Estimating Made Simple

All of us underbid a painting job once in a while. Maybe we didn’t measure correctly, or that isolated peeling turned out to require removal of extensive areas of paint. No matter the reason, an underpriced job can become a source of great frustration.

Obviously, the best and easiest way to deal with such jobs is to not underbid. This of course, is easier to say than do. But there are steps that we can take to greatly reduce underbidding.

The most effective method is to have an estimating system that allows you to identify all of the variables involved in the job. A good estimating system should provide an easy way to quantify these variables, as well as accurate production rates for each variable.

For example, if you know it takes 30 minutes to paint a door at Mr. Brown’s, that same door should take 30 minutes to paint at Mrs. Smith’s. The estimator simply needs to identify how many doors are involved in Mrs. Smith’s job.

Of course, Mrs. Smith’s doors may not be exactly like Mr. Brown’s. Perhaps they have peeling paint, are heavily mildewed, or have other conditions that need to be addressed. Again, a good estimating system will allow you to easily identify these conditions and provide the production rates necessary to address them.

It takes time to develop production rates for all of the tasks, but the result is worth that effort. The result is an estimating system that is consistently accurate.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008