The costs of these components are determined from the area survey, schedule of rates published by central and state government; transportation charges based on the location of the area. Also we need to know how much is required for execution of the work. Similarly number of labour and equipment. These things are bared on both the heuristics and engineering design. Not only specification is important for obtaining the cost of the work, but one has also to include quality mentioned during construction we shall discuss this pointing detail through case study.

1. Cost of material – To obtain the cost of material in the unit amount of an item, first specification is studied carefully. Quantity of material required is calculated and multiplied by the cost to obtain the unit cost. Cost includes freight, transportation, sales tax, insurance, as well as profit. An estimator has to do his market survey and the area survey before calculating the unit cost of the material.


2. Cost of labour – Productivity of the labour is very important aspect in calculation of labour cost. Productivity of the labour depends upon the type of work, training imparted to the labourer, nature of work, time schedule of the work, etc. For example, a mason can do more plastering standing on the floor than working at a height on the scaffolding. Initially, it takes time to learn the work and gradually productivity increases, which is shown by the learning curve as follows –