My answer was:
Dear Engineer HABIBULLAH NAWAZ,
Q-1: The difference between a prime cost sum and a provisional sum…?
A-1: Assume you’re in the tender process and preparing your financial proposal or estimating the cost of the project, there are always some items (equipment, material,…) that you are not sure about their cost. You also may find that there is a part of the scope of work still not clear or its data isn’t ready yet, so you price it according to estimation.
The price of the items (equipment, material,…) which you know clearly everything about it, but you can’t use its current price or you don’t even know its current price, that’s what is called Prime cost. While the Provisional sum is the cost that you put for the unknown scope of work that you don’t know anything about it. They’re both estimated costs for something we don’t know, but the prime cost is usually called for the activities or material that you know but are not certain about its price.
Q-2 What is Site Allocation…?
A-2: Site allocation is one of the very effective and important things that should be considered while starting a new project. Site allocation is how to use your site area effectively to get the highest productivity. Selecting the specific locations of the storage and storing specific materials is site allocation. Creating a movement Plan to prevent interruptions between equipment movement is site allocation. So basically, site allocation is any activity that makes the best use of your site to increase productivity and decrease loss possibilities.
Q-3 What should we do, that our project should complete within Budget…?
A-3: Completing your project within budget has unlimited factors that affect the budget, but we can help you and provide a list of the most important terms that directly affect the budget.
1- Accurate cost estimation: Estimating the cost from the beginning can help a lot.
2- Create a realistic budget: Consider unexpected costs and emergency costs and contingency costs.
3- Effective planning: spend some time with your team to create a realistic work breakdown structure and invest your effort to create logical relationships. That will help in every aspect of the project.
4- Controlling budget over time: You have to control every dollar you spend to know what costs you more and what makes you lose more money with no results.
5- Change management: Consider change management and don’t wait until the cost of solving the problem is more than the cost of the change.
6- Risk management: Studying your project risks and getting ready for them to prevent any over-budgeting problems.
7- Subcontractors and suppliers’ management: You have to control and monitor your subcontractors and suppliers and manage them closely as they are one of the biggest factors that control your project budget.
8- Lessons Learned: Study similar previous projects and their lessons learned and create your lessons learned repository along the project duration to avoid repeating your mistakes.