplier prices

Identify, itemise and cost plant equipment and machinery

Section 3 – Identify type and cost of physical resources

Produce estimated project cost

Apply organisational overhead recovery and margins to the estimated costs

Review and compile costs associated with materials, consumables, off-site production, delivery, labour and physical resources

Manage and mitigate the risks associated with estimating the project costs

Section 4 - Produce estimated project costs

Student’s name:

Describe your role in this project:

Section 1 – Establish project requirements

Use Section 1 of your Site Diary to record the work that you did around establishing project requirements for a residential or commercial building and construction project. This will include identifying and establishing site requirements. The skills and knowledge that you need to demonstrate include:

read

ing

and interpret

ing

drawings and specifications in conjunction with regulations, codes and standards

identify

ing

building and site specifications

building features

the type of building

method of construction

building materials

waste removal requirements

statutory, approvals and compliance costs

establishing

site requirements

site facilities

communication channels

temporary boundary fencing.

Section 1 – Knowledge questions

1. Describe the National Construction Code (NCC) and its purpose. Why would you need to be familiar with the code to estimate the cost of a project?

2. Other than the NCC, list two other building and construction regulations, codes or standards you have accessed and extracted information from to estimate the cost of the project you have worked on. List one item of information from each that you needed for your estimation.

3. Outline three reasons that you may need to read the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) regulations when estimating project costs.

4. To accurately estimate the building project costs you would need to have access to several documents. Outline four key documents that you would need to read and why you would need them for estimating.

Section 1 – Reflective journal

Activity

Discussion

Suitable evidence

Describe the building and construction project you are working on for this assessment.

In your response:

identify the NCC classification for the building

and the building type

identify three items or features in the project drawings and list the names of the relevant building and construction regulation, code or Standard and discuss if the requirements have been met

identify three items or features in the project specifications and list the names of the relevant building and construction regulation, code or standard and

discuss if the requirements have been met

identify and describe three site features

describe the method of construction and building materials to be used.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

Project plan

Drawings and specifications

Links to or copies of relevant sections of regulations, codes and standards

Communication plan

Correspondence

Emails

Visual and audio recordings

Project plan

Site plans waste removal plan

Copies of permits

Photos

Links to or copies of relevant sections in organisational policies and procedures

Describe the information you obtained from the plans, specifications and drawings that informed your costing for this project

In your answer, describe the process that you used to extract and record the information.

Describe the work you did to identify and establish the:

site facilities required

temporary boundary fencing requirements

.

Refer to your organisation’s safety procedures for site facilities in your response.

Also include in your response three sources of information you used as part of your decision making process.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

Describe the work you did to identify the waste removal requirements for the project.

In your answer, you should also outline how the waste management site fees were applied.

Refer to your organisation’s environmental procedures and plans for waste removal/management and include two sources of information you used to make decisions.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

Describe the work you did to identify additional project-specific statutory, approvals and compliance costs.

Include two sources of information you used to identify these requirements.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

Provide a list of four people or groups that you would communicate with regularly throughout the project.

Outline the communication channels and methods that you established to communicate with each of them.

Attach evidence of your communication to your Site Diary.

I have attached the following as evidence of this activity:

Supervisor comments and endorsement:

Supervisor signature:

Supervisor name:

Date:

Section 2 – Calculate materials and labour costs

Use Section 2 of your Site Diary to record the work that you did to calculate the materials and labour costs for your project. This will include:

producing a materials and consumables list

identifying delivery and production costs

identifying labour requirements.

The skills and knowledge that you need to demonstrate include:

estimating off-site production costs including delivery

estimating labour hours for the project

identifying work rates for the contractors, sub-contractors and employees

calculating the labour costs including on-costs and insurance

using digital based technology to

estimate quantities and calculate costs.

Section 2 – Knowledge questions

1. Estimating and calculating building and construction costs can be a complicated job. In larger organisations, estimating can be a full-time role for one or more people.

Calculate the cost per unit for each of the common building materials and tasks below. Base the construction type on the NCC class of building on which you are working. You should also base your calculations on the region/area and the state or territory in which you are working and/or studying.

You can use industry-standard calculations or your own organisation’s estimating method. Remember to show your workings and check your calculations for accuracy.

Calculate unit costs for:

construction cost per square metre

laying of foundation per metre

laying of slabs per square metre

masonry walls per square metre

laying of steel tray roofing per square metre

installation of pipes per metre

installation of sanitary ware per unit

tiling per square metre

painting per square metre

.

Construction cost per square metre

Laying of foundation cost per metre

Laying of slabs cost per square metre

Masonry walls cost per square metre

Laying of steel tray roofing cost per square metre

Installation of pipes cost per metre

Installation of sanitary ware cost per unit

Tiling cost per square metre

Painting cost per square metre

Section 2 – Reflective journal

Activity

Discussion

Suitable evidence

Provide a list of materials and consumables needed for the project.

Document the quantiles of each.

Include two sources of information you used to gather this data, including how you obtained the prices from suppliers.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

List of materials and consumables with the quantity requirements

Supplier price lists

quotes from preferred suppliers

Email communication

Other correspondence

Estimated costs for off-site production and delivery

Workforce or labour plan including rates of pay and entitlements and other on-costs

Contracts

Correspondence

Project reports

Describe the work you did to identify and estimate the off-site production costs, including those related to delivery.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

Describe the work you did to identify the numbers of contractors, subcontractors and employees for the project and to estimate labour hours.

Include in your response:

an

outline

of

the work rates for each group and where you found th

is

information

an

outline

of

the on-costs for each group

, how these are calculated

and where you found the information

.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary. This must include your estimated calculations of labour hours, labour costs, on-costs and insurances.

Outline two organisational policies or procedures that you referenced during the project in regards to your cost calculation work.

Discuss the sections from each that were applicable to this project.

In your response, discuss your organisation’s scope and requirements for the ratio of workers on a project.

Are employees preferred to contractors or vice versa?

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

Outline the digital technology you used to estimate and calculate these project costs.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary of your use of some of the technology. This may be screenshots.

I have attached the following as evidence of this activity:

Supervisor comments and endorsement:

Supervisor signature:

Supervisor name:

Date:

Section 3 – Identify type and cost of physical resources

Use Section 3 of your Site Diary to record the work that you did to identify the type and cost of the physical resource is required for the project. This will include identifying, itemising and costing the plant, equipment and machinery required for the project.

The skills and knowledge that you need to demonstrate include:

i

dentifying the physical resources by

:

d

etermining the limitat

ions a

nd conditions

of

the physical resource

s

d

etermining the operational costs for the resource

s

d

etermining the timeframes for hi

re

of the physical resource

s

obtaining

s

upplier prices, including transportation

using

digital based technology to list resources and calculate costs.

Section 3 – Knowledge questions

1. A range of physical resources is used in building and construction projects. Some of these physical resources are commonly hired for projects and some of them are classified as high-risk work. Using this list of physical resources, list the requirements for their operation.

Earthmoving and excavation equipment

Hoists and lifting equipment

Mobile cranes

Generators

Pumps

Section 3 – Reflective journal

Activity

Discussion

Suitable evidence

Describe the work you did to identify, itemise and cost the physical resources (plant, equipment and machinery) required for the project.

Include in your response:

how you identified the resources required for the project

how you obtained the cost from suppliers for the hire or contract use of the resources.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary. This must include an itemised list of resources identified in this activity with costs and delivery or transport fees.

itemised list and cost of physical resources

Project management reports that show physical resources required

Price lists from suppliers

Quotes from suppliers

Email communication

Audio recordings of conversations

Diary notes

Links to organisational policies and procedures

Links to regulations, codes and standards

Links to or a copy of the relevant sections in the environmental plan

Links to or copies of relevant SWMS

Notes from research

Correspondence

Minutes of meetings

Select five of the resources you identified above and explain how you determined their suitability for the project based on:

their limitations

site conditions,

operational costs

timeframes for hire.

For each of the five resources:

list the regulation, code or Australian Standard that determines the use of the item

describe one environmental concern in relation to the use of the equipment, plant or machinery at the work site

describe one safety hazard and the control measure as outlined in your

organisation’s SWMS

/JSEA or site safety plan

.

Outline the digital technology you used to help you identify and calculate these project costs.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary of your use of the technology.

I have attached the following as evidence of this activity:

Supervisor comments and endorsement:

Supervisor signature:

Supervisor name:

Date:

Section 4 – Produce estimated project costs

Use Section 4 of your Site Diary to record the work that you did to produce and compile the estimated project costs. This will include reviewing the lists and costs that you have produced in sections two and three.

The skills and knowledge that you need to demonstrate include:

reviewing and compiling information and data for:

materials and consumables

off-site production costs and delivery charges

labour costs inclusive of rates and entitlements

physical resources

managing and mitigating the risks associated with estimating project costs

using

appropriate software

to

project the project cost documentation.

Section 4 – Reflective journal

Activity

Discussion

Suitable evidence

Discuss the process you followed to compile the information and data for your estimated project costs for a tender or bill.

Include in your response who you collaborated with and at least two other sources of information you consulted to:

review and compile the final list of materials and consumables and their quantities

,

including delivery charges

review and compile the final cost for off-site production costs

,

including delivery charges

review and compile the cost of physical

resources

,

including delivery charges.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

Project costing documentation including materials and consumable quantities list, off-site production costs including delivery charges, itemised list and costs of physical resource is including delivery charges and overheads

Risk assessment or documentation

Links to policies and procedures

Completed checklists

Minutes of meetings

Correspondence

Links to or notes from research

Discuss your organisation’s process for calculating overheads and margins into the cost of a project.

Give one example of your overhead calculations.

Attach evidence to your Site Diary.

Discuss how your organisation manages and mitigates the risks associated with estimating project costs.

Refer to your organisation’s policy or procedure and give two examples of the risks you managed in this activity.

Attach evidence to your site diary.

I have attached the following as evidence of this activity:

Supervisor comments and endorsement:

Supervisor signature:

Supervisor name:

Date:

Assessment outcome – CPCCBC4004 Identify and produce estimated costs for building and construction projects: Site Diary

Satisfactory

Not satisfactory

Section 1: Establish project requirements

Section 1: Knowledge test

Satisfactory

Not satisfactory

Section 1: Reflective journal

Satisfactory

Not satisfactory

Section 2: Calculate materials and labour costs

Section 2: Knowledge test

Satisfactory

Not satisfactory

Section 2: Reflective journal

Satisfactory

Not satisfactory

Section 3: Identify physical resource requirements for the project

Section 3: Knowledge test

Satisfactory

Not satisfactory

Section 3: Reflective journal

Satisfactory

Not satisfactory

Section 4: Produce estimated project costs

Section 4: Reflective journal

Satisfactory

Not satisfactory

Assessor signature:

Assessor name:

Date: