Comparative analysis of cost estimates of major public investment projects

This paper reports findings from a study of cost estimates of 31 major public investment projects in Norway. It is aimed at analysing the development of cost estimates before the decision to execute the projects and in what way the scheme of mandatory quality assurance influences this process. Two important results are highlighted and discussed: The differences in the proposed cost estimates appear to have decreased systematically since the introduction of the quality assurance and the project owners rely to a large extent directly upon the cost estimates from the quality assurance when the decision to execute the project is taken.