Predicting Construction Costs in Volatile Markets: Lessons from Recent Disasters

In response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) moved quickly to help Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgins Island rebuild and recover by distributing aid to smaller local government agencies and nonprofits. But like all publicly-funded agencies, FEMA is expected to practice financial responsibility.

In accordance with section 428 of the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013, one alternative procedure FEMA adopted to expedite providing aid to the islands was a change in how they distributed grants. Rather than issuing grants for particular projects, FEMA granted organizations sums of money to use as they needed. This arrangement gives more freedom to the grantee, but along with that freedom comes increased risk. To help lower that risk, FEMA contacted Gordian about adding localized construction cost data for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to the RSMeans database.

This webinar delves into Gordian’s experience developing high-resolution cost data specifically for the post-disaster environments of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Watch this on demand webinar to learn:

• The challenges of volatile, post-disaster construction environments and how those challenges apply to other dynamic markets
• Gordian’s industry-leading process for cost research and engineering.
• How FEMA’s estimating challenges apply to the Department of Defense (DoD).