Estimating & Bidding for Builders & Remodelers
Detailed Information on Bidding Construction
and Home Improvement Projects

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By Richard Langedyk

Here is all the information you need for estimating and bidding construction and home improvement projects.

Explains what you need for a career as a construction estimator, how to construct a take-off from the plans, how to check the details of an estimate, prepare a schedule, deal with subs, and calculate project overhead and profit.

Also covers how to estimate remodeling work for typical remove and replace jobs, and include markup for remodeling work.

Explains how to profit from estimating commercial work. Includes the National Estimator stand-alone estimating program with a 50,000 item database for residential, commercial, and home improvement work. A video tutorial, and a program that lets you export completed estimates into QuickBooks Pro for job costing, or progressive billing.

Guaranteed to improve your estimating skill and bidding results: What to look for in the plans. How to scope out the last 5% of job costs. Immunize yourself against common estimating mistakes. Includes over 1,100 pages of current labor and material costs for both new construction and home improvement jobs – covering every trade and the most common specialties.

Two of Craftsman’s most popular residential cost guides are on the disk: National Construction Estimator and National Home Improvement Estimator.. Other Craftsman costbooks are also compatible.

• The estimating program that works like a book. Turn to any page or use the electronic index to find in seconds exactly the cost estimates you need.
• Use your mouse to copy and paste cost estimates from the costbook to your electronic estimating form. Costs are extended and columns totaled automatically.
• 40 estimating forms are on the disk. Open any of these forms with your favorite word processing or spreadsheet program.
• It’s quick and flexible. Change any price or description in your estimate. Enter the five-digit zip code to adjust costs to your community.
• Then print your estimate directly or export it to nearly any word processing or spreadsheet program running under Windows.
• More ways to work faster and easier. Copy costs from one estimate to another. Open both databases at once and use costs from each in a single estimate.
• Cut learning time in half! Let the Show Me video on the disk teach you how to use the National Estimator program.
• Job Cost Wizard Exports estimates to either QuickBooks Pro or QuickBooks Premier® where you can track actual costs against estimated cost. Requires Windows 98 or higher.

Open both new construction and home improvement estimating costbooks. Then copy anything from either costbook to your estimate. Cut and paste from one estimate to another. Then adjust the costs to your zip area and print the estimate. Remodeling magazine recommends National Estimator and calls it an easy-to-use “estimating wiz.” You’re going to agree.

Julie’s Here To Help

The Show Me Video covers everything you need to know about the National Estimator. Let this 45-minute interactive multimedia tutorial, included on the disk, show you how to use all the features of this powerful estimating program.

The Author:

Richard J. Langedyk has directed the training of over 20,000 estimators, project managers and construction company owners. Since 1982 he has been Senior Instructor for Construction Estimating Institute of America in Sarasota, Florida. He is well known as a speaker at construction conventions and trade shows throughout the United States and Canada. His 30-year construction career includes estimating both as general contractor and as a subcontractor on residential, commercial, industrial and government projects – from remodeling jobs to heavy industrial projects approaching a billion dollars.

275 Pages, 8-1/2 x 11, Soft-cover

ISBN: 1-57218-155-9

Contents:

Chapter 1
Get Started Right, 5
     Sink or Swim in Construction Contracting, 6
     The Detailed Cost Estimate, 7
     Estimating as a Career, 8
     Typical Estimator Profile, 10
     Shortcomings of an Estimating Career, 12
     Rewards, 12
     Decision Making, 16

Chapter 2
Planning your Estimate, 17
     It All Starts With a Plan, 17
     Custom-made Markup, 18
     The Long-term Plan, 21

Chapter, 3
Getting Ready to Estimate 29
     It All Starts With Plans, 29
     The Plan Package, 32
     Examine the Site, 36
     The Cost Data File, 36
     Doing the Take-off, 38
     Compiling an Estimate, 39
     Checking Estimates, 47

Chapter 4
The Estimating Process, 51
     Detailed Estimating Steps, 51
     A Sample Take-off, 63
     The Detailed Estimate Advantage, 88

Chapter 5
Estimating Repair & Remodeling Work, 89
     Limiting the Scope of Your Bid, 90
     Protecting Yourself, 91
     A Sample Remodeling Estimate, 93
     The Estimating Process, 96
     Putting it All Together, 111
     Checking the Estimate, 117
     Preparing the Bid, 117
     Closing the Sale, 120

Chapter 6
Estimating Commercial Work, 125
     The Commercial Estimate, 126
     Follow a Plan, 128
     Start the Take-off, 129
     The Take-off Form, 131
     How to Take off Quantities, 132
     Applying Unit Costs, 146

Chapter 7
Pricing With a Computer 153
     What's on the National Home Estimator Disk, 154
     Installing National Home Estimator, 155
     Using National Estimator, 156
     Opening the Costbooks, 157
     Your First Estimate, 158
     Splitting the Screen, 159
     Copying Costs to Your Estimate, 160
     Changing Wage Rates or Costs, 163
     Adding Tax, Overhead and Profit, 166
     Printing and Saving Your Estimate, 167
     Converting Estimates With Job Cost Wizard, 168
     Amount of Detail on Invoices, 170
     QuickBooks Account Names, 171
     Exporting an Estimate to QuickBooks, 173
     Turn an Estimate into an Invoice, 175
     Your Jobs in QuickBooks, 176

Chapter 8
Cost Recording, 177
     Why Keep Cost Records? 178
     Essentials of a Cost System, 179
     Cost Records Check Current Jobs, 182
     Classifying Labor Costs, 182
     Using Cost Data, 187

Chapter 9
Planning Overhead, 191
     Start With Last Year, 192
     The Annual Budget, 196
     My Budget for AEI Builders, 200
     The Preliminary Budget Bottom Line, 208
     Failing to Plan Is Planning to Fail, 213

Chapter 10
Estimating Overhead & Profit, 215
     Your Normal Markup, 216
     The Right Markup for Your Estimates, 218
     But Will We Make More Money? 222
     Develop a Profit Curve, 222
     Your Own Best Profit Range, 227

Chapter 11
Smart Bidding, 229
     Adjustment for Risk, 229
     Asset Utilization Adjustments, 240
     Identify Under-utilization, 242
     Project Adjustments, 248
     What Is the Net Effect? 251

Chapter 12
Pricing Strategies, 253
     Learn About Your Competition, 255
     Graph Your Competition, 260
     Let’s Wrap This Up, 264

Index, 265

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Estimating & Bidding for Builders & Remodelers CR268 $69.50