Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Developing and Managing Program Costs

What the authority record establishes

The GAO guide describes best practices for developing credible cost estimates and managing cost through program lifecycles.

Non-binding unless adopted through another authority

The exact official title, issuing body, jurisdiction, version or application record, and linked source define the scope of this page. Readers should not transfer the authority's status to a commercial product or infer transaction-, patient-, system-, site-, or organization-specific applicability from this summary.

Why it matters to this market

It gives construction-system buyers a basis for scope, assumptions, data, methods, sensitivity, risk and uncertainty, documentation, update, and reconciliation questions.

Affected operating stages

• Scope
• Estimating Plan
• Data
• Method
• Sensitivity
• Risk
• Documentation
• Update

Capabilities to examine

Quantity Takeoff And Measurement

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for quantity takeoff and measurement.

Estimating Assemblies And Cost Database Workflow

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for estimating assemblies and cost database workflow.

Budget Cost-Code And Original-Contract Control

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for budget cost-code and original-contract control.

Potential Change Event And Change-Order Control

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for potential change event and change-order control.

Cost-To-Complete Forecast And Variance Analysis

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for cost-to-complete forecast and variance analysis.

Program Portfolio And Executive Reporting

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for program portfolio and executive reporting.

Project Risk Issue Contingency And Exposure Analysis

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for project risk issue contingency and exposure analysis.

Cross-Project Analytics And Benchmark Reporting

Ask how the system or service identifies the controlling source and version, applies customer-specific interpretation, handles exceptions, preserves human judgment, and retains evidence for cross-project analytics and benchmark reporting.

Affected buyer audiences

• estimators
• cost engineers
• project controls
• owners
• assurance teams

Implementation questions

• Which entities, products, populations, transactions, systems, sites, or jurisdictions are actually within scope?
• What is binding, what is guidance, and what is a technical or consensus standard?
• Which publication, adoption, effective, application, transition, and enforcement dates differ?
• Who owns legal, clinical, quality, regulatory, policy, or operational interpretation?
• How will a source revision affect open work and historical decisions?

Interpretation boundary

The guide does not validate a bid, estimate, budget, forecast, quantity, price, or software calculation for a particular project.