Estimate Breakouts
An item relating to estimating that is very important to me is the estimates breakout. This is easy for me as I was taught from the beginning to complete an estimate in this manner. Over the last six years I have had lots of students question - openly - my sanity. They do not believe that they have the time to break down an estimate due to the workload they are suppose to complete.
I agree that our work load can be daunting and the prospect of adding another task to that load is never pleasant. I know that the breakouts will eventually save you time, very shortly in fact. They will also help to make your estimate more accurate. In a very short time you may wonder how you completed all your estimates that you did before you started to breakdown the initial estimate.
The reason for this belief is that most estimators that I know review their estimates with an associate or their employer to make sure that the estimate has covered the anticipated costs, I know that I do. Now I do not want to be embarrassed so I always try to review it myself before an associate or my employer reviews it. If I have the estimate broken down I can look at it in a small manageable section which allows me to spot problems easier. This speeds my estimating up rather then slows it down. Most major estimating software packages have this capability and with it the ability to move items around from one breakout to another should an item be inserted into the wrong breakout. This of course has NEVER happened to me, I just know the systems are typically ready for this common problem.
If you are a Estimator - Project Manager and take the project cradle to grave. This method of breaking down your estimate will save you time as your schedule of values is well under way with just your completed estimate. If you turn the project over to a Project Manager you have just made their time a little easier as well, either way you win.
I typically break items down using three categories, they are Section, Breakdown, and Drawing reference. My sections are typically Base bid, Alternate, as many as you have, Value engineering, again as many as you have, and Temporary power. My page reference is the page that I took off the materials. The page or drawing number generally also will breakout the various floors.
