Estimating Building Costs

Analyzes the principles, practices, and techniques involved in estimating building costs. This book presents an introduction to the metric system and its applications in quantity measurements in building construction projects. It also offers techniques to estimate job overhead costs, tips for bid preparation, and more.

Companies live or die on the basis of estimating their costs. Preparing estimates and bidding for new jobs is a complex and often costly process. There is no substitute for on the job training -- until now. Drawing on the authors'' combined experience of more than 70 years, Estimating Building Costs presents state-of-the-art principles, practices, and techniques for assessing these expenditures that can be applied regardless of changes in the costs of materials, equipment, and labor. The book is an efficient and practical tool for developing contracts or controlling project costs.

The authors cover the major components of the direct cost: estimating procedures and cost trends related to materials, construction equipment, and skilled and unskilled labor. They describe various types of building estimates encountered during the lifecycle of a project, as well as the role and accuracy of each. The book provides an overview of the industry, cost indexes in use, approaches to preparing a detailed estimate, and an in-depth description of the organization and function of the estimating group. Including CSI Master Format and UniFormat codes, estimating forms, a list of available estimating software packages, a detailed construction site and investigation report, the book provides a cost estimating methodology that readers can tailor to their own organizational needs.