Commercial Steel Estimating. Kerri OlsenЧитать онлайн книгу.
Be clear on the handling capacity of the shop equipment and what kinds of tools are available to use. Understand the specifics of the available shop equipment, such as:
•the throat allowance on the band saw
•the ironworker tonnage capacity for bending and cutting
•throat allowances for the different materials
•types and functions.
Know what type of welding equipment is available. Make a list of all the types, sizes, and capacity of
•overhead moving equipment
•forklifts
•hand trucks and dollies
•yard rolling stock
•small tools (like drills, grinders, beveling equipment)
•flat layout areas
•work tables
•saw horses
so that you are aware of the shop’s resources as you consider your estimate for a project.
Understand the strengths and weakness of the shop with regard to personnel, tools and equipment, handling capacity, and floor space. Shop size has to be considered, not only the square footage, but also the height limits of the building, the allowance for door openings, and space for yard storage. Would special equipment have to be rented or purchased to work the job you are bidding? Are the fabricated members in the contract drawings extra large and heavy? Allowance for such conditions need to be made in the pricing, either by additional labor or a buy out of certain labor functions, including, for example, special cutting of extra heavy or oversize materials.
Rolling, forming, bending of materials, bevel cutting of plate, special shapes cut to size—choices about these items need to be made prior to quoting the projects. Will they be provided as a labor function of the shop or as a buy out item from a vendor?
Target the markets that contain the elements that the fabrication shop is best at building. In the quest to fill the shop, don’t waste estimating time and dollars to quote on a project that has unrealistic fabrication and delivery requirements. If the shop labor staff is good at fabricating beams and columns, but lacks the expertise for fabricating stainless steel, then steer clear of bidding anything with stainless steel work. Avoid projects that may be too small or too large for the shop.
Check project specifications; make sure that there is nothing there that will disqualify your company. Watch for special requirements that you would not be able to meet—like being an AISC-certified shop or a union shop if you are not. Check on the project schedule that is indicated in the general conditions section of the specifications or may be advised by the customer; make sure that this schedule fits within current work load requirements.
Research past projects, especially if you are new to the shop where you are working. Get to know what jobs were successful and why. Also, get to know the jobs that were not successful and why not. Specific opinions on the good and the bad may or may not be the actual reason a project resulted in a loss for the company. There will be clues that will lead to the true answers when comparing the working file to the original quote.
Most companies now have computer programs for their job costing. Review the historical job cost files for projects to research. Once a project is identified as interesting, get the hard copy job file, then locate and review the original steel estimate. Review the entire quote for the total labor hours and all cost information that should be there.
If the project chosen to review was a successful project, then all too often it is automatically assumed that every element was completed under budget. However, even if the project as a whole was completed under budget, some specific fabrications may have had labor hours and costs that ran over budget, while others were under budget. Find out why. What did the job look like? Are the contract drawings still available for review? What about a set of shop drawings? Reviewing all of this information will enable you see how and why your company was successful with that work.
The goal is to find what works best for your company and focus on those elements. Find the work that suits your shop the best and you will be more successful as an estimator for them. Once you are clear on Table 1.1’s The Elements of Project Evaluation relative to the fabrication shop, you will have better defined your direction. You will be less likely to waste time quoting projects that are not going to be beneficial for your company.
Actually travelling to a plan center or a general contractor’s plan room has become a thing of the past. Most plan centers and general contractor plan rooms are online; you can review drawings right from your desktop and print out your own drawings. Using online plan rooms takes much less time and effort than borrowing bid documents. Now you can buy a set or get one on deposit—even at night or on weekends. Online plan centers vary in costs and services. Some offer free support for the subcontractors to the general contractors that are members.
Construction Newspapers and Bid Advertisements
Bid advertisements can be found in construction newspapers. They often can come over the fax or via email. Public works projects may also be advertised in local newspapers or posted on government web sites. These are the most common ways to find open bid construction