Construction estimating has been referred to as a blend of both art and science (Woodward & Chen, 1999, Mathis & Toole, 1986). The science aspects come from the applications of mathematics and formulas to derive a cost for the proposed work. The art aspects come from the fact that judgment and experience are key elements towards the successful cost determination. Both are important since the best judgment in the world can not correct for a quantity take off that is substantially low due to errors in this process. The essentials of the traditional estimating approaches include (1) methods planning and selection, (2) quantity take-off, and (3) pricing. Estimating is taught from a number of approaches as varied as the backgrounds of those faculty teaching the course and the subject reference textbooks. Due to both our own academic/work experience and surveys/conversations over the last two years with a number of construction industry participants including ENR Top 400 Firms, improvements are proposed in the estimating education process. This feedback from leading industry professionals have indicated what they perceive as weaknesses in some areas of estimating education. Approximately seventy-five percent of the participants were selected on a random basis from contractor directories. Our program already knew the other twenty-five percent of participants. The survey instrument was mailed out with telephone follow-up to 380 contractors. The telephone follow-up garnered a significantly higher response rate. In the end with telephone follow-up, 112 responses were received to the survey. The survey instrument was purposely designed with open-ended questions. The open-ended aspect militates against statistical analysis but beneficially elicits comments concerning broader issues. Telephone discussions with the subject contractors proved especially informative.

Many undergraduate construction programs are set up with one or two estimating courses. Estimating elements may find additional topical coverage in other construction courses. As an example, equipment production estimating may find coverage in a construction equipment course. Contracts and change order issues may be covered in a law course. Construction bonding/insurance issues and related cost implications may be covered in a general construction management course. Many topics fight for inclusion in cost estimating instruction. Given the time limitations inherent in the educational process along with meeting accrediting body and university core requirements, difficult choices are made by the responsible faculty. The topics discussed below were felt important to successful estimating and need coverage somewhere in the four-year curriculum. Construction estimators for firms supplying pre-construction services during design need the ability to pencil out the financials of various alternative construction systems. Students in our construction program, for instance, take a three-credit semester-length course in engineering economy during their junior year as a prerequisite to senior-level estimating coursework. Students at other universities may achieve the same fundamentals background in a business or construction finance course. Again, at our institution, other prerequisite courses for estimating include those in construction management fundamentals, construction equipment, construction working drawings, construction methods and materials (including construction documents analysis), soils and foundations, facility systems, cost control, and structural design. The authors feel that by the time students reach the estimating course that they are prepared to operate at a high competence level. Our review of many programs across the country shows a high degree of commonality between programs.

The undergraduate estimating semester coursework at our institution is broken into three hours of lecture and three hours of lab per week. Certainly students need to be able to attack and take-off plans along with analyzing specifications. However other elements are requisite to providing an estimating education that contains real long term value for the construction graduate and their employer. Other construction degree programs have differing formats that mean differing choices. A number of industry professionals felt the single largest mistake in construction estimating education was too much focus [e.g. time spent] on basic trades’ takeoffs to the detriment of other topical areas. In the paper below, selected examples are utilized from contractor comments to illustrate the concepts. Every topic in estimating coursework can’t be covered but the effort can be made to also utilize other courses where the subject matter may be more appropriate. Time limitations and the individual depth/complexity of the particular topic will govern the subjects’ coverage. It is our hope that this paper will provide additional ideas for those looking to improve construction-estimating coursework content.

A number of survey respondents cited the importance of direct construction field experience in forming a quality estimator. College graduates have spent four years or more of their lives studying books. A number may lack construction trade’s experience. While a number of them have worked to pay a portion or all of their educational expenses, many of these jobs may not have been construction jobs. Direct construction field experience needs to be encouraged by more construction programs. A recent nationwide survey of construction programs found that less than half of construction programs required construction internships for graduation (Rosenbaum, 2001). More programs should look at internships. However, the construction industry cannot expect the complete graduate with both extensive education and extensive field experience. Industry can do its primary job here. Some contractor respondents indicated that they require new graduates get experience in the field before assuming estimating positions. One contractor indicated that every graduate spends six months in the field as a carpenter before assuming a field or office position with their firm. A few contractors indicated that their temporary entry-level position for new construction graduates is as a first-line craft supervisor.

Estimating can be a very frustrating process for the estimator. Bid a dollar too high and your firm loses the job. Bid two dollars too low and your firm has left a dollar on the table. Success ratios in estimating may range from 50% or higher (firm successfully receives one out of every two jobs bid) to 5% or lower (firm gets one job out of every 20 bids). Contractors mentioned that one of their biggest challenges is to try to keep their estimating staffs motivated in the face of these frustrations. They also noted that construction graduates are not acclimated to this type of environment. A construction graduate starting out for one heavy/highway contractor was frustrated in that in three weeks not a single job he had estimated on had been a successful bid. The contractor pointed out that their success ratio was 6% therefore on a hundred jobs, they would only receive 6 and 94 would be lost. However, as the contractor pointed out to the graduate, some of those jobs at 6% success ratio might be $100-million projects. College graduates need to be prepared for the highs and lows of this career path. Contractors wanted those who could stay optimistic and not drag down others around them. They mentioned that estimators need good emotional health and a sense of humor to combat the inherent frustrations.

Several contractors expressed their frustrations with newly hired construction graduates in estimating positions where they displayed a total lack of time management and estimate organizational skills. Estimators are always working under time deadlines and moreover others must readily understand their work such as purchasing staff and the chief estimator. Clear thought processes along with work that can communicate to the field what is included and excluded from the estimate is an important criterion. A systematic and organized work process is key. Time is money in construction and never more so than in estimating where the ability to turn out accurate estimates in a timely fashion means a more productive estimating process. Comments were that some graduates simply could not get the work out in anything resembling a timely fashion. Respondents in this area wished that these graduates had a grasp of how much detail is important in certain areas. They need to differentiate as to what requires which level of detail. One mechanical contractor commented, for example, that he didn’t care that a graduates’ utility line estimate had the trench excavation exact to the cubic yard. Instead it was much more important not to miss a $1,000 valve.

Responses were almost evenly split in this area as some contractors complained that graduates were unfamiliar with the pressures of actual project bidding. Other contractors stated this was a plus that graduates understood the pressures of compiling bids under tight time deadlines.

Some construction programs have developed realistic bid exercises that test students under stringent time deadlines (Mincks, 1990). Understanding the bid day demands with multiple bids coming in via fax and phone along with multiple price changes can be disconcerting to the unfamiliar. These survey responses point out that there is a wide variation between the bid day practices exposure that students receive in various construction programs. Comments here were that students should know how to quickly ascertain differences in supplier and trade contractor quotes. Other comments were that while jargon varies around the country between bid summary sheets as "front sheets" or "back sheets" that graduates should be able to compile complete bids. This includes bonding considerations, MBE/DBE requirements, trade contractor listing and sales tax considerations.

The two authors personally feel that bid ethics is an important area. Bid shopping and bid peddling are two particularly serious ethical transgressions. Professional associations in the cost estimating area such as the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) and the American Society of Professional Estimators (ASPE) all publish ethical guidelines. The general decline in ethical standards has been documented in numerous surveys such as one of top high school seniors where 80% of these students indicated that they engaged in unethical behavior (Abagnale, 2001). In light of this the only contractor comments were that other competitors were unethical! No one specifically cited problems with college graduate estimators either in their own firm or others. From this it can be interpreted that collegiate construction programs nationally are doing a sound job in instilling ethics in their students.

That construction is a team process is highly evident in the fact that only one individual constructs the very smallest projects. However, estimating is also a team process whether it is one estimator performing the estimate or a group of discipline-specific estimators developing a unified cost estimate. Even in the case of the lone estimator, teamwork is essential in gathering the information that will ultimately result in the final project price. In this case the team consists of designers, suppliers, subcontractors and their estimators, field personnel brought in for consulting assistance, and any others that may contribute to the final estimate. The estimator needs to build rapport with these disparate groups that all have their role in supplying information to the estimating process. In many firms there is an on-going battle between field management and the estimating function. When a job turns sour there is at times a substantial amount of finger pointing in both directions. A successful team process leads to constructive feedback with the end result of improved cost estimates. Since specialty contractors are the backbone of the construction industry, a vast majority of the estimating in many industry segments is based on their work. The estimator ends up as the conductor of this orchestra. These interfaces and field-office conflicts need to be better understood according to survey results. Along the same lines, construction graduates need to learn to ask for help when facing unknown estimating situations. Contractors mentioned that they did not expect graduates to know everything. Students should realize their own limitations.

Success in estimating results from the estimator being more effective than the competition. Successful estimators mentioned that often their success came from building an edge into the job. Opportunities on jobs that are not "hard-specified" but instead allow alternatives as "or equals" may provide a pricing edge. Even on a hard-specified project opportunities abound for the estimator seeking to build an edge. Automatic gate openers may be specified from one manufacturer with no allowance for exceptions. If the project is based in Denver, the construction market may be so strong that the gate opener vendor feels little need to give a competitive price. However, the same manufacturer’s vendor for Omaha may be seeing a slow market and be more willing to quote a more competitive price. The gate openers are made at the same factory in Chicago and the only difference between deliveries to Denver versus Omaha is some minor additional shipping costs. The same examples could be cited for a number of products and equipment incorporated into the final project. Facility system schematics allow cost savings versus detailed orthographic projection drawings. Subcontractors desiring to work with a particular general contractor may quote the general an "exclusive" price. Building a competitive edge consumes additional time but the estimating tradeoff is a higher success ratio thus requiring fewer bids. Contractors mentioning this issue were surprised that more construction graduates were not familiar with this concept.

The reference to temporary construction structures includes such construction elements as formwork, shoring, scaffolding, trash chutes, safety items, sidewalk canopies and rigging that are essential to the successful prosecution of the work. These construction elements are typically not spelled out in the contract documents. As a rule there are no hard plans and specs on these temporary structures. Therefore the contractor has total latitude in building these project elements constrained only by building code strictures along with state and federal safety standards. Scaffolding may be steel frames up the building side or a swing stage concept. Flying forms for a reinforced concrete high-rise project may be floor-supported tables or column-supported tables. Column-supported tables may be slightly more costly but require no floor-to-floor reshoring thus allowing faster trade contractor access to poured floors. In the case of concrete formwork, these types of temporary structures can exceed the materials costs of the in-place concrete and reinforcing steel. Highway contractors on roadway repair projects such as spot slab replacement may spend more for temporary traffic structures and related roadway safety than the physical elements in the actual work. The estimator has to have the ability to envision these different systems and take them off without the benefit of conventional plans and specifications save for the physical facility dimensions.

Generally the construction professionals thought that construction students possessed sound computer skills for the most part. While some of them thought that perhaps one computer software program should be taught over another the overwhelming sentiments were that construction graduates were computer literate. Expressed weaknesses in this area included the ability of new graduates to be proficient in the setup of computerized databases. Obviously a database is a key element of software programs and mistakes made in this area cost contractors time and money to a significant degree. Other contractors didn’t see requiring only one software program as essential. Construction students must receive an education that will last for a significant period of time and is not subject to the mercies of any one software package. Students need to understand the principles behind these packages. For instance, a student that, in college, learned the keystrokes for a DOS-based package finds this education quickly obsolete when the software vendor reformats the software tailored to a Windows-based format. An even earlier example of this educational obsolescence was the prevalence of job advertisements for keypunch operators in the 1960s and 1970s. Numerous trade schools offered keypunch operator training. Training in specific keystrokes and menu options ultimately does construction students a disfavor. Training versus education is the difference. Instead broad education over computer fundamentals with different software packages including spreadsheets and databases may be a better strategy. Employers and even students may be in opposition to this given the specifics of job advertising where the names of specific estimating packages [sometimes with version numbers!] are spelled out in the ad’s text. The authors have had students request training in specific packages since this is what they have seen in these ads. One example that puts these student and employer requests in a new light is to show the examples of employers utilizing one software package for a few years then suddenly switching to another competing offering.

Discussions with those contractors performing in the mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) areas found some strong criticism of construction graduates. The common complaint revolves around the perception that construction-estimating education in construction schools is almost solely focused on excavation, concrete, steel and wood takeoffs. Examination of commonly utilized construction estimating books as listed in ASC surveys find the same bias with little textual material devoted to MEP areas. MEP contractors wondered aloud why when 40% of many buildings’ cost is comprised of MEP systems why estimating education was not more balanced. As several contractors pointed out these systems percentages are increasing and on some technology facilities such as biofarms, two thirds of the facility cost is in these MEP areas. Construction graduates need background in estimating for piping and equipment, fire protection, vertical/horizontal transportation, HVAC/duct systems, security systems, data cabling, and electrical installations. Texts in the areas of MEP estimating areas are available but would probably drive total textbook costs beyond the affordability range for most students. Instructor handout preparation covering these MEP areas may be the best solution given the present holes in the textbook environment.

A trend for a number of decades in construction has been the removal of construction work from the job site to the fabrication shop. Concrete, after all, at one point in time was exclusively mixed at the job site. Very little of this takes place today with the advent of centralized batch plants and transit mix trucks unless quantities are large enough to justify an on-site plant. MEP contractor’s criticisms were that students had little knowledge of fabrication shop processes and their estimation. Structural steel contractors had the same complaint. Fabrication operations such as drilling, punching, shearing, and welding were foreign to many construction graduates. A welding process such as gas-metal arc welding (GMAW) with a positioner has significant benefits over shielded metal arc welding including cost implications. GMAW processes are very common in fabrication operations for contractors. However, construction graduates lacked knowledge of fabrication shop practices and their estimation. In many fab shops CAD-driven plasma arc cutters are standard equipment. Yet students are unfamiliar with these concepts. Given that fabrication shops provide controlled costs in a controlled environment and current industry trends, construction-estimating education should reflect this. The fabrication shop may be part of the contractor’s permanent plant and equipment or may be set up on the jobsite as a temporary operation. If set up for the specific jobsite, the estimator needs to have enough background to figure out equipment and building costs involving this installation. In a unionized environment, fabrication shops may offer lower labor rates. On large-scale projects with high labor content factors the work may be exported to other countries. One contractor cited a project being built in Connecticut for a hotel/casino expansion. The contractor’s fab shop had exported the stringing of 20 million beads for casino-area trees and canopies to India due to their highly skilled work force with lower labor cost factors. A new construction graduate had figured out this through "thinking outside the box".

Contractors performing renovation work thought that estimating education should cover renovation cost estimating. They pointed out such factors as limited work areas, limited job sizes, poor site access, off-shift work, matching work to existing, occupied facilities, and abatement of hazardous materials as key cost estimate factors. Limited job sizes mean that economies of scale cannot be achieved as usual. Occupied facilities mean higher cleanup costs. Matching interior millwork in an older hotel or office building may require custom milling operations. A contractor may have to repaint an entire wall or room to match patchwork. Hazardous materials such as lead paint and asbestos require special contractual language for risk and cost management. One contractor noted that labor factors in high-rise tenant improvement work may be 300%-400% of standard due to limited elevator access. Contractors were surprised that students were unfamiliar with these concepts due to the ever-growing volume of renovation work.

Design/build as a contracting trend is seeing wider use in today’s construction industry than ever before. The design/build contract method (DBCM) successfully cut its teeth in the industrial construction market for major Fortune 500 Manufacturing Firms. Now the DBCM is seeing key use not only in other private sector construction but also for public works as well such as highway projects. The construction management contract method (CMCM) is better established. One of the key differentiators of these DBCM and CMCM processes from traditional lump-sum hard bid general contracting is the absence of definitive plans and specifications. These DBCM/CMCM processes place a premium on the conceptual estimating ability of the estimator. The estimator must be able to price out systems and assemblies without the underlying detail. Plans/specifications on these projects range from 30% complete to less than this while the client is demanding a firm price. Estimators need training on parametric, factor and other conceptual estimating approaches besides just fundamental square foot techniques. Moreover, due to the heavy emphasis in some areas on negotiated prices rather than lump-sum bidding, the contractor is selling not only price but also their "skill, experience, staff, and financial capability" (Mitchell, 1986). Construction graduates need to understand the depth and complexity of these DBCM and CMCM processes in working through schematic design, design development, and working drawings project stages. By contrast, survey respondents noted that lump-sum bidding is far easier although with a far lower success ratio.

Concomitant with the trends in design/build and construction management is the ability to financially analyze construction alternatives. Often design-build and construction management firms find clients with either a scope or a budget nut not both as a number of respondents pointed out in this area. Estimators need to have the ability to work with these clients with target specs and alternatives determination. These alternatives fall into two basic categories of static systems and operating systems. An example of a static system might be a comparison for a client between two types of membrane roof systems. Operating systems comparisons would be those such as where centralized and decentralized HVAC systems are project possibilities. A significant selling feature in favor of construction management is the pre-construction services package. Part and parcel of pre-construction services is cost estimating and financial analysis supplied to the designer and client by the construction manager. Choices in an HVAC system need to be analyzed with net present worth, return-on-investment and other financial yardsticks. Factors may need to be assessed on the economic feasibility of a project including cost of money, cost of production, depreciation and replacement cost, taxes, and return on investment. Students must realize the analysis problems posed by tangible versus intangible benefits and costs. One finds great difficulty in attempting to quantify unquantifiable items such as social, political, environmental, and security issues. Enough information in total needs to be supplied for the proper decision makers to be able to make a sound decision.

Contractors were critical of some graduates for not truly understanding concepts of value engineering and constructability. The responses in this area were uneven as it appears some construction management programs are performing well in this area as contrasted with others. For firms in the construction management and design-build sectors along with firms performing substantial negotiated work this area seemed to hold more importance. General contractors and specialty contractors did not list this area.

Estimators should be, of course, familiar with the potential conceptual savings in tradeoffs between labor and material. Even where the costs of material and labor tradeoffs are the same the bias will often be in favor of material. Labor is the most variable cost resource being affected by such "X-factors" as weather, skill levels and availability. An example of this might be with mechanical couplings on a piping system. Mechanical pipe couplings from a strict material cost standpoint are more expensive than the comparable welding to join two pipe sections. However from a labor cost standpoint, mechanical pipe couplings produce significant savings. In addition, lower skill levels are required for the mechanical couplings as opposed to the welding labor. Further savings are also made possible by the fact that project welds may require separate non-destructive analysis such as ultrasonic inspection.

Construction graduates cannot be educated in every facet of the construction industry. There is too limited a time frame within construction educations’ standard four-year degree programs. Based on contractor responses, there are potential areas that can improve construction estimating. These areas for personal improvement include improved self-motivational ability, teamwork, time management skills, and construction field experience. Contractors mentioned the importance of estimator knowledge in the areas of temporary construction structures, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, fabrication shop operations, and renovation cost estimating. Estimators must be prepared for increasing trends towards design-build, construction management and pre-construction services areas including value engineering.

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