Learning to Estimate?

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Flow Recon

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Im new in the game... I want to be educated in learning how to be a excellent ESTIMATOR in the trade. I just bought the 2009 National Electrical Estimator Book and I want to start in learning where to begin? What do I add on a estimate to make profit? I need the learning fundamentals?
 
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fridaymean

Member
Location
Illinois
The Mike Holt book is pretty good, but I learned best from taking a class, and from others that have done it for a while.

I hear the NECA class is good and would like to take that soon.
 
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satcom

Senior Member
fridaymean said:
The Mike Holt book is pretty good, but I learned best from taking a class, and from others that have done it for a while.

I hear the NECA class is good and would like to take that soon.
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The Holt book is something you will need to refer to, but a combination of taking classes with professional estimators as instructors, and finding a good mentor to help you understand some of the practices.
It took me some time, to learn to build my own actuals books, they helped with accurate estimates, more then anything else, I learned that from the pros, they had years of actuals books, and with all the software out there, you will still need your actuals books for accurate data.
 
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aline

Senior Member
Location
Utah
Just as important as good estimating skills are good sales skills.

The better and more accurate you get at estimating the more likely you won't be the low bidder. You'll need good sales skills to get the job.

The low bidder usually leaves something out. Either by accident or on purpose. :)
 
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satcom

Senior Member
aline said:
Just as important as good estimating skills are good sales skills.

The better and more accurate you get at estimating the more likely you won't be the low bidder. You'll need good sales skills to get the job.

The low bidder usually leaves something out. Either by accident or on purpose. :)
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With the idea that low big always wins the job, they have only one way to take the business and that is down, over the years, I noticed the contractors that had staying power, and are still in business many years later, are the ones that priced middle to high, not the lowest.

I remember sitting in on a building fit up project, and the concerns for selecting the contractors were not based on price alone, they wanted someone with a proven track record, and had experience in fit up work, so they ended up with the highest price contractor, it seemed the big concern was completion time and they contracted to meet it.
So think more about what you are worth, and what skills your company can provide.
 
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cdslotz

Senior Member
I would recommend getting a job as an Jr. estimator.
Doing takeoff is only a fraction of what you need to know.
Closing an estimate (evaluating risk, labor factoring, O.T., man loading, cash flow, job expenses, etc) is something that takes a lot of experience to master.
Our evaluation process prior to bidding (is the GC our good customer, does he have the job, how many EC's are bidding, knowing how much the job is worth based on experience, man loading, etc) is almost as detailed as closing an estimate.
Most jobs I bid take me days or weeks to prepare. That's a big investment of time and money, so your odds had better be good.
 
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