Teaching Mechanical Construction Estimating: Information for Course Development

Introduction

For the past two years, the Department of Building Construction and Contracting at Purdue University has been in the early stages of creating a Mechanical Construction Management Option program. The Building Construction department, always an advocate of collecting industry advice and support towards the establishment of new educational programs, established an ad hoc mechanical advisory council. Since its inception, several advisory meetings between the mechanical contractors and the Building Construction Department have been held to determine industry needs, departmental needs and educational goals, and the future direction of the program.

Through these meetings, the advisory council determined that the mechanical option program should contain a course in mechanical construction estimating. In addition, the mechanical construction estimating course should include the use of a computerized estimating system specific to the mechanical construction industry. Advisory council mechanical contractors were adamant in their belief that a student should be taught estimating specific to mechanical construction. They felt strongly that the completion of courses in general construction estimating alone were not sufficient for the graduate who accepts employment with a mechanical contractor. As a result, all parties agreed that mechanical contractor information regarding computer estimating usage should be collected. Therefore, from November 1993 to February 1994, a survey was conducted by Purdue's Building Construction department to provide useful information in developing the course. Fifty Indiana mechanical contractors of various annual volumes were surveyed to collect information relative to estimating and to potential graduate placement. For reference, the survey instrument can be found in Appendix 1. The primary intent of the survey, relative to mechanical construction estimating, was to identify the following:

-Industry and educational needs

-Importance of computer estimating skills for new college graduates

-The profile of the mechanical contractor using computerized estimating

As a note, this survey instrument additionally contained several questions regarding summer internships and graduate placement. This paper does not address these issues as they are not directly related to the development of an estimating course in mechanical construction.

The Study

Presented here are the results of the study.

What is the profile of the mechanical contractors who were surveyed?

The profile of the fifty mechanical contractors surveyed covers the entire spectrum from very small to very large. The contractors were found to have annual volumes which ranged from one million to over 100 million dollars. The majority of the mechanical contractors surveyed are members of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Indiana (MCAI).

The survey instrument requested information regarding the annual volume of the contractor to determine if estimating methods and needs varied between smaller and larger contractors. Their responses are displayed by contractor annual volume and number of contractors in Figure 1. Ninety percent of the responding contractors had volumes of 50 million or less. One contractor, due to privacy concerns, demurred to provide information regarding annual volume.

The number of larger contractors as related to the number of smaller contractors, as presented in Figure 1, was discussed with Mr. Roger D. Beesley, the Executive Vice President of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Indiana. Mr. Beesley's comment was "these percentages by size appear to be a typical cross section of the mechanical contractors in the Midwest. There are many small contractors and a few large contractors, just as one would expect."

Information regarding the number of years that the responding contractors have been in business was collected to determine if contractor age affects or is related to computer estimating usage. Figure 2 exhibits a range in ages. The range in ages of responding contractors is approximately 1 year to over 50 years old. Eighty eight percent of the 50 businesses who responded are 6 years old or older. Figure 2 indicates a fairly equal distribution of businesses in each age category.

Do mechanical contractors use computerized estimating?

Computers today are an accepted tool for mechanical construction companies. In the early 1970's, most contractors initially used mainframe computers for the purposes of data processing and bookkeeping. During the mid-to-late 1970's, the construction market and the national economy experienced drastic change. Operating costs soared and the number of competitors grew. To adapt to these changes, contractors were forced to become more cognizant of labor and material costs, and to find methods to track and control them. In the 19801Es, contractors began to use personal computers for frontline functions such as project management and estimating to gain more control of their project costs. This new application of the computer helped contractors to streamline their businesses and maintain their market share.

To continue to meet new challenges head-on, many contractors are improving their efficiency at the onset of a project by utilizing computer estimating systems. Computer estimating systems not only improve estimating efficiency, they improve material ordering, field labor scheduling, and trade coordination.

To incorporate contractors' current utilization of computerized estimating, information was collected and evaluated from local Indiana mechanical contractors. Sixty six percent of the responding contractors use some form of computerized estimating system. Figure 3 represents the responses received from contractors by various annual volumes regarding their usage of computerized estimation.

As indicated in Figure 3, contractors surveyed with a volume of greater than 5 million maintain a much higher percentage of computer estimating usage than those with a volume of less than 5 million. Only 45 percent of those contractors surveyed who have an annual sales volume of less than 5 million maintain usage of some form of computerized estimating. From this data, it appears that the higher a contractor's volume, the more likely the contractor is to use computerized estimating. 100 percent of the contractors surveyed with an annual volume in excess of 20 million use some form of computerized estimating.

The contractor age ranges collected and illustrated in Figure 2 were drawn upon to assist in answering questions such as, "Do younger companies or older companies tend to use computer estimating?" Figure 4 displays which age ranges use computer estimating. In Figure 4, the contractors surveyed who most use (89 percent usage) computer estimating are in the 6 to 10 year old range, while the contractors in the less than 6 years old range appear to be the least likely (17 percent usage) to use computer estimating. Stated differently, 83% of the companies less than 6 years old do not use computer estimating. A possible assumption regarding the younger companies is that they are yet to establish themselves financially and may be unable to make the major capital investment required to acquire a computer estimating system.

A further observation from Figure 4 includes noting that the percentage of non-users (other than those companies less than 6 years old) increases as the age of the companies increases. Although computerized estimating systems have been in use in some form since the late 1960's, not all contractors have chosen to use them; and many of those who have chosen to use them only started recently. It would be interesting to learn the reasons for non-usage, however, the answer is beyond the scope of this survey.

How long have mechanical contractors been using computer estimating?

In reviewing the information provided by Figure 5, one can see that although various forms of computerized estimating systems have existed lb for more than 25 years, the majority (the author &E additional analysis of the data found 70%) of the users have used their present computerized estimating systems for less than 6 years. This figure includes those companies who have replaced their archaic systems with newer, more advanced systems, and those companies who have acquired their first systems. Based on this statistic, such newness would seem to warrant educational support by academia to provide graduates who are able to conduct computerized mechanical estimation.

Which computer estimating systems do mechanical contractors use?

The number of computer estimating systems available today seems infinite. The trade journals of the mechanical construction industry are peppered with advertisements from vendors offering a new, exciting, and cost-effective way to estimate mechanical construction work. To a new contractor or a contractor unfamiliar with computerized estimating, this sea of choices must appear confusing. In addition to the heavily advertised packaged vendor systems, many contractors over the years have created their own personalized systems. When surveyed, the responding contractors were asked to name the brand of computer estimating systems their companies currently use. The results are illustrated by contractor annual volume in Figure 6.

Two major brands, QuickPen and Estimation, are used by nearly 73 percent of the contractors surveyed. This fact came as no surprise to the authors as QuickPen and Estimation are seasoned professional corporations who provide quality systems and retain major advertising budgets, and who have extended aggressive sales efforts to members of mechanical trade organizations in the past decade. Responses from the remaining 27 percent, in the Other category, contained many personalized systems of non-familiar brands, and an occasional mention of known brands such as MCI and WinEst. A noticeable pattern is that apparently the larger the contractor is, the more likely the contractor is to use the QuickPen system, and the smaller a contractor is, the more likely the contractor is to use the Estimation system. According to Mr. Stephen Churchill of Estimation, Inc., "This is likely because in the early-to-mid 1980's, QuickPen made

a major sales concentration towards capturing the market of the top 100 contractors in the country. The Estimation marketing effort in past years has been directed toward the more numerous smaller companies. Our system requires a much smaller capital investment than QuickPen and therefore has greater appeal to smaller companies with smaller budgets." Mr. Churchill reports that "due to major software developments, such as the Estimation system's compatibility with Microsoft Windows, Estimation has recently made great strides in capturing a larger share of the big contractor market."

Do mechanical contractors use digitizers with their computer estimating systems?

Most of the computer estimating systems used in the late 1970's and early 1980's required the manual input of all takeoff quantities. After manual data input, the old systems would collect the appropriate material and labor units from the data base, calculate automatic by-products, and then extend labor and material items to produce subtotals and totals. The data input function of the old systems was slow and tedious for even the quickest estimators. Performing any type of material substitution analysis or labor unit comparisons prior to bid time was difficult, time consuming, and often required all data to be re-entered for each analysis.

To overcome the tedious takeoff and entering of quantities, rapid electronic takeoff means were developed. Most of the newer, more advanced computerized estimating systems of the late 1980's and early 1990's, such as Estimation and QuickPen, provide for the electronic takeoff of materials by using a digitizer board and pen. In addition, most of the newer systems allow the estimator to choose between manual or electronic quantity input. Even the most open-minded, experienced estimator might not initially trust the digitizer pen for input, so providing the option to work both ways allows flexibility.

Most estimators who have experienced both the manual and digitizer methods of quantity takeoff typically find that the digitizer method is a great saver of time and aggravation. Mr. Robert Snodderley, Chief Estimator for. the Ed Grace Company, a 10 million dollar per year, Lafayette, Indiana, mechanical contractor, states, "I'm 50 years old and have been estimating for 27 years. As with the Xerox and the FAX machines, I can't imagine manually taking off a large project since we acquired our QuickPen system and digitizer. Mechanical estimation involves the quantification of many intricate parts and is time consuming. The digitizer saves me 20%30% of the normal estimating time involved."

Like any saver of time, there is the drawback of initial cost. The option of adding a digitizer to a computer estimating system can cost as much as $1500 to $3000 for hardware alone.

Of me contractors surveyed who use a computerized estimating system, 70 percent use a digitizer for quantity takeoff, and 3 percent plan to use a digitizer in the near future. Figure 7 exhibits by contractor annual volume the percentage of mechanical contractors who use digitizers with their present computer estimating system.

It is apparent that most of the contractors surveyed find it beneficial to use a digitizer with their system. However, it is unknown how many who do not have digitizers with their systems would use one if it were available.

To what extent do contractors use their computer estimating systems?

Although the computer is used for a substantial amount of estimating work by the contractors surveyed, 25 percent of the estimating work is still completed manually. The data shows that nearly 73 percent of the contractors who use a computer estimating system use it to complete 75 percent or more of their total estimating work. Figure 8 displays a percentage breakdown of the total responses to Question 5 regarding estimating work utilizing the computer.

Should manual estimating be taught before computer estimating?

With the majority of the surveyed contractors using computer estimating systems for the majority of their estimating work, it would appear that emphasis on computer skills for an estimating employee should be the strongest. However, the data collected and illustrated in Figure 9 indicates that the importance of learning manual estimation skills is also felt strongly by those same contractors.

Thirty three of forty two contractors (79%) who responded to the importance of manual skills education felt strongly that an employee should be required to learn manual estimation before learning to estimate with the computer. Only 17 percent felt strongly that it was not necessary for an employee to learn manual estimating skills first. Five percent did not feel strongly committed either way, and 8 of 50 contractors did not respond.

Is it important to teach computer estimating specific to mechanical construction?

How would you rate the overall value of computer estimating specific to mechanical construction as a necessary skill for a newly hired college graduate? This question was asked of the 50 mechanical contractors to determine the importance of a computer estimating course specific to mechanical construction in a mechanical construction option curriculum. The contractors were asked to rate the importance on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not useful, and 10 being mandatory. Figure 10 illustrates the responses to this question of overall value from both users and non-users of computer estimating.

Figure 11 displays the mean of the information from Figure 10.

The responses to the question regarding the overall value of computer estimating specific to mechanical construction as a necessary skill fog newly hired college graduates, from both uses and non-user contractors, were surprising. I the authors had been asked to speculate before receiving the survey results, a strong Mandatory (computer estimating skills specific to mechanical construction is important) response from the users of computerized estimating, an a strong Not Useful (computer estimating skill; specific to mechanical construction is not important) response from the non-users of computerized estimating would have been expected. However, a weaker Mandatory response from users, and a stronger Mandatory response from non-users was received.

Strong Mandatory responses to the value of computer estimating skills from non-user contractors, as well as from user contractors, would tend to indicate that the majority of the contractors surveyed have a high opinion of the importance and necessity of computer estimating skills for a newly-hired college graduate. One speculation regarding the strong Mandatory responses from the non-users is that perhaps the non-users (34% of those surveyed) will someday wish to use computer estimating, and will seek graduates educated in computer estimating specific to mechanical construction. Regardless of the non-user reasons for valuing computer estimating, both the users' and non-users' responses reflect positively towards the importance and necessity for computerized estimating specific to mechanical construction within a mechanical construction curriculum.

Conclusion

From this study, several valuable pieces of information have been acquired which will assist in the development of estimating courses in mechanical option programs. The following significant statements may be generally concluded from this study:

- Both non-users and users feel strongly about the importance of graduates who are knowledgeable about manual estimation as well as computer estimation

-  66% of Indiana mechanical contractors surveyed use some form of computer estimating

-  73 % of the users surveyed use QuickPen or Estimation 70% of the users surveyed use a digitizer with their computer estimating system

-  70% of the users surveyed have used their system for less than 6 years

-  83% of the contractors surveyed who are less than 6 years old are not users

-  55% of the contractors surveyed with an annual volume of less than 6 million are not users

Although additional study and development are required, the initial direction and content of estimating courses in mechanical option programs can be determined by the above conclusions.

The following statements should be used as guidelines for initial course development:

Students should be taught manual estimating prior to computer estimating.

Most contractors surveyed felt strongly that a graduate learn the fundamentals of estimating for mechanical construction by first learning manual estimating. Among the reasons for their belief lies the fact that projects must still be estimated even if the computer stops working.

Students should be taught computerized estimating for mechanical construction.

Most Indiana mechanical contractors surveyed use some form of computerized estimating, and they felt strongly that a graduate possess computerized estimating skills for the mechanical construction industry. Therefore, graduates pursuing work with mechanical contractors should be literate in the area of computerized estimating specific to mechanical construction.

The computerized estimating portion of the mechanical option course should be taught using an industry standard system such as QuickPen or Estimation with a digitizer board and pen.

Most contractors surveyed presently use a QuickPen or Estimation system. Therefore, if financially feasible to the university, the computerized estimating systems and hardware used in mechanical construction courses should replicate what industry is using. Graduates possessing computerized estimating skills specific to mechanical construction will be in increasingly greater demand. It is evident that

most of the contractor users surveyed were new users with much to learn about their systems. It is probable that several smaller and younger mechanical construction companies who will survive and grow older are likely to acquire computer estimating systems. Educators must respond to this growth by ensuring that manual and computerized estimating skills specific to mechanical construction, with industry's widely-used systems, be provided in the curriculum.

References

Adcox, J. W., Jr., (1993). Construction advisory committee by the year 2000.Proceedings of the 29th Annual Conference of the Associated Schools of Construction. pp. 7-11.

Chick, D. (1992, July 7). Changing role of the estimator. Cost Engineering. pp. 23-25.

Seltz, A. (1989, July 6). Mouse driven program redefines estimating. ENR. p. 37.

Matthewson, C. (1990). The influence of computers on estimating and bidding. Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference of the Associated Schools of Construction. pp. 101-106.

Mezick, D. (1993, October). Pen computing catches on. Byte. pp. 105-106.

Wallace, G. M., Killingsworth, R., Cooper, T. E., & Love, T. A. (1990). The use of CADD interactive software in an advanced estimating course. Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference of the Associated Schools of Construction. pp. 35-40.

Ward, J. R., & Schultz, D. (1993, January). Digitizer renaissance. Byte. p. 251. Interview with Stephen K. Churchill, Field Training Representative for Estimation, Inc., September 23, 1994.

Interview with Roger D. Beesley, Executive Vice President for the Mechanical Contractors Association ofIndiana, Inc., September 27, 1994.

Interview with Robert J. Snodderley, Chief Estimator for Ed Grace Company Mechanical Contractors and Engineers, October 6, 1994.