CEC Value Engineering & Cost Control Flashcards
6 cards from real CEC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 CEC Value Engineering & Cost Control flashcards as text
What is the primary goal of value engineering (VE) in construction estimating?
Answer: Achieve required function at the lowest overall cost
Value engineering aims to deliver the required project function at the lowest total life-cycle cost without sacrificing quality or performance.
Which phase of a project is value engineering most cost-effective to implement?
Answer: Early in design or pre-construction
VE proposals during early design or pre-construction yield the greatest savings because changes are cheapest before work begins.
A cost control report shows actual costs 12% over the budget baseline. What is the estimator's first step?
Answer: Identify the cost codes driving the overrun
Pinpointing which cost codes are over budget allows targeted corrective action rather than broad, disruptive measures.
What does a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) measure in a VE study?
Answer: Net present value of savings versus implementation cost
A CBA compares the net present value of projected savings against the cost to implement the VE change, confirming it is financially worthwhile.
In construction cost control, a 'S-curve' is used to track which project metric?
Answer: Cumulative planned vs. actual expenditure over time
An S-curve plots cumulative planned and actual costs (or work) over the project timeline, making schedule and cost deviations easy to visualize.
Which value engineering technique substitutes a lower-cost material that meets the same performance specification?
Answer: Material substitution
Material substitution replaces a specified material with a less expensive alternative that still satisfies all technical and code requirements.