Problems of assessing the duration and cost of restoration projects on the example of Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania

Abstract

The restoration of existing structures, especially historical ones, is a complicated endeavour. The often insufficient identification of the extant state of a building, the possibility of archaeological findings and the necessary procedures involving the securing and conservation of historical substance lead to difficulties in assessing the duration and cost of a planned project. The goal of the article is the presentation of the results of a study focusing on these assessments. Surveys were carried out among a group of developers, designers and contractors from Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia – all of whom had experience in the restoration of historical structures. The analysis of the results pointed to a low accuracy of the assessment of the cost of construction of these types of projects. The respondents expressed the need to take into account additional costs of the carrying out of these types of projects. The respondents highlighted the need to take into account additional costs of the performing of additional and substitute work as a result of considering different scenarios of the construction of restoration projects.