DOE Guide 413.3-21A - Cost Estimating Guide - dated June 6, 2018

This guide provides DOE cost estimating practitioners with uniform guidance, methodologies, and best practices to ensure the development of high quality cost estimates as a credible cost estimating foundation is essential to achieving program and project success. Although applicable to all cost estimating, this guidance is tailored to be primarily applicable to the cost estimation of construction projects and/or programs. These cost estimates usually result in project independent cost estimates (ICEs) to validate a project performance baseline. They are similar but different from an independent government cost estimate (IGCE) normally used to support a contract action. The guide considers all phases of the Department's work in creating credible project cost estimates that can be used to predict, analyze, and evaluate a project's cost and schedule, and serve as a critical project control planning tool. Once credible cost estimates have been presented to and approved by management, they can be used as a basis for measuring performance against an approved baseline using an Earned Value Management System (EVMS).

The sections in the guide discuss key guidance characteristics, cost estimating inputs, cost estimating characteristics and classifications, cost estimating methods, the cost estimating development process, cost estimating outputs, and cost estimating expectations along with a set of Appendices. These include a summary of Federal and DOE requirements, examples, references, and DOE recommendations for creating quality cost estimates.

Other related DOE Office of Project Management Guides can be downloaded from this DOE web site: https://www.directives.doe.gov/guidance#b_start=0&c6=PM+-+Office+of+Project+Management+Oversight+and+Assessments

Download Document