EVALUATING CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR ACCURATE FIRST COST ESTIMATES OF LARGE-SCALE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

The demands for large-scale construction projects such as Mega-projects are largely increasing due to the rapid growth of increasing populations as well as the need to replace existing buildings and infrastructure. Increasing costs of materials, supplies, and labors require the first cost estimates at the preliminary planning stage to be as accurate as possible. This paper presents the results obtained from the survey on evaluating nine critical success factors that influence the accurate first cost estimates for large-scale projects from practical experiences. It then examines the current cost structures of construction companies for large-scale projects, followed by the causes for cost and schedule overrun. Twenty completed surveys were collected and the Analytic Hierarchy Process was applied to analyze the data. The results indicate that technology issues, the contract type, and social and environmental impacts are the significant leading factors for accurate first cost estimates of large-scale construction projects.