Lately, I’ve had several interactions with new estimators struggling to get their bids low enough to win a contract. Reviewing their estimates, I often find that the recapitulation (recap) was completed incorrectly. Before...

Milton Fineline has been chief estimator for Altair Electric (a fictional entity) for over 17 years. He has earned a reputation for detailed accuracy, meticulousness and good judgment, although he has had little experience...

In the past, I have written briefly about legal obligations for electrical estimators. Most of my comments have been in reference to the language found in electrical specifications. In this article, I cover several sources of...

In this third installment of Project Puzzlers, let’s cover some more of my frustrations regarding today’s bidding documents. What do you really mean? Almost every project I bid these days contains conflicts and contradictions...