Real costs. Feasible scenarios. Minimal risk.
Three ideas govern how we work. They are simple to say and difficult to practice, because each one requires telling an owner something they may not want to hear at a moment when it is still useful.
How a project moves through our office
Not every engagement includes every step. But when we are retained early, this is the sequence.
Feasibility and due diligence
Before design money is spent, we test whether the project can be built at a cost the deal can carry. That means walking the site, reading the geotechnical report, checking haul routes and import and export balance, identifying the agencies with jurisdiction, and pricing the infrastructure the site will demand. The deliverable is a defensible order of magnitude budget and a written list of the assumptions it depends on.
Conceptual and schematic budgeting
As a concept becomes a schematic design, we produce the first real budget. We recommend estimates at three design milestones: schematic design, design development, and bid documents. Three estimates against a moving design is how you catch scope creep while it is still a line item rather than a change order.
Constructability and constraints review
We read the drawings the way a bidding contractor will read them, looking for what is missing, inconsistent, or physically impossible to sequence. Most change orders originate in a lack of information, inaccurate information, or contradictory information. Finding those gaps in review costs a fraction of what finding them in the field costs.
Bid quality estimating
We take detailed quantity takeoffs from the documents rather than applying a template. Pricing is built against the geologic setting, the specific requirements of the governing agencies, current local material costs, and the actual availability of qualified subcontractors in that market. The objective is the true cost to complete, not the number a hungry bidder might submit.
Bidding, procurement, and award
We prepare bid packages, structure scope so that bids are genuinely comparable, run the bidder outreach, level the proposals, and advise on award. A low bid with a scope gap is not a low bid, and we identify the gap before the contract is signed.
Construction management and cost control
During construction we manage submittals and RFIs, verify progress against actual installed quantities, review pay applications, negotiate change orders against the contract documents, and hold the contractor to the accepted schedule. Owners receive a written monthly activity and evaluation report they can put in front of a board, a lender, or a partner.
Closeout and exoneration
Punch list completion, final quantity reconciliation, warranty and O and M turnover, lien release verification, agency acceptance, and bond exoneration. Closeout is where projects quietly lose money, so we treat it as a phase rather than an afterthought.
Why our numbers hold at bid
A budget is only useful if it survives contact with the market. Most do not, and the reasons are consistent.
Template budgets carry unit costs from a different site, a different agency, and often a different year. Square foot benchmarks hide the earthwork, which on Southern California hillside and infill projects is frequently the single largest variable. And most estimates price what the drawings show while ignoring what the drawings imply.
We work the other direction. We start with the physical conditions, quantify from the documents, price against the local subcontractor market, and then state in writing what the estimate excludes.
Most change orders come from a lack of information, inaccurate information, or inconsistent information. All three are visible in review if someone is looking.
What goes into a Kruer estimate
- Geotechnical conditions, rippability, and material suitability
- Cut and fill balance, import and export volume, and haul distance
- Existing and relocated wet and dry utilities
- Agency specific requirements, permit conditions, and inspection regimes
- Storm water, environmental mitigation, and habitat constraints
- Site access, staging area, and traffic control requirements
- Current local labor rates and prevailing wage exposure
- Real subcontractor availability in that submarket
- Escalation across the actual construction window
- A written statement of inclusions, exclusions, and assumptions
What you receive from us
Documentation that is useful to the people who have to make decisions with it.
Written estimates with assumptions stated
Every estimate is delivered with a clear scope narrative, a list of exclusions, and the assumptions that would change the number if they proved false.
Monthly activity and evaluation reports
Cost to date against budget, schedule status against baseline, open issues, pending changes, and a candid assessment of where the project is heading.
Change order analysis
Each request evaluated against the contract documents for entitlement, quantity, pricing, and time impact before any recommendation to approve.
Schedule updates and impact analysis
Monthly schedule review with critical path narrative, plus time impact analysis when events threaten the completion date.
Constructability review logs
Comment logs tied to drawing sheets and specification sections, with recommended resolutions and a record of designer response.
Closeout documentation
Final quantity reconciliation, warranty packages, as built verification, lien release tracking, and bond exoneration support.
How we work with your team
Do you replace our architect or engineer?
No. We work alongside the design team. Our role is to represent the owner's cost, schedule, and buildability interests while the designers pursue the program and aesthetic goals. Good projects need both perspectives in the room.
Will you take over managing our existing contractor?
Frequently, yes. We are often retained mid project when an owner needs someone to enforce the contract, verify what has actually been installed, and evaluate pending changes. We can step into an active job and produce a current, accurate cost and schedule position within a few weeks.
How do you handle disagreements with a contractor?
By returning to the contract documents. Entitlement comes first, then quantity, then price, then time. A disciplined, documented process resolves most disputes without escalation and produces a record that holds up if escalation becomes necessary.
Can you work as part of a design-build or CM at-risk team?
Yes. We support owners under every common delivery method, including design-bid-build, design-build, CM at-risk, and integrated project delivery. The delivery method changes where the risk sits, not whether it needs to be managed.
Put this process to work on your project
The earlier we are involved, the more of it we can influence. Send us the concept and the constraint that worries you.
Send us the project
Tell us the site, the scope, and the deadline. Initial consultations carry no fee and no obligation.