ICD 705 Planning and Budget

The ICD 705 Planning and Budgeting course provides a working understanding of the preliminary planning activities and cost considerations that shape a successful SCIF project, including the concrete cost ranges that distinguish secure construction from typical commercial work. This course is designed for individuals who participate in the early stages of secure facility projects and need to understand how planning decisions and budget assumptions carry through the entire project lifecycle. Students will gain familiarity with the distinction between CSA sponsorship (which authorizes an organization to handle SCI) and Concept Approval (which authorizes a specific project to be built), the different sponsorship mechanisms for defense contractors (DD-254) versus military units (command-level designation), and the Concept Approval submission package required by the CSA. The course covers conceptual design considerations (stakeholder alignment, security-in-depth positioning, visitor flow, utility routing, and penetration planning), the cost drivers that make SCIF construction 15 to 30 percent slower and significantly more expensive than commercial work (cleared labor, escort operations, document control, TEMPEST mitigations, red/black separation, compartmented area complexity), and concrete cost ranges using Southern California as a reference (approximately $700 to $1,200 per square foot for new ground-up construction, $600 to $1,100 for renovation, $700 to $1,000 for modular). It also addresses the AO review periods that need to be built into any realistic timeline and the 10 to 20 percent contingency that should be reserved for security-driven rework. By the end of the course, participants will be better prepared to draft a credible Concept Approval, develop realistic planning assumptions, produce a concept budget that accounts for the elements unique to SCIF construction, and avoid the common mistake of using commercial benchmarking data to estimate a SCIF.