House construction

This book gives great insight into the Construction industry. I purchased it for a class I am taking and would recommend it to anyone ‘just wondering’ how it all works or wanting to learn more.

This is a FULL-SIZE book with EXCEL spreadsheet estimating tutorials included. The major part of this book has comprehensive coverage on the construction estimating subject itself. Comparing with the earlier small manual I purchased (DEWALT Construction Estimating Professional Reference (Dewalt Trade Reference Series)) from the same author, I found this big book includes more extensive materials. For example, the sub-trade evaluation checklists from earthwork to electrical are now also presented in worksheet formats. Quite a few new features such as bid drawing evaluation, cost analysis, list of value engineering ideas are very interesting. Quantity take-off for all CSI trades and divisions are expanded to include solved examples with graphic drawings and sketches…..Anyway, this new book is wonderful as it incorporate all these new contents while keeping the original straight-forward flavour of “on-the-spot-answers”.

However, what impressed me most is the Excel estimating portion of the book. Within less than 80 pages (the whole book is over 300), the author provides 7 step-by-step exercises to teach you all the essential Excel skills needed for construction estimating. No prior computer exposure is assumed, which suits me very well (I belong to the old generation and in our days, there wasn’t a single computer on jobsite or office). Lots of graphic screenshots showing every step: setting up the worksheet, entering data, formatting, writing formulas and even making graphs/charts…. Each exercise has a construction-related theme: job basic info, cost summary sheet, quantity surveying for foundation, slab, beams, columns, wood framing, interior finishes, estimating condo units, pricing, quote evaluation, budget analysis…All these fit together very nicely within a few exercises. If you had attended a computer training class (e.g. MS Word) in the past, you will find this part of the book was written in a similar style (i.e. step-by-step). But what makes it stand out is that it is written specifically for construction people, so all the examples are applicable to building construction. Honestly I can not find any other book on the current market that could compare in this regard. If you want to use Excel as the primary estimating tool without purchasing expensive software, this book is way to go.

If I have to be a critic some sort, I will say the book apparently is written by a guy from the industry with lots of project experience. So it does not teach you how to read a scale etc. For college students, I believe it is better to use it with an actual project (drawings and specs). But regardless of your experience, this book is suitable for anyone who want to either upgrade their estimating skills or learn Excel estimating. Plus, the book is obviously underpriced considering the stuff it covers. Really an eye-opener for me!!!

The book has a footnote after every form, encouraging the reader to download the form on their website. That’s why I bought the book — to get their nice forms. However, I have not found a single form from the book on their website. Very disappointed.