ASPE is planning an Annual Summit in August in San Antonio.
Posted: June 11, 2021 | Tradewinds, Estimating
The American Society of Professional Estimators is planning a three-day event, August 25th through 28th, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas, designed to hone your estimating skills and enable you to construct more accurate estimates. This event allows you to attend in person or remotely. For more information go to: https://www.aspenational.org/mpage/2021Annual Summit
Some of the sessions include:
The Life Cycle of Estimating: Bidding with More Data and Less Gut
Almost every dollar of risk enters a construction organization through estimating. Yet many estimating groups still utilize “gut feeling” in their bidding process. During this session, you will learn an estimating process that closes the loop and allows the right data and information to be shared with those who first control the risk — the estimating team. The utilization of a defined process can ensure transferability of quality information and transparency of estimating accuracy. It can provide accountability for each party involved.
From this session, you’ll learn how to utilize data in bid strategy, understand the role of the estimator in the essential preconstruction planning process, and see the need for the post-job review in order to share the most valuable information.
Estimating Turnover Management
An estimator with two to three weeks on a project probably knows more about the project than a project team will know in a couple of months. This presentation will prepare you to effectively pass project knowledge on to the construction team in a few hours, so that they can get a jump start in what they can’t yet see.
From this session, you’ll learn how to understand different objectives between a Design-Bid-Build turnover and a Design-Assist turnover. You’ll learn how to determine the goals of the turnover and create an affective agenda checklist.
Transparency, Collaboration, and Continuous Estimating
We all want to make design and construction projects better and more profitable. This is the end result when estimators and specifiers act jointly and proactively, using a common language.
Every specification sentence influences the outcome of the estimate. Every estimate line item influences the specs. Both must work together to inform project decisions and ensure compliance with the owner’s goals.
To effect any change, specifications and estimates must lead design. This can start by capturing the dream in system descriptions that the estimator can price. Then explore options and risks. What if lumber prices skyrocket? What if steel is not available? Analyze, adjust, and repeat — until the team can choose the optimal solution that satisfies the owner’s criteria. By adopting a common language for both specs and estimates, spec system descriptions can align with estimate line items. Analysis can then be simplified.
The common language enables evaluation of performance, design, and cost simultaneously and preemptively to inform design. By collaborating from the start, you expose decision-making to everyone — estimator and specifier included — to improve results. Transparency transforms individual behavior with improved collaboration. It provides better content and improved reliability. Outcomes are shaped with informed decisions. This results in continuous improvement for both estimates and specs, to benefit any project.
From this session you’ll learn to zero in on the elements of specifications that will drive accurate information for pricing on a project. You’ll see, as an estimator, how to influence the specification and drive design decisions. You’ll discover how to analyze performance, design, and cost of systems and assemblies simultaneously to strategically react to situations.
Ethical Estimating in the Time of COVID
This session will take a dive into the examination of human nature in the estimating profession by discussing how your professional activities and behaviors may have changed during the 2020 COVID pandemic.
From this session you’ll learn how estimators have changed their practices to accommodate the new normal presented by the pandemic. You’ll discover ways you can maintain your estimating skills and improve them, despite the decrease in opportunities to engage in professional development due to COVID. You’ll see how new circumstances, and how you react to them, relate to ASPE Canon of Ethics #6.
Beck Tech: Preconstruction Data Lifecycle
The preconstruction data lifecycle refers to tracking all data used in the pre-construction phase of a project throughout the life of the project. Historically, data from each major project milestone is used to create deliverables. These deliverables are tracked across the life of the project.
This deliverable-centric approach results in much of the underlying data within the project being lost, and causes estimators to miss opportunities to learn from a project. Here you will find how the preconstruction data lifecycle allows companies to use the data for both benchmarking and decision-making. Incorporating all of this data will completely change the way you make decisions on future construction projects, and will revolutionize the AEC industry.
From this session you’ll find out what you’re missing in the data when it can’t be easily mined.
You’ll learn what your company can change to track the right data and not the wrong. You’ll see how the preconstruction data lifecycle can revolutionize the construction industry.
Construction Economic Forecast 2021 — Behind the Headlines
This presentation will cover construction cost forecasting, from the very beginning of new project starts through cash flow. You’ll see what is included in backlog, and how the spending forecast is affected by project starts from previous years.
You’ll learn how to understand construction starts and apply them to a spending forecast. You’ll see how to utilize the Building Construction Index, Inflation Indices, Input indices vs Final Cost Indices. You’ll learn to predict jobs and productivity and utilize historical cost tracking in your estimates.
Historical Cost Tracking: Lessons during Setup and Implementation
Having past project cost history in a standardized format can be a game changer when determining conceptual budgets. Here you’ll go over a variety of lessons on tracking cost history and making the transition to more widely-used digital databases. This includes the pros and cons of using GMP versus end-of-project costs. Other types of valuable project information will be discussed, such as inflation, and how you can best apply the cost history.
You’ll learn how to apply cost history implementation with a standardized format, and will discover how to determine valuable project information and how to implement it in your estimates.
Preconstruction Possibilities — Realizing Your Potential
Preconstruction has been ever-evolving as the construction industry continues to blur the lines between design and construction. Compressed schedules, complex projects, and sophisticated consumers demanding better project delivery from the outset all affect today’s projects. Here you’ll learn strategies and technologies that your team can deploy to increase collaboration and better set up your projects for success. You’ll see how to identify the challenges in managing costs during design and preconstruction, as well as find technologies for cost estimating, data integration, and AI for scheduling. Your strategic advantage for the future is understanding modern preconstruction.
You’ll learn how to understand the forces that are creating pressure on today’s preconstruction teams, and discover how to identify the leadership required to create a culture of innovation and continue to reach the potential presented by today’s technology innovations.
For more information go to: https://www.aspenational.org/mpage/2021AnnualSummit
The Schedule:
August 25, Wednesday — Event Registration. Welcome Reception
August 26, Thursday — Keynote, The Lifecycle of Estimating: Bidding with More Data and Less Gut. Estimating Turnover Management. Transparency, Collaboration, and Continuous Estimating. Ethical Estimating in the Time of COVID. Preconstruction Data Lifecycle. ASPE Awards Celebration.
August 27, Friday — Construction Economic Forecast 2021. Behind the Headlines Historical Cost Tracking: Lessons During Setup and Implementation. Legal Pitfalls (and Opportunities) of Estimating. Preconstruction Possibilities — Realizing Your Potential. ASPE President’s Party.
August 28, Saturday — State of Society. Accelerating Innovation in Preconstruction. Regional Breakouts Sessions.