Month: January

Estimating Software

We are a commercial drywall company with about 30 employees. What estimating software programs are the larger companies using? And why do they like the software they use? We use The Edge version 9.2 from Advanced Estimating. This software is very reliable and time saving. Once an assembly is built in […]

Realistic Resolutions

I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and prosperous new year. Well it’s that time of the year again when we all make our New Year’s resolutions to do better next year. Many of us start out with good intentions and high hopes of serious workouts such as […]

Construction Trends

Construction in 2007: Facing a Tough Year By Dave Meyer 2007 National Chairman Associated Builders and Contractors After years of near-record growth, the construction industry is faced with a slowdown. The U.S. housing market began a correction in 2006, and residential construction experienced a steady decline throughout the year. For 2007, […]

So You’ve Been Asked to be on the Board

When you accept an appointment to a board of directors, you must make a commitment to it. The word commitment comes from the Latin com (with) and mittere (to send). This became the verb committere, which means to entrust or to pledge. When asked to be on a board you should either be prepared to […]

The Doctor is In

I counsel a number of companies and estimators on a regular basis about problems they encounter with their estimating. From time-to-time, I will use this column to post the actual dialogue between the “Doctor of Estimating” and some of the estimating “patients.” Patient: Doctor, I can’t seem to bid enough work, and I […]

You Gotta Make a Profit

I think profit is one of the most beautiful words in our language. It stands for growth, bank credit, bonding, better cars, sending our kids to good schools, bigger homes, travel and a secure retirement. Over the years I’ve heard contractors say they’ve taken jobs at cost to keep their crews busy. I think this […]

The Construction Schedule, Part 1

There is, or there should be, a direct correlation between the estimated labor and the construction schedule for every project. All the money you have allocated in your estimate for the different labor categories does relate to how much work your crews can perform within a given period of time. In advance […]

Loads, Water

As a plan checker for a city in California and with experience as a steel framer, I am quite interested in being able to check the ceiling loads imposed on walls to determine if the designer has done the math. Currently I have the SSMA information but do not know how to apply the information […]