CERT Publications

For many in my profession, traditional roles and duties have developed into something that “old school” estimators wouldn’t necessarily recognize. Maybe a better verb for the previous sentence would be “transformed”, or perhaps more appropriately, “evolved”. It isn’t uncommon for the modern day estimator to wear even more hats than they always have.

A little over two years ago I started thinking about starting an estimating and consulting business. After about nine months of thinking, planning, and weighing the options, I decided to go for it and started all the paperwork to establish an LLC with the State of Ohio.  

Things an AEC Company Or Owner Should Know When Hiring An Estimating Consultant Firm To Do Work For Their Business By Edward Walsh, Executive Director – CERT The Consulting Estimators Round Table [www.CERT-USA.org] has developed some recommended guidelines for any AEC firm, building owner or developer thinking about hiring the services of a CE firm.

Architects, engineers, owners, developers, planners, law firms, sureties, and contractors no longer have to take as much risk or time when selecting an estimating consultant with whom to partner on their projects. There is now an excellent resource for those with a need for reliable construction cost estimating services to find experienced and dependable consulting construction estimators to work with when they need accurate and unbiased estimates for the projects they are designing, planning, negotiating, or bidding.

Members of the Consulting Estimator Roundtable (CERT), a trade association founded by several ASPE members who are independent consulting estimators, have developed and will present a three hour session focusing on the requirements for starting a practice, marketing it, finding clients, running it successfully, collecting payments, and making it a sustainable enterprise.

The reader might ask, why would an estimating firm provide services other than estimating? Many of us got started in this business doing something other than estimating.

Traditional networking, (no password required), means that the more people one knows, and knows well, the wider the network.  Networking is a valuable resource and many businesses depend on it for survival. It means we can foster growth through introductions to new contacts by people we know, people who can offer personal references as to our skills and reliability.

When considering the start up of a construction estimating practice, the business structure of the enterprise is usually the first concern that makes the list. It’s human nature to be concerned about the ramifications of making a mistake on which another person or company makes a cost decision, so this is of course a topic … Continue reading Legal, Insurance, and Contractural Issues for the Estimating Consultant →

For the past several years, many involved in ASPE leadership agt the national and chapter level have been estimators engaged in private practice – in other words, consultants.