I continue this blog series to break a decades-long silence in the construction industry -the nine true secrets of successful estimates. SIXTH SECRET The sixth secret is subcontractor quotes. This has components of all the other secrets. A subcontractor quote contains labor, material, equipment, indirect costs and profit, just like any other estimate. It is [...]
I continue this blog series to break a decades-long silence in the construction industry -the nine true secrets of successful estimates. FIFTH SECRET The fifth secret is equipment costs. Equipment rates are dependent upon the project conditions to determine the correct size or capacity of equipment required to perform the work. They are also dependent [...]
May the peace and joy of the holiday season be with you today and always!
I continue this blog series to break a decades-long silence in the construction industry – the nine true secrets of successful estimates. FOURTH SECRET The fourth secret concerns material prices. It is a simple secret, with a potentially complex variable. The secret is material prices go up and down. The complex part is the frequency [...]
I continue this blog series to break a decades-long silence in the construction industry -the nine true secrets of successful estimates. THIRD SECRET The third secret to be revealed is the hourly rate for craft labor. A sub-secret to this is the hourly rate for staff labor and it has similar principals. The labor rate [...]
I continue this blog series to break a decades-long silence in the construction industry – the nine true secrets of successful estimates. SECOND SECRET The second secret is the importance of using labor man-hours in the estimate. Labor hours, whether developed by crew analysis or applied on a unit man-hour basis, form another basic part [...]
The construction industry has a myth going around. The myth is that there is a secret to estimating. Well, the myth is misleading; there are actually nine secrets to estimating! I am about to divulge to you these nine secrets. As a part of this, I am breaking a decades-long, perhaps eons long, silence as [...]
I left Houston in a flurry of snow – two to three inches on my day of departure. One of their earliest snows on record! The trip through Dallas and Fort Worth was notable for the traffic on the roads and for the project signs that had the bid red letters “NOT HIRING”. There were [...]
What is appropriate for catering in lunch for a business meeting? A business meeting can often extend through the lunch hour. When you are required to cater in a business lunch, some common sense should be used in selecting the restaurant. Select somewhere that offers some variety in meal choices, just because you may love [...]
The planned route now has detour to Houston for a project assignment. One extra day of travel, one day of downtime (float) and four days of meetings means a four day delay to the trip completion. The final route home will have a different path than planned. Wow, that sounds very similar to a delay [...]
