Getting Project Costs Right: Estimating, Budgeting & Value Engineering Training Course (Online / Remote)
1Summary
Most projects that run into financial trouble weren't defeated by difficult work — they were undone by cost figures that were wrong from the start and never properly corrected. Getting Project Costs Right: Estimating, Budgeting & Value Engineering is a practical Project Management Training Course built to close that gap, developing solid skills in cost estimating, project budgeting, cost control and financial planning across the whole project lifecycle.
Delivered by Arab British Fellowship Training Academy, the course brings together budgeting, value engineering, project finance and cost planning into one practical framework. Participants learn to build estimates people can trust, set realistic budgets, compare cost alternatives properly, track financial performance, and use value engineering to protect outcomes while keeping spending under control.
2Objectives and target group
- Understand the principles and processes behind reliable project cost estimating.
- Apply professional cost estimating techniques throughout the project lifecycle.
- Distinguish direct, indirect, fixed, variable and overhead project costs.
- Build project budgets and cost baselines that hold up under scrutiny.
- Apply cost planning techniques to support sound financial decisions.
- Understand the fundamentals of project finance relevant to project managers.
- Apply value engineering to optimise project cost and performance together.
- Analyse cost variances and forecast future project expenditure.
- Improve resource and cost allocation decisions across a project.
- Monitor financial performance and apply timely corrective action.
Target Audience
- Project Managers and Project Coordinators.
- Project Cost Estimators and Cost Engineers.
- Project Controls Professionals.
- Quantity Surveyors and Cost Consultants.
- Financial and Commercial Project Professionals.
- Construction and Engineering Project Managers.
- Budget Managers and Project Finance Professionals.
- Procurement and Contract Management Professionals.
- Planning and Cost Control Specialists.
- Professionals responsible for cost planning, budgeting, and project financial management.
3Course Content
Module 1: Why Cost Estimates Go Wrong
- Where cost estimating usually breaks down
- Cost estimating inputs, assumptions and accuracy levels
- Analogous, parametric, bottom-up and three-point estimating
- Choosing the right method for the right stage
Module 2: Understanding What a Project Actually Costs
- Labour, material, equipment and resource costs
- Direct vs indirect, fixed vs variable costs
- Overheads and contingency
- Building a cost breakdown structure
Module 3: Planning Costs Before You Need Them
- Setting project cost objectives
- Cost planning across project phases
- Cost baselines and control accounts
- Linking cost planning to the project schedule
Module 4: Turning Estimates Into a Real Budget
- Developing a project budget from the ground up
- Allocating costs to project activities
- Contingency and management reserves
- Budget approval, cash flow and documentation
Module 5: Project Finance Basics for Project Managers
- Funding requirements, and capital vs operating expenditure
- Cash flow forecasting
- Financial assumptions, constraints and payment structures
- Financial risk considerations
Module 6: Value Engineering — Same Outcome, Smarter Cost
- Value analysis and functional analysis
- Finding legitimate cost reduction opportunities
- Balancing cost, quality, functionality and performance
- Applying value engineering to real project decisions
Module 7: Keeping Costs Under Control as the Project Moves
- Cost performance measurement and variance analysis
- Earned Value Management, in practical terms
- Cost-related risk and contingency planning
- Managing changes that affect project costs
Module 8: Bringing It All Together
- Integrating estimating, budgeting and cost planning
- Linking project costs to scope and schedule
- Applying value engineering to financial decisions
- Practical exercises and case studies in project cost management