There are several levels of market pricing in the construction industry today. These markets generally are the open competitive bid, invited competitive bid, competitive negotiated, sole source negotiated and specialty bid market. These markets may involve firm price or cost reimbursable terms. The least expensive market for owners today is in the open competitive bid [...]
I was working on a project recently. When doing the review there was a note that was on the civil drawings – about work that the electrical contractor was supposed to perform. There was no symbol on the civil drawing just a note and there was no reference to the work on the electrical drawings. [...]
I was talking to an estimator and he said he had to train his new estimators how to use a scale and roller! It seems they only had a paper copy of the drawings instead of on-screen take-off. With the advent of new technology, what do you think will be the next thing that will [...]
A few of our contractor clients have seen an upswing in their markets. Yes, they are in specialty areas. However even specialty areas were, or are, depressed as much as the overall construction market. This upswing is both good and bad news for them. While it is good news for my firm, it is a [...]
This is not a blanket indictment of construction managers or construction management firms. Sadly it is an indication of the problems that will be found in our industry when less than reputable companies engage in providing construction services of any type. A while ago we encountered a construction management firm that, politely put, was taking [...]
When bidding on a project the estimator has to keep in mind how the project will be constructed. It ranges from the staff qualifications to the selection of equipment on the project. It involves determining the methods to be used and the capabilities of the labor force. It is good to keep in mind who [...]
A fellow estimator and I were discussing the sorry state of bidding the other day. It seems his firm bid a project to a prime contractor to supply the fabricated steel on the project. They were not low bidder. It turns out they were in third place by about seven or eight percent. Not too [...]
Contractors spend time, resources and money to estimate projects of every size and complexity. A contractor will approach every estimate differently depending on if it is for a budget, hard bid, GMP, design build or negotiated. Usually the hard bid estimates will take the most time, resources and money to prepare. Recently I have been [...]
On a previous blog about Construction Managers that rely upon subcontractors for pricing, an engineer wrote in about his estimate preparation methodology. This made me think about the methodology behind many an estimating engineer. There are some “good indicators” such as historical costs and quotes on equipment mentioned. But there is a significant “bad indicator” [...]
Six estimators, from different companies and backgrounds went to lunch the other day. No, this isn’t the set up for a joke. We discussed the sorry state of the pricing in the construction market. It seems that everyone one of us agreed on one subject. The subject was, “Just what are the estimator’s job duties [...]
