ABSTRACT
It is important to distinguish between costs and tender prices; Civil Engineering costs are the costs incurred by a Contractor in the course of his business; Civil Engineering tender prices are the prices for which a Contractor undertakes work. Tender prices will be based on Contractor's costs but will also take into account market considerations such as the availability of labour and materials and the prevailing workload for Civil Engineering Contractors. This can mean that in a period when work is scarce tender prices may fall as costs are rising while when there is plenty of work prices will tend to increase at a faster rate than costs. This section comprises published Civil Engineering cost and tender indices, a constructed Civil Engineering cost index and comparisons of these with building cost and tender indices and with the retail price index.
