What is a capacity factored estimate based on?

A capacity factored estimate is derived from the analysis of facilities that have known varying capacities. This method utilizes the relationship between the cost of existing facilities and their operational capacity to develop estimates for new projects or expansions.

When constructing a capacity factored estimate, the emphasis is on understanding how costs scale with capacity. For instance, if you have the cost data from a facility that operates at a certain capacity, you can apply scaling factors to estimate the costs of similar facilities with higher or lower capacities. This is particularly useful in construction and engineering, as it helps in benchmarking and cost control while accounting for the specific parameters of the projects at hand.

The other options are less relevant in the context of capacity factored estimates. The costs of unrelated facilities may not provide meaningful data for adjusting capacity. Estimated labor and material costs are critical in many other estimating methods but do not form the basis of capacity factored estimates. Market trends in construction might influence overall costs, yet they do not specifically address the relationship between capacity and cost in the way that the cost of facilities with known different capacities does.