Some essential books for construction estimating

Construction Estimating using Excel

Steven Peterson, MBA,PE, from Weber State University has written this book. This estimating book facilitates construction professional/estimator/engineer to acquire basic fundamental of estimating which involves drawing sets, practical lessons, and instances. This book provides solutions to the newbie as well as experienced estimators to combat with complicated estimating experience and enhanced their skills. 

The book also focuses on gradual estimating procedures, analyzing the art of estimating, the quantity takeoff, how to place costs to the estimate and how to work out the bid. 

Besides, the book also briefly describe how Microsoft Excel can be applied to augment the estimating procedure and as a medium of developing estimating productivity and accuracy efficiently.

Estimating with Microsoft Excel, 3rd Edition

Jay Christofferson has presented this unique book which provides you step-by-step guidance for generating an estimating workbook which will manage your valuable time and help you to find out costly errors.

The book also contains some useful formulas to compute concrete, rebar, labor, permits, taxes, and more, and provides instructions to utilize them in your day-to-day construction project management.

This book also facilitates you to make databases, create formulas, and become experts with shortcuts to reduce laborious & unnecessary steps and monotonous work. The book will be a great help to increase your profit margin.

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Published by Rajib Dey

Content Writer

www.quantity-takeoff.com (An information hub for construction estimating)

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How to estimate the cost of Material

Material Pricing 

The price of the materials is calculated in two different methods :-

        • Lump Sum
It is a process to supply all the Materials in a group. As for instance a steel supplier may propose to provide all of the structural steel, steel Joists and roof deck for an approved price.

        • Unit Price
It is a system provided by the supplier to supply the materials at a price per unit.

A ready mix concrete supplier may recommend to deliver 3000 psi concrete to the project for a price of RM 110 per cubic yard.

Quantity TakeOff 

It is a procedure to find out the required construction quantities. It can be segregated into :-

        • Forecasting of the quantities of work
        • Working out of the prices related to those quantities

Quantity TakeOff Procedures :-

Classification of work item– for instance : Brick wall section or concrete footing.

Estimation of quantity varying from linear, area, volume and unit.

After calculating the material take‐off, estimator can gather brief knowledge on the actual field procedure. Concrete take‐off will commence from volume for footings, grade beams, slabs and slabs for ground floor etc.

Generally quantity quantity take‐off is performed by the application of forms. In order to regulate the worksheets, provide accurately allocated areas in which proper information is to be submitted facilitating follow-up for smooth evaluation.

Pricing Materials

It is a system for allocating a RM value for a work item following a projected specification and prearranged A process quantity needed.

          • After completion of quantifying of materials, the calculation of cost of materials should be started.

          • The pricing of each work item should consist of the individual subcomponents :-

                   Procurement of permanent and temporary materials
                   Labor needed for setting up the materials
                   Equipment necessary for shifting and installing materials
                   Other consumables, eg. Fuel and tools Material costs

• In general, the amount of purchase = the unit price, which is recognized as quantity discount.

Freight cost should be taken into consideration and included in the direct cost of the materials. This is very important if the site location is very distant from nearby suppliers.

Other concerns for material procurement:

           – Quantity discount
           – Interest rate
           – Escalation
           – Holding cost
           – Credit facility
           – Allowance for method of measurement of the bill item

Material Pricing basis

• Resources of pricing information:

            Published resources – Building Cost Indices
            Company Cost records – an in-house record of accurate documenting and compiling company      cost from earlier jobs
            Vendor catalogues and quotations – prices are acquired directly from vendors from catalogues or indirect inquiries.

While Upon assembling prices from vendor, the following points must be taken into consideration:

            Payment requirements – cash, credit, credit term
            Delivery charges
            Lead time, product availability
            Price guarantee
            Quantity discount information
            Price rises clause

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Posted By Rajib Dey
Content Writer
www.quantity-takeoff.com (A well know overseas company for construction estimating)

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Planswift make upgradation to its product by launching newest version i.e.PlanSwift 9.3

Planswift just introduces the latest version of its flagship product i.e. PlanSwift Professional version 9.3.

This newly launched software has included several enhancements toward the requirement of construction industry professionals.

PlanSwift 9.3 is incorporated with your paid annual maintenance program. Annual maintenance empower the users to avail all program updates, upgrades, technical support and get entrance to the plugin store. If any user does not undertake the maintenance plan, then he can upgrade online here - www.planswift.com/takeoff-estimating-software/planswift-upgrade.html

PlanSwift also arrange a free one-hour demonstration with an experienced estimator for their new version.

Some exclusive features of PlanSwift 9.3  : 

• Locks projects with job locking option facilitating users to avoid overwriting the work performed by another users.
• Double click to discontinue recording and begin a new section
• Show Page Scale at top left of page
• Demonstrate Measurement Type at the bottom center of page
• Present unit of measure on digitized items in page list
• Opt for pages from Takeoff Summary devoid of going over to the page list
• With Duplicate Item option the user will be able to generate a replica of the chosen item in the Takeoff Summary and Template sidebars for quick replication of items.

Get more features :-

Download 14 days free trial

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For any kind of construction cost estimating services, please visit us at www.quantity-takeoff.com

Enhance your takeoff, estimating, and proposal management procedures with ProContractorMX™ by Maxwell

Maxwell introduces ProContractorMX™ containing robust and comprehensible features to enhance your takeoff, estimating, and proposal management procedures. ProContractorMX Estimating Construction Project Management Software utilizes the On Premise / Client Server Operating Environment.

ProContractorMX™ provides a complete construction software solution to be applied with the complications of the entire project lifecycle. The users will get solutions under one roof with uninterrupted control and flawless workflow across applications that range from takeoff and estimating through job cost accounting and project management, and finally for critical reporting and analysis.

Newly launched To-Scale Plan Center - An exclusive construction takeoff software

The software is ideal for viewing plans and executing highly detailed on screen takeoffs . No other program facilitates you to work with all of your plans open at once. Easily zoom or pan from one plan to the next saving you time and helping you maintain perspective. Blueprint takeoffs are faster and easier than ever before. Now one can bid more work in less time.

Advantages :

• Faster construction estimating than ever before by taking off from multiple blueprint files on screen at the same time.
• Eliminate your printing bill for estimating, for many contractors these savings will easily pay for the system.
• Share your plans with suppliers, subs, vendors, GCs or anyone else that needs to see them.
• Save time by not waiting on blueprint pages to load or to zoom in or out.

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
rajib@jobs2india.com
Construction Estimating Service

A complete online course for estimating & bidding

A complete course over the internet is being arranged to provide training on construction estimation & bidding.

The course module will involve the followings :-
An Overview of Estimating and Bidding
Planning and Organizing the Estimate
Estimating General Conditions
Estimating Labor and Equipment
Estimating Sitework - Excavation
Estimating Sitework - Utilities and Other Site Amenities
Concrete Estimating - Footings and Foundations, Slab on Grade, Columns, Walls,and
systems
Estimating Masonry Construction

The participants shoud have the following skills :-
Capability to read blue prints
Accustomed to use spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel, Lotus 123, or Quattro Pro
Basic construction knowledge that includes basic math skill, Estimating terminology (quantity take off, unit price, production rate, etc., versed with calculator and
architectural scale

The course will last for 10 week long.

The course fee will vary from $600 for AACE member and $500 for Nonmember

For registration & detailed overview, please visit the following link
https://www.aacei.org/educ/online/courses/DLC105.shtml

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Construction estimating Service

Estimating – Make the First Step of Your Construction Perfect

Whenever you start for preparing a construction project, the first step is the most important always. The success of all projects depends on it. And the major part of the first step of any construction is involved estimating. Estimating is the tool, with which the contractor can win the bid of a project, earn maximum profit and finish the project within time frame and budget.

First of all you have to know what is estimating. Estimating is the calculation of the possible amount of required material, man power, time and cost of a construction project. The professional estimators find out with various up to date software the amount of materials from a depth research of the blue print of the floor plan. Then they calculate the present market price of the materials. The exact number of labor and various other sub contractors finds out by them. Then the daily wages of the labor and sub contractors would be calculate. The proper sequence of work also find out by the estimators not only with the help of the software but also their vast experience in this field.

An accurate estimation helps the architects to win the bid because the proper budget for the project attracts the building owners. But winning the bid is not the only help you get from estimating. You can finish the whole project within the budget. There are many instances of running out of money in the middle phase of the project. This instance is almost rare for a proper estimated project. You can also have the right sequence of work which help you most to appoint the accurate number of labor for any given phase of the project. Due to lack of error, the misuse of fund is also not found in this case. You can draw the higher profit from an estimated project than any other non estimated project. That’s why it is very important to take the first step of your construction projct by applying estimating services of various estimating service providers like Quantity-TakeOff.

Posted BY
Debarati Nath
Content Writer
Construction Estimating Service

Estimating Tips for Earthwork

Estimating the actual cost of performing earthwork requires careful consideration of the variables involved. This includes items such as type of soil, whether water will be encountered, dewatering, whether banks need bracing, disposal of excavated earth, and length of haul to fill or spoil sites, etc.

It is very important to consider what time of year the project is scheduled for completion. Bad weather can create large cost overruns from dewatering, site repair, and lost productivity from cold weather.

Pit Excavation
When figuring the slope areas of pit excavation, remember that the slope areas usually form a right triangle when viewed as a section. Since the area of two right triangles equals the area of one rectangle with equal base and height dimensions, the volume of the slope area will equal the depth of the pit (the height) times the cut back distance of the slope (the base) times half the perimeter of the pit.

Cut and Fill
If a project has a large quantity of cut or fill, consider inquiring whether the site grade can be raised or lowered to economize the earthwork portion of the estimate.

If the project requires a large quantity of fill, consider creating a borrow pit on the site. This can lower the estimate significantly, as the cost for suitable fill material can be quite high in some areas of the country. The borrow pit can also be helpful as a receptacle for on-site spoil or other excavated materials, in this case saving dump charges.

It is important to keep in mind the location and availability of dump sites for spoil while estimating earthwork . Unexpectedly, large cost can accrue if the only site open to receive spoil quite a distance away.

Clearing and Grubbing
Often one of the most expensive parts of clearing and grubbing is the disposal of tree stumps. It is a good idea to know how and where this task can be carried out before completing the estimate.

Site Access
One of the most common mistakes made in site work estimating involves site access. Estimators should visit the site not only to review site conditions, but to trace the route that the general or subcontractors’ equipment will take to get to the site. If the equipment that is to be used on this project cannot get to the site, the estimate may be completely inaccurate.

Sewerage and Drainage
One should not automatically assume that the sewerage and drainage lines will go in at the early stages of the project. It may appear to make sense from a scheduling standpoint, but the inconvenience of having the site divided in half, with open trenches, loose pipe, and restricted access, may ultimately cost more in lost time.

Subsurface Investigations
Many companies, eager to get started on their projects, shortchange the site investigation process. For the relatively short times and small amount of money involved, it is not a good idea to skimp on this important item. The untimely discovery of even one subsurface “abnormality” can be a painful lesson. Investigate the site thoroughly!

Construction estimating process

 Place the paper plans for digitization on the tablet. In the case of working with scanner version scan the plans. In the case of on-screen version, load the image. On-screen programs should work with all file types, including AutoCAD DWG, PDF, and TIFF
 Initiate the Take-Offs program
 Enter the scale units, English or metric
 Enter the scale or compute the scale from the plans by digitizing a recognized distance.
 Select the digitize area, length, perimeter, counts, multiple line segments or sum of line segments
 Digitize the item using the digitizing tablet
 Digitizing can be point to point, or continuous curves.
 Digitized items are put on view on screen while digitizing
 The software estimates the item from the digitized data. Do again for other items.
 Print a report with an image diagram of the digitized data and a table of results.
 If contractors get AutoCAD DWG files, certain programs may enable them to perform a direct CAD import without the need to digitize.
 One can export the take-off result by pressing the excel button to the excel spreadsheet. The report can also be published to DWF file format.

Posted by
Rajib Dey
Business Development
Quantity-takeoff

Global Associates has launched USA Construction / Cost Estimators Directory

Global Associates proudly introduces USA Construction Cost Estimators Directory in their cost estimation website http://www.quantity-takeoff.com/construction-and-cost-estimators-of-america.html. It is valuable opportunity for all the estimators of America to expose themselves to the customers of their region.

This directory is very useful for the customers who want the accurate estimation service as well for the estimators who get a chance to display their name in the directory. Here one gets the list of fifty states of USA. Under every state there are sub sections of the cities. There are lists of name of the respected cities with the name of their companies and contact details. This will surely help all the customers of United State of America to get the contact of all the estimators. There is a map of USA on which clicking on a certain state will take you to the list of cities of the state.

The estimator directory is a free service of quantity-takeoff.com where anyone can find many estimators of any selected region of America. In this website the estimators can also enlist their name and contact details for free of cost to get maximum exposure via online. But this service is exclusive for the American estimators only. Everyday many estimators try to find out high ranking directory but don’t find many. This estimator directory will minimize this problem. By filling up a simple form, they can easily submit their details. Only Construction estimators, Construction cost estimators, Construction project estimators and Building Cost estimators get the chance to enlist their name in this directory. In this way both estimators and customers will be benefited by the estimator directory of quantity-takeoff.com.

For more details please visit: http://www.quantity-takeoff.com/construction-and-cost-estimators-of-america.html

Conceptual Estimating is ideal for project feasibility study

Owing to high number of design constraints and intricacy of construction a system known as conceptual cost estimation (also referred to as predesign cost estimation) has been developed to conceptually estimate the costs for construction industries.

The project team members develop the conceptual estimate during conceptual design stage (generally before the construction drawings and specifications are available) and create a preliminary baseline cost estimate range based on the activities, materials and other sources of expenditure for designing and constructing a specified facility.

A well developed conceptual estimate is based on the study of historical project cost factors and result in forecasting rapid estimates & accurate cost for project feasibility studies, budgeting and financing the finished products, financial evaluation of a number of alternative projects etc..

The system is very useful for construction industries, chemical industries, refinery industries, industrial plants, engineering firms and operating companies as there is a strong requirement to generate precise cost estimates for new plants, major equipment acquisitions or upgrades, large maintenance projects, new buildings, etc.

Conceptual estimating also provides great assistance to the structural engineering sectors as it looks at the performance specifications and footprint of a structure and creates a budget for all of the activities regarding steel in the structure including detailing, fabricating, painting, transporting and erecting.

There are various techniques available for conceptual cost estimation. Regression analysis, simulation, and neural networks are mostly recognized techniques that are used all through the initial project stages.

In regression analysis one can estimate the project cost with a regression model as well as a number of independent variables. Here, cost-conscious models were considered for both regression and neural network modeling. A cost-conscious model seems to a model that fits the data adequately without using any unnecessary parameters.

Rajib Dey
The construction estimating

Earthwork Project Estimating

We offer precise & reliable computerized earthwork analysis and information service combined with unit cost information for surveyors, engineers, contractors and other land developers to perform an on-screen takeoff for cut and fill quantities, existing contours, proposed contours, spot elevations, and any sitework elements found on a set of blueprints using latest in Project Estimating software.

We will create a three-dimensional model of all the materials and procedures for a land development project to insure accuracy for earthwork calculations, stockpile volume calculation, utilities, concrete and asphalt measurement and estimate cost. We will provide a summary that incorporates variables affecting earthwork such as stripping loss, ground subsidence and earth shrinkage.

http://www.quantity-takeoff.com/earthwork-quantity-take-offs.htm

Architectural Project Estimating

We provide model based Project Estimating service from schematic narratives through final construction documents including Construction Estimating & Scheduling for Architects at the concept stage to measure, count, and price best materials & building objects such as walls, doors, and windows, automatically or manually.

We also offer other estimating services like cost modeling, cash flow projection, life cycle costing, change order management, job order costing, best value analysis and hard bid estimates.

Supporting BIM technology we use powerful and efficient object Project Estimating tool like Estimating to assist architect with pre-construction efforts. The quantities are extracted based on object types and their dimensions. Quantity extraction methods are easily customized and are reusable for multiple projects. All quantities and scheduled tasks were represented in production and nothing was overlooked.

With our takeoff services architects can increase the efficiency of the project estimating process, improves communication and coordination between designers, builders and clients. Architects can check, refine & determining the associated materials and labor costs, formulate a bid (or estimate) as part of the bidding process, reduce expensive and time-consuming efforts to redesign projects to meet budget demands.

We also provide standard and customized Project Estimating Reports filled out in MS Excel spreadsheet for construction projects. Each managed quantity group can be assigned a distinctive color code for its 3D objects pasted into MS Excel for easy tracking and identifying objects associated with the quantities. These color codes help architects to identify, visually and clearly, what objects are used to generate the quantities. Architects can also get an estimation of cost to construct a residential building or a commercial building. The final estimation for constructing a property can be reached on the basis of this report.

http://www.quantity-takeoff.com/architectural-quantity-take-off.htm