Estimating Building Costs: For Residential and Light Commercial Contractor (RSMeans)

Every contractor has a unique system for putting a bid together. But when you submit a price, you must be prepared to back it up with a reliable estimate. Estimating Building Costs gives you a step-by-step process for organizing all the information you need to assemble an estimate you can rely on. You’ll be competitive and know that you’ll make a worthwhile profit. Follow these methods and you’ll create well-organized, complete estimates by:

• Correctly interpreting plans and specifications
• Developing accurate and complete labor and material costs
• Understanding direct and indirect overhead costs and accounting for time-sensitive costs
• Using historical cost data to generate new project budgets

The book includes a detailed look at every construction specialty –  explaining all the components, take-off units, and labor hours –  for site work, concrete and masonry, framing, roofing, siding, and finish work. Plus, you'll get data on HVAC, plumbing and electrical, and special construction and hard-to-find professional guidance on what to consider so you can allocate the right amount for profit and contingencies.

p>About the Author
Wayne J. Del Pico is President of W.J. Del Pico, Inc. where he provides construction management and litigation support services for construction related matters. He has more than 33 years of experience in construction project management and estimating and has been involved in projects throughout most of the United States.  His professional experience includes; private commercial construction, public construction, retail construction, and residential land development and construction.
Mr. Del Pico holds a degree in civil engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, where he taught construction related curriculum in Cost Estimating, Project Management, and Project Scheduling from 1992 until 2006. He is also a member of the adjunct faculty at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston where he presently teaches programs in Construction Cost Analysis, Estimating, Project Control, and Construction Scheduling.
Mr. Del Pico is a seminar presenter for the R.S. Means Company where he lectures on topics from estimating to scheduling. He is the author of Plan Reading and Material Takeoff (1994) and Estimating Building Costs (2004 and 2012) and is a co-author of The Practice of Cost Segregation Analysis (2005).
His construction experience and knowledge of the industry has qualified him to be the past-President of the Builders Association of Greater Boston (2010). He is also a practicing Neutral for the American Arbitration Association where he hears construction related arbitration cases.