Predicting the total cost of a construction project by estimating, in advance, the actual costs of all elements in the project, including legal fees, labor, permits, materials etc.

The determination of resource and material quantities and the predicting or forecasting of associated costs, within a defined scope (AACE International,1995). It is an essentially computational process that attempts to predict the final cost of a future project, even though all the parameters and conditions are not known when the estimate is prepared. Estimating methods vary considerably, depending on the available information, nature of the project, and he time available to prepare the estimate (de la Garza and Rouhana, 1995). The accuracy of the estimate will vary, depending on the stage of the project and information with which it is prepared.