THE TREND OF CONSTRUCTION COST INDICES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS

Construction Cost Indices are values for measuring fluctuations in direct construction costs which include material costs, labor costs, and equipment costs for construction operations. In Korea, Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) has been assessing and announcing these indices since January, 2004. The main goals of this paper are to look over the calculation process for those indices and then present the trend in construction costs according to the types of facilities with the past construction cost index data. Also, this paper traces the origin of the occurrence of significant changes on those indices through the further analysis of the trend. In addition, this paper shows the practicality of the indices and the way how to put them to practical use. An alternative estimate method using the indices is suggested for compensating the changes of construction costs caused by price fluctuations.