A Practical Guide to Cost Engineering

Book excerpt: A Practical Guide to Cost Engineering aims to show you how to work as a cost engineer out in the real world. Written by an experienced cost engineer and training program developer, this book introduces the practical side of cost management (cost estimation, cost reduction, and cost control) through real cases and realistic examples from a diverse range of engineering-based projects. With examples from nuclear, oil and gas, and renewable energy sectors, the book introduces and demonstrates the activities of the cost engineer throughout a project life cycle. The content is divided into logical sections covering basic concepts, cost estimation, cost control, economic feasibility, sustainability, and more, and the chapters are packed full of features such as definitions, formulas, exercises, and examples. The focus is on providing a practical approach where the reader can first understand a concept and then apply it using an Excel tool developed by the author which allows the reader to simulate different scenarios and results. The simple approach focusing on essential information backed up by practical scenarios presented in this book allows cost engineers and related professionals to execute and understand their activities, develop their professional skills, and even develop in-house training programs. A Practical Guide to Cost Engineering is accompanied by online resources, accessible via the Routledge Resource Centre wesbite.