What are the key factors in cost control?
Costing and estimating professions

In most projects, an initial estimate of the cost of the work to be carried out is made before the decision is taken to launch the project. This estimate forms the basis of the budget envelope for the project, and its reliability is essential to project cost control. However, it is not necessarily the person in charge of cost control who makes this estimate. Estimating in the pre-project phase requires the use of specific estimating methods and techniques, linked to the nature of the object to be achieved through the project.

In organizations where a significant proportion of business is organized in the form of projects, estimates are carried out by estimators who do not intervene beyond this phase.