Webinar – The reality check: benchmarking for increased cost confidence

According to the Iron Law of Project Management⁽¹⁾, only 0.5% of so-called ‘megaprojects’ are delivered on time, on budget, and with the expected benefits. While this surprising figure comes from tracking the world’s biggest infrastructure and construction ventures, the underlying issues – including inaccurate forecasts, optimism bias and weak early-stage estimates – can affect projects of all sizes.

Cost consultants and quantity surveyors have likely experienced the impact firsthand: shifting baselines, reworked cost plans and frustrated clients. How do we turn this around?

Join us for a practical webinar focused on benchmarking, a powerful, underused technique that compares estimates to real-world data from completed projects. We’ll show you how it provides a much-needed reality check and improves forecasting accuracy by grounding predictions in evidence rather than speculation.

What we’ll cover:

• Why benchmarking is undertaken
• Six key principles of benchmarking
• Anecdotal examples
• Benchmarking and optimism bias
• Does AI have a place in benchmarking?

Whatever the size of your projects, this session will equip you with insights and tools to improve outcomes, and build greater confidence in your estimates.

More guidance can be found on our website, including insights on six principles of benchmarking in construction and six reasons to benchmark in construction.

The webinar

The polls

You can access the poll results here.

The Q&A

You can access the Q&A here.

The slides

You can access the slides here.

^{(1) The Oxford Handbook of Megaproject Management, Bent Flyvbjerg (ed.)}