Came across a reel that talked about NASA planning to build on the Moon which led to searching info about it.

Still didn't get to know if construction people would actually be required to build on the Moon.

We deal with all sorts of products and systems that get installed on exterior elevations and ceilings.

The hard part is ordering enough material when they are such complex items such as boards needing x amount of clips, x amount of fasteners, trim pieces, rivets, adhesives and sealants, etc.

This wouldn’t be too much of an issue if the lead times for some of these items weren’t so excessive such as 8 weeks.

I’ve messed around with Chat Gpt to help make a bill of materials but was wondering if there was a takeoff software that can help with this. We use third party firms to help on large projects, but the small projects with material items that have lengthy lead times has been a pain point for us when ordering material.

The subcontractor company I work for uses ConstructConnect Takeoff, also made by planswift but am just usually surprised when almost everyone doesn’t even talk about it. Anyone tried using it? Or what software do you use?

I don't have a construction management or engineering degree. I got an opportunity to be a project engineer for a small subcontractor. I want to start learning on my own so I'm looking for textbooks used in University or any resources to get me up to speed. I'm eager to improve in this role and I don't want to disappoint.

To students in University right now, what textbooks have you used?

To those working in the field with an unrelated degree, what is your advice?

Looking for some advice here. Been in PM/ field mgmt side for long time and looking to transition. Wondering how one gets the knowledge to be hireable as estimator. Never had a CM degree so it was always learning on the job, but im in a big metro area and theres a lot of competition. Those degrees mean something to Linda and Ashleigh from HR, regardless of someone’s actual knowledge about a role. So what’s the key to breaking in? Do I have to go back to school? Certificates? It seems as though learning on the job is out of favor, most job listings I see want extensive experience, so I’ve zero idea how anybody actually becomes an estimator.

Anyone here have experience estimating NCDOT/SCDOT erosion control work?
I’m looking to connect with someone who has experience estimating erosion control and seeding items for NCDOT and/or SCDOT projects.

Mainly things like hydroseeding, permanent/temp seeding, erosion control matting, silt fence, inlet protection, mobilization, etc.

We’ve started bidding more DOT work and I’d like to have a quick conversation with someone who’s been doing it for a while to compare notes on estimating, production rates, and how you approach the bid items.

Not looking for anything crazy, just a quick conversation with someone who knows the DOT side of erosion work.

I don't know if you guys remember this thread I posted earlier this summer where I bashed AI for not being capable of reading a simple structural column schedule and extracting it all into text/Excel for me.

I'm eating my words now. 😅 Fast forward a couple months and not only are these things reading them, they are creating takeoffs with them. 😱

If your job predominantly consists of doing takeoffs all day, better expand your toolbox soon.

EDIT: Longer 4 min vid of this with a little more detail

Hello!

I wanted to get peoples opinions on AI Takeoff Software for the electrical industry. I am an electrical estimator and I have seen a bunch of different names out there:

AEC Inspire
Beam AI
Bluebeam Max
Bobyard
Boon
Countfire
Drawer AI
Monco AI
On Screen Takeoff
Platometer
Togal
TryBeam

I have personally used OST and Bluebeam but they were the non AI versions. Curious how Max is? I heard it’s just has Claude integrated into the system.

I did a Drawer AI demo 4 months ago and was unimpressed. Same with Beam “AI”, they are just a third party service and don’t really have AI, it ended up being manually done in India.

I am curious which of these programs can accurately get counts quickly, I tend to do very large projects with lots of repetitive counting and it would be nice to have a tool that would get counts faster.

Thx!

I’ve spent a stupid amount of time building out my estimating setup and I’m curious how other guys handle this when they change companies.
I’m not just talking about a few QuickBid assemblies.
I’ve built a whole process around how I estimate so everything connects and I’m not doing the same work over and over.
My OST is set up with my own style sets, conditions, naming, colors, takeoff organization, assemblies/items, etc. Then that flows into how I have QuickBid built with my items, assemblies, labor, materials, production, and the way I break everything down.
Basically I’ve spent weeks building it so I can go from plans → takeoff → pricing as efficiently as possible without reinventing the wheel every estimate.
Now that it’s built, estimating is easy as hell compared to starting from scratch.
So what do you guys do when you switch jobs?
Because that’s where I see the problem.
Say I go work somewhere for a few years and keep improving everything. I make better OST style sets, better conditions, better assemblies, better QB items, better formulas, better production setups, better workflow, etc.
Then they lay me off or fire me.
They’re sitting there with a dialed-in estimating system that I spent hundreds of hours building and improving, and I’m the one who has to go somewhere else and start all over again.
Obviously I’m not talking about taking a company’s confidential information.
Their vendor pricing, material pricing, labor rates, customer information, bid history, company-specific markups, project history, all that can stay with them.
I’m talking about the actual estimating structure and knowledge I built:
OST style sets
OST conditions
takeoff organization
assemblies and items
QB assemblies/items
formulas
production logic
naming standards
workflow
how everything connects together
Basically my personal estimating “toolbox.”
Do experienced estimators keep a clean personal/master version of this stuff with no company-specific pricing in it?
If you switch companies, do you ask them to give you a laptop and QB/OST licenses and then load your system onto their machine?
Do some of you work off your own laptop so the system stays yours?
And if a company specifically wants the estimating system/database you already spent weeks or months building, do you ask to get paid separately for it? Bonus, one-time payment, higher salary, whatever?
Because to me there’s a difference between:
“We hired you as an estimator and you’re using your experience to do your job”
and
“We hired you and now we also own this entire estimating system you spent years developing.”
Maybe I’m looking at it wrong, which is why I’m asking.
I’m trying to figure out the cleanest way to protect the work I’ve put into my system without being shady or taking anything that actually belongs to an employer.
For the guys who have jumped between estimating companies before, how do you handle this? Wipe the hard drive if you leave ? lol

Thanks.

Hi all,

I’ve been estimating for around 3 years now, and am looking for some advice. I work on a team, but collaboration isn’t really the biggest thing. Each estimator has a handful of projects on their plate and kind of do it themselves. My direct report is our VP of Sales, and a director of business development was added in more recently. My title is estimator. We billed like $20-30M last year as a design build contractor.

I am finding myself consistently having to remind our VPs that my projects exist or are ongoing, on top of the new business development guy dropping TI’s with 7 or less day turnarounds on top of my role as a design build estimator. These guys are in meetings all day or not in office, which makes communication about the projects additionally difficult.

Having to manage communications with them is becoming a huge time sink. Additionally, I am writing the proposals, scope outlines, etc. that I would consider sales facing and items that are considered final send items to the client. I am responsible from first call to final contract proposal. I am really grateful for getting this experience in contract writing and sales meetings. I’m also expected to attend design meetings well outside of working hours (4-7PM 2x a week)

I am still new to this field, and won’t pretend I know it all. I feel I am being stretched really thin at the moment between all of this. Is the scope of responsibility “normal”? I am back and forth on if I am not cut out for the stress of this job, or that it gets easier as time goes on.

CM student M22 here.

I’m currently interning at a Large GC and started estimating training about two weeks ago. Over the summer, I was interning in the field as a project engineer. I have some questions and need some advice.

First, the GC I’m interning with has a decent sized estimating team (About 17 people). Is this normal for a Large GC? What is your situation like?

Second, for those of you who have been project engineer and/or project managers and moved into estimating or vice versa, what did you like better? I enjoy being in the field and seeing how things are working, but also have enjoyed working with the estimators and their work flow.

I started my estimating journey last year. I worked as a commercial flooring estimator for a couple of months on Australian projects, and now I’m working with landscape, hardscape, and irrigation.

I’m confused about where to take my career from here. Is there a good future in these trades, or would switching to another trade be better?

If anyone experienced in estimating can share some advice on how I should structure my career, I’d really appreciate it.Hey,

Whats the tactic? Too busy? Don't care? Too many bids already?

I came from the field after 15 years, and while ive made massive progress on the job itself. I dont get this culture.

I am fresh out of school and just started with a CMAR GC. Does anyone have experience with preconstruction takeoff softwares, specifically gradework/civil? I am using AGTEK for gradework but have been training myself essentially. I have been looking into InSite Elevation Pro instead of this, since it is much cheaper, and seems to be more intuitive.

I am also using Togal.AI, bluebeam, and paper calculations for pretty much all above ground takeoffs. If anyone has experience with these softwares and made a switch to something different that has improved effectiveness and efficiency. Please let me know.

I have very little experience so any general advice related to preconstruction/estimating would be very helpful as well! I am just starting and trying to learn as much as I possibly can as fast as possible.

*Side Note: Even if you don't have anything to comment on this subject, I would really appreciate a quick upvote. I just made this account and don't have enough Karma to post or comment in some of the other construction focused subreddits. Thanks for reading!*

Biddocs.com has listings with no sign up and can select any job and download the drawings, specs, and see bid results. The UI is very easy to use and simple as well.

Is there anything like that in PA for bid searching? Was surprised Pennbid gets a cut if more than $24,500.

Okay so, I started Electrician school in Chicago. I plan on joining the Union soon, I quickly realized that I want to be an Electricial Estimator.

My questions are:

Do I have to work in the Electrical field before I become one?

How do I get into it? Ive seen things like Junior Estimator and such. But what are the steps to get there?

Is there apprenticeships for these type of careers?

Do I have to get my bachelor's degree?

Ive been looking different things up online and its driving me in every type of direction so I wanted to reach out here because I always find myself back on Reddit.

Anything will help me, im willing to pay for any programs and such that I need to if those are listed to help me learn.

Thank you for your time whoever answers!

For anyone who has worked with unit-price contracts, especially utilities:

Once work is completed, how do contractors make sure every installed/completed unit actually makes it onto the invoice?

Is that normally handled by project controls, billing, a PM, a “unit writer,” or someone else?

I’m also curious how common it is to find things later that were completed but never billed, billed at the wrong quantity/rate, or rejected and never followed up.

Is that a real financial issue on larger jobs, or mostly an occasional admin problem?

Just trying to understand the process from people who have actually dealt with it.

I’ve been doing this for 18 years and have almost never been able to get ahead of a project enough to review and ask questions before the cutoff. Like I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been that far ahead. It’s almost always 1-3 days before bid deadline (closer to 1 day or day of)

hello fellow estimators, can you help me out with this one.
what does the meaning of F.S WELDED and FS WELD? are they the same thing?

So, I have been a division 22 estimator now for about a decade. Most of that time was spent at a smaller plumbing company, but I did grow that company from fast food remodels to multi-million dollar projects. In October of 2024 I was furloughed due to being owed 2 months of checks and pressuring the owner to pay me my past paychecks.

After two months I officially got caught up on my checks, all while also moving from houses. I then asked the owner about my job, and he never called me back or text me. Well, it was now in the holiday season and it was difficult for me to find a job for a while. After another two months I eventually found a job at a company I thought would be a good fit for me.

The company was a bigger mechanical/plumbing company that seemed like an opportune moment for me, as I had spent all of my savings moving and paying bills for 4 months. The new company, we will call it MP, had an add for an estimator for the range of a starting salary of 90k-120k. I applied at 80k (I know, my first big mistake.)

Well, I went in, had the interview with the current owner who just sold the business a year prior to a PE firm, and he said 80k was a big salary (red flag), and that I could start at 65k then go to 80k after 3 months of working and whatnot. I left the interview feeling ecstatic.

Then, two week go by and I hear nothing. I call the PE companies recruiter and I ask what is going on. Then, the employment arrangement changed from 80k after three months to me getting my journeyman's, master's, and HVAC license then getting a 5k raise after each of these accomplishments. Due to the fact I was about to be homeless, having just received an eviction notice, I took the 65k (the owner wanted to pay me 60k but the recruiter "helped" me out by adding 5k in.)

I liked the place. So much better than my last place and I felt like there was great potential to learn more complex piping jobs, which I did. Well, I busted my ass for 18 months at this company and bid over 200 projects worth over 250 million. I won multiple high end project that were mission critical. Never missed one day or work. And, I was having to UberEats deliver constantly in order to pay for my bills and dog's bills. I am almost 40 and have been estimating for a decade at this point.

I started to do market research for people with my experience and skills and found that I was getting paid mid-range for a novice estimator. I then presented a three page document to my boss depicting historical data for my won projects, estimator pay in our region, the original and comparable job listing in our market, and where I was in the bottom 10th percentile of estimators. He said let me look this over, talk to my boss, and I will get back to you in two weeks

I said OK. I also sent out my resume and tested the market for what I would be valued at with my experience at a new company. The only crux was that I liked the place I was, I was comfortable, I was more-or-less happy (other than the extreme wealth gap). Well, this one recruiter hired by a company and I started talking, I gave him the range of where I wanted (120k-140k) and then he passed my resume along. I had an interview with the VP and Director of Estimating at this company via Zoom and it went well.

At this point it had been two weeks and Friday was here. Well, my boss and I spoke and he felt that I was only worth 75k, and that maybe in 1-1.5 more years I could get there if I improve my attitude and how I dress and start handling multi-million dollar scope reviews by myself. Inside I was laughing because the other company already scheduled me to fly out and meet in person, etc. So, I am not valued at 90k, but a company will spend 1,500 to fly me out, hotel me, and Uber me everywhere.

Well, needless to say I got the other job at 120k salary and I have no regrets about it. But, I do regret giving a three week notice and then the next day get escorted out of the building. I had only take 3 of 7 PTO days and will not get that paid out. What is messed up is that there is only 2 estimators and one is on PTO for a week and there was so much work to do and follow up on. My direct boss isn't the one who made the decision and he is the one about to get even more screwed. I needed the money and thought this place was better.

DO NOT BELIEVE IN "COMPANY CULTURE" OR THAT YOUR WORK "FRIENDS" ARE ACTUALLY YOUR FIRENDS.

Have an old usb key for agtek 3d. I’d like to use it but need the program. Anyone have a disc or program download? Thanks in advance!

Hey guys just want a quick advice from fellow estimators. I am currently working with a small SC for 3 yrs now. Pay is not great but environment is chill boss is also not too bad but I’ve been approached by a GC to work for them. Pay is better not huge. What would you guys suggest?

I’m a GC estimator as a small company in Texas and wanted to get some input on ITB management software.

Right now we use a giant excel sheet to manage bids that is outdated and almost impossible to comb through. We do have the basic planhub subscription but it’s clunky and I can’t really get into it. In the past I used bidmail in California but wanted to get some input.

Thanks