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A KEY TO BUSINESS SUCCESS by Lewis Finkel, F.C.P.E.
Before the shovel goes into the ground—there is an estimate. Before the steel goes up—there is an estimate. Before the roof goes on—there is an estimate. Projects may start with a set of plans and specifications but construction starts with an estimate. Good estimates make compa- nies while bad estimates put companies out of business. A project can “go south” with a good estimate and bad project implementation—but a project cannot recover from a bad estimate.
Estimating is part science and part art. Most ex- perienced estimators will arrive at approximately
ESTIMATING GOOD
the same point for the quantities needed for a project. That is the science side. Some mistakes in these calculations start from the basic inability to calculate simple math. Some estimators make some very careless errors, such as not checking the scale of a drawing or not using the correct units when doing the calculations. This can in- clude multiplying a quantity in inches by a quanti- ty in feet and coming up with a number that really does not mean anything; doing a conversion from square feet to square yards and dividing by three instead of nine; or converting from cubic feet to cubic yards and dividing by three.
POWERED BY THE BLUE BOOK NETWORK - METRO NEW YORK & THE HUDSON VALLEY / SPRING 2016