Estimating Building Costs for the Residential & Light Commercial Construction Professional

How to succeed in the construction business—step-by-step guidelines for estimating

To be competitive, contractors and homebuilders need to know how to generate complete, accurate estimates for labor and material costs. This book guides readers through the entire estimating process, explaining in detail how to put together a reliable estimate that can be used not only for budgeting, but also for developing a schedule, managing a project, dealing with contingencies, and ultimately making a profit.

Completely revised and updated to reflect the new CSI MasterFormat 2010TM system, the Second Edition of this practical guide describes estimating techniques for each building system and how to apply them according to the latest industry standards. Cost considerations and quantity takeoff and pricing are included for virtually every type of work found in residential and light commercial projects, from demolition, concrete, and masonry to windows and doors, siding, roofing, mechanical and electrical systems, finish work, and site construction.

Complete with many new graphics and references to professional construction cost databases, the new edition provides experienced contractors and novices alike with essential information on:

• How to correctly interpret plans and specifications, reflecting updates to contract documents since the first edition

• Computer estimating techniques and new estimating software for performing quantity takeoff

• The best methods for conceptual estimating as well as the extremely useful topic of parametric estimating

• How to allocate the right amounts for profit and contingencies, and other hard-to-find professional guidance

• How a unit price estimate is built along with labor issues and budgeting for subcontractor work

Wayne J. Del Pico is President of W.J. Del Pico, Inc., where he provides construction management, litigation support services for construction-related matters, and construction education. He has more than thirty years of experience in construction project management and estimating and has been involved in projects throughout the United States. Mr. Del Pico is a frequent seminar presenter for RSMeans as well as other public and private clients. He is the author of Builder's Essentials: Plan Reading and Material Takeoff and coauthor of The Practice of Cost Segregation Analysis: Maximizing Tax Benefits for Building Acquisitions and Construction.