Project Cost & Contract Management

Cost vs price vs estimate vs budget; the cost-management process (cost planning → budgeting → control → final account) and the cost-influence curve; the iron triangle (time–cost–quality); life-cycle / whole-life costing; cash flow and the S-curve; value engineering; and the quantity surveyor / cost manager's role.

Procurement vs tendering; procurement routes (traditional/DBB, design-build, construction management, EPC, PPP/BOT) and their risk split; the tender process step by step (NIT → PQ → pre-bid → two-cover submission → opening → evaluation → award); tender types; EMD and performance security; bid evaluation (L1/QCBS); and Indian e-procurement (GeM, CPPP, GFR 2017).

What a contract is (Indian Contract Act 1872 essentials); contract types and who bears the risk (lump-sum, item-rate, percentage-rate, cost-plus, EPC/turnkey); the contract documents and their precedence; key clauses; standard forms (FIDIC Red/Yellow/Silver; Indian CPWD GCC, State PWD, NITI Aayog model); and the Engineer/Architect's dual role as impartial certifier.

Administering the contract from award to completion — RA/interim bills and the payment cycle, variations/change orders and their valuation, extension of time (EOT) and prolongation, price escalation, retention and mobilisation advance, the defects-liability period and final account; and cost control via Earned Value Management (PV/EV/AC, CPI/SPI, EAC) and the S-curve.

Heads of claim (delay, disruption, variation, loss & expense) and how records substantiate them; liquidated damages vs penalty (the India-specific Section 74 position); risk identification and allocation; the dispute-resolution ladder (negotiation → mediation → conciliation → DAB → arbitration → litigation); arbitration under the Arbitration & Conciliation Act 1996; contract closure; and the architect's ethics as an impartial certifier.