Cost risk assessment

Find guidance and estimating documents to support effective Cost Risk Assessment (CRA) and the Cost Estimate Validation Process (CEVP) for your projects.

Project risk management guidance

Refer to the Project Risk Management Guide (PDF 11.5MB) for CRA-CEVP workshop guidelines.

Refer to the Cost Risk Estimating Management (CREM) Glossary (PDF 942KB) to clarify vocabulary used in cost estimating management.

Use the following documents to:

Identify and assess risk within projects

Initiate and conduct a CRA or CEVP workshop

Report CRA or CEVP workshops

Estimating

Refer to these guidance and estimating documents to support the estimating for your projects.

Use these resources for clarity on your estimating projects.

View the awarded Design-bid build contracts. The award to estimate with average number of bidders by month.

Software

There are multiple software programs to help with your estimating needs.

EBASE - flexible, user friendly system for developing estimates for your projects. You may use this system throughout the entire development of a project. The estimates module will take you from project definition estimates to the PS&E phase, and the bids module will continue the process through advertisement, bid opening and award. Review the Self-Study on Ebase (PDF 847KB) for general information on the system.

Bid Tabs Pro (Oman Systems) - software provided by a private company using Bid Tabulation data from EBASE. It analyzes all Standard Bid Item and Contractor bid data for contacts let by WSDOT. It makes this data available with a multitude of predefined query areas and creates reports or exports to excel the results based on those queries.

Unit Bid Analysis provides a good starting point for determining Bid Item costs. The Unit Bid Analysis information provided is a good place to start, but each project is different and there are many factors that need to be considered to develop an accurate estimate using historical bid prices.

For contracts using the Asphalt Cost Price Adjustment General Special Provision, use the cost calculation for Asphalt Cost Price Adjustment (XLSX 17KB) (General Special Provision 5-04.5.OPT2.GR5) to calculate the amount needed for Standard Item 5837, Asphalt Price Adjustment. This amount will change as the Asphalt Binder Reference Cost Index changes, so frequent updates are recommended. Download the worksheet each time you use it so that you have the latest version. Please refer to the instruction sheet (PDF 498KB) about estimating cost adjustments for HMA and CRS.

For contracts using the Cost Price Adjustment Special Provision, use the cost calculation for CRS-2P Cost Price Adjustment (XLSX 17KB) (General Special Provision 5-02.5.OPT3.GR5) to calculate the amount needed for Standard Item 005294, CRS-2P Cost Price Adjustment.

Specialty groups

See guidance on preparing bridge cost estimates (PDF 2.5MB) and specifications.

The FHWA established a Highway Construction Cost Increases and Competition Issues web page to share information regarding increasing construction costs.

Multimodal Planning has created an access based Planning Level Cost Estimating package.

If your community is considering building a new bicycle facility, you can use the Benefit-Cost Analysis of Bicycle Facilities (PDF 4.4MB) to estimate costs, the demand in terms of new cyclists, and measured economic benefits (e.g., time savings, increased livability, decreased health costs, a more enjoyable ride).

Industry resources

RS Means publishes guides for construction cost estimating. Check out their heavy civil guide (includes highways and roads)through the WSDOT library.

The Associated General Contractors provides news for contractors and the construction industry. It is a good resource for gaining an idea of market conditions from the contractor’s perspective.

S&P Global is another resource regarding market conditions, but leaning more towards the state of commodities, oil, steel, etc.

Estimating Forms
232-007A Design Calculation (PDF 114KB)
230-031 Bridge Quantities (PDF 294KB)
230-040 Cost Estimate Summary (PDF 159KB)

Find your region Value Engineering & Cost Risk Assessment coordinators

166,800 electric vehicle

registrations in Washington in 2023, up from 114,600 in 2022.

87 wetland compensation sites

actively monitored on 918 acres in 2023.

25,000 safe animal crossings

in the Snoqualmie Pass East Project area since 2014.