Construction Cost Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Quantity Surveyors, Project Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CM-123

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with construction project stages, drawings, specifications, quantities, procurement or project budgets.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Construction projects lose margin when estimates are poorly structured, scope changes are priced late, procurement decisions ignore whole-life cost, or site records cannot support payment and claim positions. Cost managers must translate drawings, specifications, programmes and commercial terms into controlled budgets that remain credible as design, quantities, market prices and construction conditions change. This requires more than preparing a bill of quantities: it requires disciplined measurement, forecasting, reporting, change control and evidence-based commercial decisions.

This 10-day Construction Cost Management Training Course develops the methods used to plan, measure, monitor and control project cost from early feasibility through final account. Participants work with cost plans, elemental estimates, quantity take-offs, bills of quantities, tender comparisons, cash-flow forecasts, earned value measures, cost reports, change registers and final-account records. The course addresses RICS New Rules of Measurement, CESMM4 measurement principles, procurement cost implications, contract payment procedures, valuation of variations, claims records and cost-risk analysis.

Teaching combines short technical briefings with worked construction cases, group analysis, estimating and cost-control simulations, and structured application planning. Participants progressively build a project cost-management file during the programme, using a realistic building or infrastructure scenario. They leave with reusable templates and a completed cost-management pack that can be adapted to live projects, including a baseline budget, procurement comparison, cash forecast, change-control register and monthly cost report.

The course is suited to professionals who already work with project budgets, quantities, procurement, contracts or site delivery and need stronger commercial control. It is delivered instructor-led over 10 days, from 08:30 to 16:30, in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

What you will be able to do

  • Prepare an elemental cost plan using RICS NRM 1 measurement principles
  • Produce quantity take-offs and priced bills using NRM 2 and CESMM4 rules
  • Evaluate tender submissions through normalisation, arithmetic checking and bid comparison
  • Build a time-phased project cash-flow forecast from programme and payment data
  • Apply earned value management to calculate cost variance, schedule variance and forecast cost
  • Value variations, interim payments and provisional sums using contract evidence
  • Maintain a change-control register linking instructions, estimates, approvals and budget effects
  • Present a complete project cost-management pack with recommendations for management action

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce defensible cost plans from drawings, specifications and benchmark data
  • Identify budget pressure early through variance and forecast analysis
  • Assess contractor tenders beyond the lowest submitted price
  • Support variation valuations with measurable quantities and documented assumptions
  • Present cost risks and management actions with greater commercial authority

For your organisation

  • Earlier identification of forecast overruns and funding shortfalls
  • More consistent tender comparisons and procurement recommendations
  • Better control of instructed changes before commitments become irreversible
  • Stronger payment, variation and claim records for contract administration
  • Clearer cost reports linking physical progress, commitments and final forecast

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can define the cost-management system, responsibilities and decision points for a construction project.

  • Project cost lifecycle from feasibility estimate through final account settlement
  • Client, consultant, contractor and subcontractor cost-management responsibilities
  • Work breakdown structures linking scope packages, budgets and reporting codes
  • Cost baseline, commitment budget, forecast cost and approved contingency distinctions
  • Direct costs, preliminaries, overheads, profit and risk allowance components
  • Information requirements from drawings, specifications, programmes and commercial documents

Participants can create a cost breakdown that aligns scope, procurement packages and reporting requirements.

  • Scope decomposition using work breakdown structure and cost breakdown structure
  • Elemental, trade, location and work-package coding approaches compared
  • Cost codes mapped to procurement packages and accounting cost centres
  • Drawing registers and specification schedules used to establish scope completeness
  • Assumptions registers separating included work, exclusions and unresolved design information
  • Design maturity assessments before releasing estimates or tender documentation

Participants can select and apply appropriate measurement rules to construction work items.

  • RICS NRM 1 principles for order-of-cost estimating and cost planning
  • RICS NRM 2 structure for detailed measurement of building works
  • CESMM4 classification principles for civil engineering measurement and pricing
  • Net and gross measurement rules for openings, voids and overlaps
  • Units of measurement for excavation, concrete, reinforcement and finishes
  • Method-related charges, temporary works and preliminaries measurement treatment

Participants can prepare auditable quantity take-offs and bill items from project information.

  • Dimension paper conventions for recording lengths, areas, volumes and enumerations
  • Taking off structural concrete quantities from plans, sections and schedules
  • Wall, floor and roof measurement using drawing scale verification
  • Bill item descriptions defining location, material, workmanship and unit
  • Quantity-checking procedures using independent recalculation and drawing cross-references
  • Audit trails linking measured quantities to source drawings and revisions

Participants can build unit rates from resource data, productivity assumptions and risk allowances.

  • Labour constants converted into crew hours, output rates and unit costs
  • Material quotations adjusted for waste, delivery, storage and price validity
  • Plant ownership and hire costs allocated through productive operating hours
  • Subcontract quotations analysed for scope gaps, exclusions and commercial qualifications
  • Composite rates built from labour, materials, plant, overheads and profit
  • Sensitivity analysis testing productivity, inflation and currency assumptions

Participants can prepare an elemental cost plan using benchmarks, quantities and project assumptions.

  • Order-of-cost estimates using floor area, functional unit and elemental benchmarks
  • RICS NRM 1 elemental cost plan structure and reporting format
  • Benchmark normalisation for location, inflation, specification and project scale
  • Cost-significant design decisions identified through elemental cost comparison
  • Target cost allocation across substructure, superstructure, services and external works
  • Contingency allowances derived from defined uncertainty and design maturity

Participants can quantify cost risk and establish transparent contingency control procedures.

  • Risk breakdown structures separating design, market, site and delivery risks
  • Probability-impact matrices prioritising cost threats and potential opportunities
  • Expected monetary value calculations for discrete identified risk events
  • Three-point estimates using optimistic, most likely and pessimistic cost values
  • Contingency drawdown approvals linked to risk-register status and evidence
  • Escalation allowances distinguished from contingency and management reserve

Participants can assess how procurement choices affect price certainty, risk allocation and cost control.

  • Traditional, design-build and construction management procurement cost characteristics
  • Lump-sum, remeasurement, target-cost and cost-reimbursable pricing mechanisms
  • Risk allocation matrices matching risks to accountable contractual parties
  • Package strategy balancing market capacity, interfaces and pricing competition
  • Early contractor involvement effects on buildability, pricing and programme certainty
  • Procurement schedules aligned with design release dates and budget authorisations

Participants can evaluate tender returns and recommend a commercially sound award decision.

  • Tender addenda incorporated before comparing bidder quantities and qualifications
  • Arithmetic checks identifying extension errors, omissions and inconsistent totals
  • Bid normalisation adjusting returns to a common scope and pricing basis
  • Commercial comparison matrices covering price, exclusions, programme and risk
  • Abnormally low tender analysis using rate outliers and clarification questions
  • Tender recommendation reports documenting evaluation rationale and approval requirements

Participants can establish a time-phased control budget from approved scope, rates and programme data.

  • Approved estimate converted into control accounts and work-package budgets
  • Cost loading construction programmes using activity quantities, rates and durations
  • Resource-loaded schedules compared with cost-loaded cash-flow requirements
  • Budget phasing by procurement commitment, delivery, installation and retention
  • Control budget reconciliation against contract sum and approved contingency
  • Baseline change protocols preserving original budget and authorised revisions

Participants can forecast project cash requirements using programme, payment and retention assumptions.

  • Monthly cash-flow curves derived from cost-loaded programme activities
  • Interim payment timing modelled with certification, payment and retention periods
  • Mobilisation advances, recovery deductions and retention release incorporated
  • Committed cost, accrued cost and paid cost reconciled monthly
  • S-curve analysis comparing planned expenditure against actual expenditure trends
  • Funding forecasts updated for approved changes, delays and price escalation

Participants can prepare a monthly cost report that explains variances and required actions.

  • Actual cost collection from invoices, payroll, plant records and accruals
  • Committed cost registers tracking purchase orders, subcontracts and change orders
  • Estimate at completion calculated from actuals, commitments and remaining work
  • Cost-to-complete forecasts tested against quantities, productivity and programme status
  • Variance narratives distinguishing scope changes, rate changes and execution effects
  • Management dashboards presenting budget, forecast, risk exposure and corrective actions

Participants can use earned value measures to assess cost and schedule performance.

  • Planned value, earned value and actual cost definitions
  • Physical progress measurement using quantity-installed and milestone-weighting methods
  • Cost performance index and schedule performance index calculations
  • Cost variance and schedule variance interpreted for management decisions
  • Estimate at completion calculated using performance-based forecasting formulas
  • ANSI EIA-748 control account concepts applied to construction reporting

Participants can control, price and report changes before they erode project margins.

  • Change registers recording instruction dates, scope, valuation and approval status
  • Potential variation notices issued before changed work affects progress
  • Quantity-based valuation using contract rates, derived rates and new rates
  • Daywork records supported by labour sheets, plant logs and material invoices
  • Time-related preliminaries assessed for extension, disruption and prolongation effects
  • Change-control workflows connecting technical approval, commercial approval and budget revision

Participants can prepare and review interim valuations using measured progress and contract terms.

  • Valuation dates, payment notices and certification periods under construction contracts
  • Measured work, materials on site and off-site materials valuation rules
  • Retention calculations, release triggers and defects-period deductions
  • Provisional sums and prime cost sums managed through authorisation records
  • Payment applications reconciled against programme progress, delivery records and approvals
  • FIDIC payment provisions compared with NEC4 assessment principles

Participants can organise cost records that support claims analysis, dispute avoidance and final settlement.

  • Contemporaneous records for labour, plant, materials, weather and instructions
  • Daily reports aligned with cost codes, activities and affected work areas
  • Cause-and-effect analysis connecting events, disruption, delay and cost impact
  • Measured mile analysis for productivity loss where comparable work exists
  • Claim substantiation using notices, correspondence, programme data and cost records
  • Document-control protocols preserving revision history and approval evidence

Participants can prepare a structured final-account strategy and reconcile outstanding commercial matters.

  • Final account statement reconciling contract sum, variations, claims and adjustments
  • Outstanding variation schedules prioritised by value, evidence and negotiation readiness
  • Reconciliation of provisional sums, contingencies, retention and contra-charges
  • Subcontract final accounts aligned with main-contract settlement exposure
  • Close-out checklists covering warranties, as-builts, releases and final payments
  • Lessons learned captured from estimate accuracy, procurement and change performance

Participants can establish governance controls that protect cost integrity and approval accountability.

  • Delegated authority matrices for budgets, commitments, changes and payments
  • Segregation of duties across measurement, certification, approval and payment
  • Forecast assurance reviews testing assumptions, evidence and management bias
  • Audit trails for estimates, tender evaluations, variations and final accounts
  • Conflict-of-interest declarations during tender assessment and supplier selection
  • Cost-reporting protocols defining reporting dates, thresholds and escalation routes

Participants can structure cost data for reliable spreadsheet analysis and management reporting.

  • Cost-code dictionaries establishing consistent package, element and activity classifications
  • Spreadsheet controls using protected formulas, version logs and validation checks
  • Pivot tables summarising commitments, actuals, forecasts and cost variances
  • Data reconciliation between procurement registers, site records and finance systems
  • Dashboard design focusing on exceptions, trends, decisions and accountable owners
  • Common data environment principles for controlled commercial document access

Participants can build, review and present a complete project cost-management pack with recommendations.

  • Project scope and assumptions converted into an auditable cost breakdown
  • Elemental estimate and priced quantities assembled into baseline project budget
  • Tender comparison identifies preferred award, exclusions and commercial conditions
  • Time-phased cash forecast reflects programme, payments, retention and escalation
  • Change register and risk allowance establish forecast cost at completion
  • Monthly cost report explains earned value, variances and corrective actions
  • Management presentation defends recommendations, approvals and next reporting actions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. RICS NRM-based elemental cost plan template
  2. Quantity take-off and unit-rate build-up workbook
  3. Tender normalisation and bid-evaluation matrix
  4. Time-phased cash-flow forecasting model
  5. Change-control and variation valuation register
  6. Integrated project cost-management pack

Who should attend

  • Quantity Surveyors — strengthen cost planning, valuation and final-account control
  • Project Managers — manage budget exposure, change decisions and cost reporting
  • Construction Managers — connect site progress, records and cost consequences
  • Cost Engineers — improve forecasting, earned value analysis and variance reporting
  • Procurement Managers — assess tender pricing, allowances and supplier cost risks
  • Client Representatives — challenge project budgets and approve cost changes confidently

Skills and tools covered

Cost planningQuantity measurementTender evaluationCash-flow forecastingChange controlFinal account management

Tools and standards

RICS New Rules of Measurement, CESMM4, FIDIC Conditions of Contract, ANSI EIA-748 Earned Value Management

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short instructor briefings to establish methods, standards and calculation logic, followed by worked examples drawn from building and infrastructure projects. Participants analyse drawings, pricing documents, tender returns, programmes, site records and cost reports in small groups. Simulations test responses to design changes, delayed works, escalation and payment disputes. Each participant develops components of a project cost-management file during the first week, then refines forecasts, controls and recommendations during the second week. Facilitated reviews connect each method to participants' current projects.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with construction project stages, drawings, specifications, quantities, procurement or project budgets. Experience working on a building, civil engineering, industrial or infrastructure project is useful, whether from a client, consultant, contractor or supplier role. Participants should be comfortable reading simple tables, performing percentage calculations and using spreadsheet software. Prior quantity surveying qualifications, advanced estimating software skills, contract-law training and knowledge of a particular national standard are not required. Core measurement and cost-control methods are introduced before they are applied.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic construction project documents, budgets or procurement processes. The course does not require a quantity surveying qualification, advanced mathematics or prior knowledge of a specific contract form.

Bring a laptop with spreadsheet software for live online delivery and, where possible, for classroom work. Participants may also bring non-confidential cost reports, estimates or change registers from current projects for application planning.

It suits quantity surveyors, project managers, cost engineers, construction managers, procurement staff and client representatives. It is designed for professionals who already contribute to construction budgets or commercial decisions.

Project management courses address wider scope, schedule, stakeholder and delivery controls, while quantity surveying courses may concentrate on measurement and contract practice. This course connects estimating, tendering, budgeting, forecasting, payment, change and final-account controls into one project cost-management process.

Participants can adapt the cost plan, tender comparison, cash forecast, change register and monthly report formats to current projects. The methods support earlier reporting of likely overruns, clearer approval decisions and stronger commercial records.

The first week establishes measurement, estimating, procurement and baseline-budget methods while participants begin their project cost-management file. The second week focuses on cash flow, forecasting, earned value, payment, changes, claims, close-out and the final capstone presentation; each day runs 08:30 to 16:30 with about 6.5 contact hours.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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