Minalcon expertise are members of AACEI - Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering, who defines total cost management as "the effective application of professional and technical expertise to plan and control resources, costs, profitability and risk".

Cost Engineering

The AACE (Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering) International Constitution and Bylaws defines cost engineering and total cost management as follows:

Section 2. The Association is dedicated to the tenets of furthering the concepts of total cost management and cost engineering. Total cost management is the effective application of professional and technical expertise to plan and control resources, costs, profitability and risk. Simply stated, it is a systematic approach to managing cost throughout the life cycle of any enterprise, program, facility, project, product, or service. This is accomplished through the application of cost engineering and cost management principles, proven methodologies, and the latest technology in support of the management process.

Section 3. Total cost management is that area of engineering practice where engineering judgment and experience are used in the application of scientific principles and techniques to problems of business and program planning; cost estimating; economic and financial analysis; cost engineering; program and project management; planning and scheduling; cost and schedule performance measurement, and change control. No significant asset has ever been built without dealing with these cost dimensions in some way, and the more systematically and professionally these dimensions are addressed, the more successful the asset performance is likely to be. Therefore, cost engineering recognizes that cost is a necessary extension of traditional engineering (and other creative functions such as systems analysis, etc.), and that there is an intimate connection between the physical and cost dimensions of the asset.