{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/define-the-estimate-object-before-estimating-it",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0621",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Define the estimate object before estimating it",
  "summary": "An estimate without an object is confidence attached to fog.",
  "kind": "template",
  "body": "Write what is being estimated: deliverable, completion criterion, included work, explicit exclusions and the date or cost dimension. Keep this scope snapshot beside the estimate so later changes are visible rather than mistaken for bad arithmetic.",
  "limits": [
    "Do not use scope wording to hide necessary work; exclusions still need an owner or a separate estimate."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-project-estimation-and-delivery-realism"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-B3FC6B5B65061AB3"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "IPA cost-estimating guidance recommends documenting assumptions and representing uncertainty with reasonably optimistic, most-likely and reasonably pessimistic positions where appropriate.",
      "source_id": "RS-B3FC6B5B65061AB3",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Three-point estimates are inputs to judgment or modelling, not proof of a probability distribution.",
      "locator": "Estimate ranges and assumptions"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A number is requested before scope, completion state or exclusions are explicit."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Do not use scope wording to hide necessary work; exclusions still need an owner or a separate estimate."
  ],
  "example": "'Three days' becomes 'three working days of consultant effort to prepare and validate the file; business approval and production import excluded.'",
  "check": "Another person can tell exactly what the estimate does and does not cover.",
  "template": "Estimate for: [deliverable]. Done means: [criterion]. Includes: [scope]. Excludes: [scope]. Metric: [elapsed time / effort / cost].",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-B3FC6B5B65061AB3",
      "title": "Cost Estimating Guidance",
      "url": "https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-estimating-guidance/cost-estimating-guidance"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0621",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0629",
      "type": "use_before",
      "url": "/knowledge/pin-the-scope-snapshot-to-every-material-forecast"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-3C67E080415E2677",
      "title": "Estimate the delivery system, not only the hands-on work",
      "url": "/collections/estimate-the-delivery-system-not-only-the-hands-on-work"
    }
  ]
}