Using North America's most recognized construction cost data from RSMeans, this step-by-step guide develops problem-solving skills through over 300 sample problems and exercises. All of the major construction items, including site work, concrete and masonry, wood and metal framing, doors and windows, and more are covered. Access to a password-protected web site is included, which contains the instruction version of RSMeans Cos/Works, the electronic version of RS Means Building Construction Cost Data, and sample building plans and spreadsheets, enabling you to practice creating a complete construction estimate.

Get the confidence and know-how you need to deliver more accurate cost estimates and improve profitability. The 73rd edition of this bestselling cost guide has been updated and expanded to provide you with the information you need to: Estimate projects with confidence and accuracy Improve project planning and budgeting Reduce risk Access detailed construction costs, arranged in the CSI MasterFormat 2010 system, and leverage the resources available in the reference section to construct a winning estimate.

Companies live or die on the basis of estimating their costs. Preparing estimates and bidding for new jobs is a complex and often costly process. There is no substitute for on the job training -- until now. Drawing on the authors' combined experience of more than 70 years, Estimating Building Costs presents state-of-the-art principles, practices, and techniques for assessing these expenditures that can be applied regardless of changes in the costs of materials, equipment, and labor. The book is an efficient and practical tool for developing contracts or controlling project costs. The authors cover the major components of the direct cost: estimating procedures and cost trends related to materials, construction equipment, and skilled and unskilled labor. They describe various types of building estimates encountered during the lifecycle of a project, as well as the role and accuracy of each. The book provides an overview of the industry, cost indexes in use, approaches to preparing a detailed estimate, and an in-depth description of the organization and function of the estimating group. Including CSI Master Format and UniFormat codes, estimating forms, a list of available estimating software packages, a detailed construction site and investigation report, the book provides a cost estimating methodology that readers can tailor to their own organizational needs.

The latest costs for accurate budgeting and estimating of new commercial and residential construction...renovation work...change orders...cost engineering. -- Personal help when you need it Should you need assistance to apply Means data to your work, just call the Means Estimating Hotline. There's no charge for this service to you as a subscriber. -- Means Open Shop Building Construction Cost Data Service will assist you to... -- Develop benchmark prices for change orders -- Plug gaps in preliminary estimates, budgets -- Double check your figures -- Estimate complex projects -- Substantiate invoices on contracts -- Price ADA-related renovations -- Estimate projects anywhere in the U.S. and major locations in Canada

"This data set is aimed primarily at estimating commercial and industrial projects or large multi-family housing projects costing $3,500,000 and up. Designed for new construction projects. All materials, wages and equipment costs have been reviewed and updated for 2018"--Provided by publisher

The acknowledged bible of the industry, this reference tool offers unchallenged unit price reliability in an easy-to-use arrangement. Whether used for complete finished estimates or for periodic checks, it supplies more cost facts better and faster than any comparable source--over 20,000 unit prices for 1995. Unit cost data is organized to conform to the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) MasterFormat.

The process of user-centered innovation: how it can benefit both users and manufacturers and how its emergence will bring changes in business models and in public policy. Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users—both individuals and firms—often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all.The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products—most notably in the free and open-source software movement—but also in physical products. Von Hippel's many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive. Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses—the custom semiconductor industry is one example—that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.