Much like a marriage, a successful project is built on the foundations of communication and compromise. A capital improvement project involves multiple individuals, with often differing incentives, sharing a common goal – project success. Success of the project as a whole is the relationship bond.

With the advent of the AIA 2007 standard form contracts a new participant has been introduced to the project process, the IDM or Initial Decision Maker, further eroding the authority of the design professional and adding one more level of hierarchy to the lines of communication between project participants.

Just as the Master Craftsman of the past utilized the hammer and anvil to mold and create works of art and utility, the design professional must master the tools of the construction industry specifically, estimating and scheduling to facilitate project success.

We are experiencing a trend toward integrated project delivery. With the evolution of Building Information Modeling (BIM), project participants and project processes are becoming more and more collaborative and less combative.

The focus of this presentation will be on the process and tactics used to successfully develop a detailed (and principled) budget, versus an estimate that leads to, or allows, a prime contractor to submit a bid, and will make plain a key difference in the philosophies underlying both processes. The key differences center around what the estimate will be used for.