Rule of thumb for doc time based on development time?

["Faith Weber - ESC" <faithw -at- esystem -dot- com>]

Hi all,

Have you ever worked with any rules of thumb for estimating
documentation time for a project based on the estimated development
time? If so, what were they? How well did they work for you?

This is intended only for a broad estimate to be done before all of the
project details are in place. 

The documentation involved would be task-based, and probably paper/PDF.
It is for a complex product involving more than a dozen interrelated
applications.

BTW, it's not clear to me yet whether it's possible to do a reliable
estimate on this basis without additional information. But I've been
asked to provide a metric along these lines (by someone who has sensible
reasons for asking), so I'm just trying to find out as much as possible
before responding.

In addition to any feedback you may have, I plan to obtain some data
from past projects to see if a pattern emerges. 

Thanks!
Faith Weber
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