Customized for your trade.
Estimate actual projects being bid on in real time. Receive the plan as they are given out, meet all the deadlines of the bidding process, and complete your estimate when it would be needed as if you were working to win a real construction project.
This is one of two workshops: One for estimating and one for bidding. They both work on an actual project, this one coaches on how to estimate, and the other workshop will actually bid on the same project. Helping you understand the whole bidding process as you estimate it.
There will be multiple trades bidding and estimating at the same time, providing an additional benefit of learning from their perspective of the same process you are working through. This can only be done through coaching, not teaching. Learning the methods through textbooks and implementing this on your own. We will meet to ensure you understand the process, but coaching is the only way to simultaneously work with multiple trades while keeping the price as low as it is.
How the Coaching Works
A simple, three-step path that takes you from the textbook to a validated takeoff on a real project.
- 1
Learn the Fundamentals
Purchase two textbooks. The first contains all the takeoff units — Labor Hours, Labor Mix, Labor Cost, Equipment Costs, and Material Costs. The second teaches you how to properly use the first to create accurate estimates. It's your responsibility to read through and learn to create these estimates on your own.
- 2
Come Together as a Group
We meet as a group to discuss what we read, ensuring everyone is capable of moving forward. Then we provide the plans for everyone to estimate in an educational version of takeoff software — at a discounted price — so you can quickly generate estimates. You'll be able to use the software's customer support to assist in learning the software.
- 3
Validate the Accuracy
Since everyone is estimating the same project, we share our takeoff results and validate the accuracy of the estimate together. You see exactly where your numbers align — and where they need adjustment.
A Real Project, Bid in Real Time
You will be estimating an actual project being bid in real time. There will also be actual contractors bidding and estimating this project in a separate workshop — so you have to follow the deadlines of an actual project being bid.
Both workshops will share the takeoff results, validating accuracy that much better. At which time there will be shared events between the two workshops where you'll be able to learn from actual contractors doing the same estimate you are learning.
Shawn Fogarty
Construction estimator · 25+ years of estimating experience
Shawn has spent over two decades estimating across a wide range of project types. This workshop distills the process he's used and refined across:
Reserve Your Spot
Register for the Estimating Coaching workshop. We'll follow up with textbook details and the next group session.