Estimating 101

Before becoming an estimator, I worked in the field as a laborer, operator and a foreman until I was 37 years old. On many occasions when I would get home from work, my wife would ask me, “What did you do today”? My response was usually, “Dig a hole, cover it up…that’s what I do”. In the most simple terms, you could say that is what Frattalone Companies does. But, how do we get all those projects to work on?

What follows is a brief explanation of just how that happens. To summarize the process we must:

• Find out about projects to bid on
• Examine the bid documents 
• Do a detailed quantity “take off” 
• Put a price on the job 

The jobs that we do can be categorized as either public (streets, parks, ball fields, etc.) or private jobs (commercial buildings, landfills, etc.) We find out about the public jobs in various publications, the internet and sometimes we receive invitations by mail or by fax. Frattalone typically bids on these public jobs as the prime contractor, and we are required to guarantee our bid with a bond. We find out about private jobs in much the same way, but we get far more invitations from general contractors themselves. In this case we are “quoting” our part of the project to them, and then they turn in a prime bid.

Every Friday morning, the estimators have a meeting to discuss what jobs we will be bidding on for the upcoming week and beyond. At that time we also assign the estimator that will be responsible for bidding each project.

The estimator must first obtain the bidding documents. Bidding documents are plans, specifications, soils reports, etc. Sometimes we get this information in the mail, but as often as not, someone must go to an office and pick them up. We are just starting to get documents via the internet, and my guess is that this will be the way business is done more and more in the future.

Now that they have the documents, the estimator now carefully reads the plans including all of the notes. They then reads the specifications. As one of my college professors told me, “If you read the spec, you get education……..If you do not read the spec, you get experience”. Notes are taken regarding anything that might impact the cost of the job.

After the review process is completed, the estimator does a detailed quantity “take off”. This includes determining the volume of earth to move, lineal feet of pipe to install, soil correction, footings, sand cushion, and so on and so forth.

Now the tough part comes. We then estimate what the cost of the job will be, and how much our bid will be. In most cases, for us to get the job, we must be the low bidder. In order for me to keep my job, we must make a profit. That is what makes this job difficult (If you know me, you’ve noticed that my hair is completely gray). We have to have the lowest price (that’s easy), but still make enough money to turn a profit (that’s hard). There are many items in a bid that can be determined with exact accuracy such as the cost of sand, or the hourly pay rate for an operator. Other items are done on a best guess basis. Examples of this would be cost of fuel or …..just how many times do you think it will rain on this job. Productivity is usually based on past experience.

In most cases, we are not the low bidder!! That’s right, we went through all that work, only to fail to get the job…….but, that’s normal. If we get one in eight or nine, we feel that is about right. If we are getting any more than that, we are probably bidding the jobs too cheap. It can take anywhere from a couple of hours to nearly a week to bid a project. Typically about a day’s time is required. 

This has been just an overview of the entire process, and there is a whole lot more to it than was just described. As a matter of fact, there are many books written on this subject, and it is the subject of college courses. Still, I hope this gives you some idea of what it takes to get a job so that you can “dig a hole…cover it up”.

Kirby J. Smith
Estimator 

Welcome

Please join us in welcoming Larry Langer who has been hired as Manager-Special Projects. Larry is a Registered Professional Engineer and has many years of experience in our industry. He will be assigned projects to manage where we feel his experience will be invaluable. 

We are pleased to announce that Cory Van Engen will be joining the Frattalone Team beginning December 1, 2004 as an Earthwork Estimator and Project Manager. Cory is currently employed in that capacity with Soukup Construction, Inc. of Sioux Falls, South Dakota where he has worked for the past six years. 

In addition to his experience, Cory is a 1998 graduate of South Dakota State University, School of Engineering and holds the degree of Bachelor of Science, Construction Management.

Please take a moment to welcome Larry and Cory when you see them.

Employee of the Month

Each month the superintendents nominate an employee who they feel deserves the title of “Employee of the Month” for the previous month. The person who is chosen receives a gift certificate for $100.00 and their picture on a plaque in the office. Congratulations to the following:

• August, 2004 - Tom Lundeen
• September , 2004 - Matt Busson

Holiday Party

The Frattalone Companies’ Holiday Party will be on Saturday, December 11th and will be held at Jimmy’s Conference Center in Vadnais Heights. Cocktail hour starts at 5:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:15 p.m. and a short program there after. This year we will be having a CASINO NIGHT that will start at 8:00 p.m. For our out of town guests, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn Express, which is connected to Jimmy’s. They have given us the group rate price of $74.00 per room. If you are interested in reserving a room, their phone number is 651-484-2400. 

Invitations will be sent out soon.

Holiday Schedule

Listed below are the days that Frattalone Excavating will be closed:

• Thanksgiving Day, 11/25/04
• Christmas Eve, 12/24/04
• Christmas Day, 12/25/04
• New Years Eve, 12/31/04
• New Years Day, 1/1/05

Congratulations! - Retirement & Births