Massachusetts Department of Transportation - Highway Division

Construction Project Estimator


 
 


Overview |  FAQ |  Glossary  |  Flow Diagram

General overview
MassDOT’s strategic mission is to align with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Order to have one mechanism, for achieving greater efficiencies and cost in an Information and Technology System. In 2008, MassDOT Construction took aggressive steps by performing a risk analysis of current data repositories and determined, it was necessary to create a Contract Management System (CMS) as the tool that would accomplish this task. To align with the planned implementation of the Contract Management System, MassDOT-Highway now will mandate the use of the Construction Project Estimator and WABA application in the preparation of Preliminary Design Estimates. MassDOT-Highway developed this estimating system to ensure design estimates are more accurate. This application helps design engineers gauge future construction projects by using current pricing information. Critical to producing more accurate estimates, this online Construction Project Estimator application leverages data from the Weighted Average Bid application.

What is a preliminary estimate?
A preliminary estimate is a designer’s original estimate of work. It is what contractors use to prepare bids. A preliminary estimate details the unit price for each line item needed for a specific project. Each item is assigned a unique number that represents a unit of materials, labor, or supplies.

What this application does
This application helps project designers produce a preliminary estimate for a transportation construction project using computed statistics from previous vendor bids. The version of project information that the application uses is updated weekly. For each standard item, the application will default in a unit price equal to the median unit price for the interval where the entered quantity falls. If no statistics are found in the specified District, the application will default in the average for all Districts.

What this application does not do
This application does not impact live data. Using this application will not alter existing projects or create new projects. This application only assists you in creating a project design preliminary estimate. You are still responsible for submitting any estimates through the normal channels. Use of this application does not guarantee that your estimate will be viewed or accepted by MassDOT- Highway. Prices are based on the weighted average of vendor bids and are subject to change. Use this application only as guidance, not as a guarantee.

What does the 'Weighted Bid Prices' module of this application do?
The 'Weighted Bid Prices' module is intended to provide access to timely average mean and median bid price data. Project bid data will be updated weekly to reflect the most recent bids received by MassDOT- Highway.

What bids are used to calculate the weighted bid prices?
The database uses all bid data received in responsive bids, not just the low bid. The bid prices are displayed in groups of increasing quantities. The limits of these groups will be revised as additional bid data is obtained, and is intended to provide an indication of bid price variations as quantities increase. The bid data is analyzed to remove very high and very low bids. The application is designed to provide a range of information about historical bid values for any particular item. It is not intended to provide absolute values for each item.

 

FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions about this application.

Q: I am a design engineer. How can this application help me with the whole process of design estimates?
A:
Begin by generating a preliminary estimate for a new project. Save your 25% preliminary estimate, and continue to update it throughout the design process. Once a final design is created, print the estimate and send it to MassDOT, Highway with the PS&E package.

Q: Will using this application affect existing project data? Can I accidentally mess up a project?
A:
No. This application uses a copy of project information that is updated weekly. You cannot change anything about an existing project by generating an estimate with this application. Neither can you create a project by using this application.

Q: How do I print a copy of my estimate?
A:
To print a copy of your estimate, export your file to PDF from the "Review Selected Items" tab, and then print the PDF.

Q: How can I save a partially completed version of an estimate?
A:
You do not have to. Every change you make is automatically saved. Any estimates you create will be made available to you once you log into the application.

Q: How is bid data processed by the "Weighted Bid Prices" module?
A:
Once the system has identified all bids meeting the selected criteria, the following analytical processes will occur:

  1. Project bids are ordered by project quantity
  2. The lowest quantity is subtracted from the highest quantity
    1. The result is divided by the items’ quantity group factor creating the appropriate number of equalized quantity groups.
  3. All bids are distributed to their appropriate quantity group
  4. The median price is determined for each quantity group
  5. The items’ variance percent is applied to the median price for each quantity group in order to create a high median and a low median for each group
  6. All bids falling outside the high median and low median ranges for each quantity group are discarded
    1. A new median price is determined for each quantity group.
    2. The mean price for each quantity group is calculated.

Q: What are very high and very low bids?
A:
These are bid prices determined to be excessively high or low when compared to the median bid price of all bids for a given item. This determination is based on calculating the items’ high/low median price as follows:

  1. high = median price + (median price * variance percentage)
  2. low = median price – (median price * variance percentage)

Since individual bids falling outside this high/low range, may skew the averages, they are ignored.

Have a question not answered here or on the Help page? More help is only an email away.  

Glossary
Here are some terms you may find throughout this application.

Standard Units of Measure

Unit Description Measurement System
$ US DOLLARS English and Metric
ALS ANNUAL LUMP SUM English and Metric
BAG PER BAG English and Metric
CAR PER CAR English and Metric
CNG PER CLEANING English and Metric
CUT PER CUT English and Metric
DAY PER DAY English and Metric
DD PER DRUM DAY English and Metric
DRM PER DRUM English and Metric
EA EACH English and Metric
FLR PER FLOOR English and Metric
HR PER HOUR English and Metric
HRS PER HOUR English and Metric
LS LUMP SUM English and Metric
MD PER MAN DAY English and Metric
MH PER MAN HOUR English and Metric
MO PER MONTH English and Metric
SD PER SPACE DAY English and Metric
SPT PER SPOT English and Metric
U PER UNIT English and Metric
UD PER UNIT DAY English and Metric
WK PER WEEK English and Metric
MMG PER MILLION GAL English
VF PER VERT. FT. English
UC **CA/T USE ONLY English
SY PER SQUARE YARD English
TON PER TON English
TPM **CA/T USE ONLY English
SF PER SQUARE FOOT English
SFD **CA/T USE ONLY English
SH **CA/T USE ONLY English
SI PER SQUARE IN English
MSF **CA/T USE ONLY English
OZ PER OUNCE English
QT PER QUART English
RIS **CA/T USE ONLY English
MBM PER MFBM English
MGL PER 1000 GALS English
Unit Description Measurement System
KWH PER KILOWATT HR English
GAL PER GALLON English
CY PER CUBIC YARD English
CSF PER 100 SQ. FT. English
LB PER POUND English
LBS PER POUND English
LD **CA/T USE ONLY English
LF PER LINEAR FOOT English
LFD **CA/T USE ONLY English
LI PER LINEAR INCH English
LM PER LINEAR MILE English
LOD **CA/T USE ONLY English
CCF PER 100 CU.FT. English
CF PER CUBIC FOOT English
CGL PER 100 GALS English
CH **CA/T USE ONLY English
CLF PER 100 LIN FT. English
BBL PER BARREL English
BF PER BOARD FOOT English
A PER ACRE English
AAA **CA/T USE ONLY English
AL **CA/T USE ONLY English
CM PER CUBIC METER Metric
CMM PER CUBIC ARE Metric
HA PER HECTARE Metric
L PER LITER Metric
Metric PER METER Metric
KG PER KILOGRAM Metric
KL PER KILOLITER Metric
KM PER KILOMETER Metric
MG PER MEGAGRAM Metric
MRD PER METER DAY Metric
MM PER MILLIMETER Metric
MT PER METRIC TON Metric
SM PER SQ. METER Metric
SMM PER SQ. MM Metric
VM PER VERT. METER Metric

Table 1: Table of standard MassDOT-Highway units of measure.

Flow Diagram

CPE Flowchart