Wednesday 28 June 2017

How sub-contractors can make perfect cost estimating

To win a project, you have to provide lower estimate as compared to your competitors. But the task is very difficult. It will not be fruitful for you to undervalue the costs which are associated with your project and then check budget afterward.

The accounting and job tracking features In a construction project management software there are some useful features like the accounting & job tracking which can facilitate you to evaluate and curtail expenditures. Given below, some useful suggestions on how a perfect construction project management software can help in controlling costs efficiently.

Make accounts for all employees
If you want to have clear ideas on the perfect completion time of a project, you must be aware with employee’s specialties, work habits and attitudes. As for instance, suppose you supervise a team of carpenters. If one of them has the ability to carry out similar amount of work as another but within a less time frame, then that person can provide more productivity as compared to other person.



Construction Project Management

Log daily journals
The construction professionals should build some detailed schedules to determine which tasks should have been finished on specific dates. To carry out this method in your own workplace, you may suggest your employees to compose short summaries of the work to be finished at the end of each day in your construction accounting software.
If a cloud-hosted construction management program is linked, it can accelerate your accounting capabilities.
It will be useful for both you and your employees to organize tables which facilitate them to build project information. As for instance, it is possible to produce a grid that allows them to log in the number of hours worked, the materials utilized and other related items.

Select equipment judiciously
There may be in excess of a couple of excavators at your disposal, but it is not necessary to convey each machine you possess to a job site. The sub-contractors should evaluate their job requirements prior to go for the equipment.
The cycle times and machine capacity will influence the consequences of your construction costs, but these figures should not be essentially black and white.
Therefore, if the knowledge is gathered during the project, it facilitates you to sustain oversight from start to finish.

Article Source : https://constructionreviewonline.com

Friday 23 June 2017

Compass International Inc has published 2017 Front End/Conceptual Estimating Yearbook

The 2017 Front – End / Conceptual Estimating Yearbook is an exclusive guidebook  for all construction professionals who are associated with industrial and commercial construction projects. The book is specifically designed for all Estimators, Proposal Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Cost Engineers, Construction Managers, Planners, Field Engineers, Project Managers & Construction Professionals to instantly calculate or fill in gaps out of incomplete scope documents or for evaluating change orders.

This construction book will resolve the issues which may occur in conceptual estimating and budgeting. This book comprises of extensive range of latest estimating data for construction professionals to enhance both profitability and estimating time.

The 2017 cost data is suitable for all types of industrial / commercial construction projects which range from Refineries, Chemical & Power Plants, Steel Mills, LNG, Airports, Food & Beverage Production, Manufacturing Factories, Administration Offices, Civil Projects and Warehouses / Logistics Facilities in North America or Overseas.



The book provides detailed information on pricing construction projects, change orders and claims. The book focuses on the following topics :
  • Introduction to Capital Cost Estimating and how to optimize the estimating effort
  • Capital Cost Estimating Fundamentals, describing the (4) step estimating process
  • Capital Cost Estimating Methods, describing Estimating Factors, Ratio & Multipliers
  • Numerous USA / International Historical Close Out – Final Cost / Benchmarking / Final Account Reports
  • Basic Man-Hour Benchmarking Data & Reference Tables, 100’s of reference tables & cost models
  • Site Selection / Cost Data Sources / Estimating Checklists
  • Value Engineering / Change Orders / Claims / Contingency
  • Scale of Operations / Exponents / 6/10ths Rule Scale Up Values (180 Process Facilities)
  • Numerous Ratio / Percentage Factors and M.E. Multipliers Examples
  • Square Foot / M2 Cost Values (100’s of Buildings – Facility Types) cost values includes Material, Labor, Construction Equipment, General Conditions, Overhead & Profit
  • Unit Prices (Labor and Materials) 1,000’s of Cost Line Items
  • General Cost Estimating Data, Engineering / CM Fee’s, Union & Open Shop Labor Rates
  • Numerous Excavation, Concrete, Rebar, Formwork Masonry & Structural Steel cost models
  • Location Factors (200 North American & International Cities
  • Sales Tax / Inflation Tables / General Conditions / Field In-Directs
  • Major Equipment / Process Equipment Prices (125+ cost models) includes equipment costs, setting & alignment
  • Front End / Semi-Detailed Estimating Systems, detailed Home Office Engineering & Construction Management costs
  • Process Piping Unit Prices (Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel, Alloy 20, Inconel, Aluminum, Sanitary, Hastelloy, FRP, CPVC & more) / Pipe & Equipment Insulation
  • Inside Battery Limits (ISBL) & Outside Battery Limits (OSBL) Cost Metrics
  • Electrical, Instrumentation & Robotic Costs


To download the book, click on the following link
https://www.compassinternational.net/books/front-end-conceptual/

Wednesday 21 June 2017

D4COST Express Pro offers benefits to the Architects, Contractors and Subcontractors

With D4COST Express Pro, the building professionals get the ability to develop their own historical project library with the use of their company's proprietary project data. This construction program is specifically developed for the Architects, Contractors and Subcontractors.

Projects which are stored into D4COST Express Pro can be cost modeled right away by applying D4COST's exclusive cost escalators and location modifiers with good precision. Besides, new projects are further modeled with rectification of the square footage or line items inside the new project for additional accuracy. D4COST Express Pro comprises of all the advanced estimating features of the robust full version of D4COST.

There is general Construction Unit Cost Database in D4COST Express Pro. This database contains more than 10,000 unit costs formed with the CSI Masterformat™. Each cost contains the material and labor related to each unit.
There are 75 projects prepared for the construction professionals to initiate estimating process. system.

Estimating Software


Decomposition of 75 Project Database:
  • 24 Educational
  • 2 Recreational
  • 13 Civic/Government
  • 3 Religious
  • 11 Commercial
  • 5 Residential
  • 13 Medical
  • 2 Industrial
  • 1 Hotel/Motel
  • 1 Office projects
The users will also be able to modify their software with certain project types by choosing from D4COST's 10 optional project databases. Databases comprise of Educational, Civic/Government, Commercial, Correctional, Medical, Hotel/Motel, Recreational, Religious, Residential, Industrial and Office projects for import into D4COST.
D4COST provides Internet connectivity for users to download any project from D4COST's extensive project library. Projects can be purchased one at a time or in groups. Users will be able to cost model on-line or download projects coherently into D4COST. Project Databases are included to modify your software for certain building types (databases listed below).

For more information, visit https://www.bnibooks.com/products/estimating

Tuesday 20 June 2017

Brief overview of Concrete Pavements

Another name of concrete pavement is rigid pavement.  It is a hard layer which is in direct contact with the traffics.  It is used for various purposes and applications. The concrete which is used can be changed  as and when required. The concrete pavement must be strong, durable, workable and cost effective. The reason behind is that it is susceptible to extreme environmental conditions.




There are various advantages for concrete pavements. It is not possessed by bituminous pavement design. It is suitable for large point loads, protection against diesel spillage and other truculent materials. It is also suitable for areas where there is low sub-grade strength, high temperature resistance and other benefits.

Concrete Pavement


The different types of concrete pavements are as follows :

-          Jointed unreinforced concrete pavement- It is a composition of concrete slab layers connected by tie bars and dowels. It affects the durability of the concrete pavement.


-          Jointed reinforced concrete pavement- It is the more developed version of the jointed unreinforced pavement. It is used when a doubt arises in regard to materials, workmanship and differential settlement.  It is used where there is an expectation of huge load.

-          Continuously reinforced concrete pavement- It is built by the placement of reinforcement bars in the middle of the slabs. It is done to prevent shrinkage cracks.

A Comprehensive Overview of Window Types Based on Height Variations

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