Oblivious to the real cost of work-related stress, construction estimators keep calculating the fluctuating cost of construction projects despite a myriad of perplexing complexities.

Many construction estimators feel sticking to the profession has become overly difficult in the face of inflation, frequent hikes in the prices of materials, lack of use of the right technology, and a sharp increase in the volume of work.

The problems like shortage of material and labor, denial of flexibility to work from home, and lack of use of historical data are also responsible for adding to estimators’ stress.

Before the pandemic recovery phase, an estimator had been bidding for 1.6 projects per week on an average — as opposed to 3.2 projects per week now. An overwhelming majority of estimators feel this is additional work sans any reward.

The pressure of putting together the right kind of bid — the kind that wins you a contract — has escalated manifold because of numerous variables. After all, a bid should not be too low or too high than a contract’s price. 

If a bid is too high than a contract’s price, the bidder will definitely lose the contract — and if it’s too low, the contractor runs the risk of spending money out of his pocket. Naturally, the stress levels go through the ceiling when estimators find themselves negotiating too many variables in putting together a winning bid.

And every time a construction estimator sits down to work on a new bid, he has to gather all the numbers afresh because yesterday’s figures are now most likely stale. And any number of clauses in the contract for the secured project may not be able to cover the trouble the stale figures can cause.

One can ask what is new in calculating a bid when estimators have always been taking into account escalations in the prices of material and labor. New is the account for inflation and supply chain implications, which can send an estimator’s stress levels sky-rocketing and give him sleepless nights. 

It’s stressful to keep thinking about what might change in the morning, and how it would impact the bid, especially when you have not been able to secure any contracts recently. Think about it — what good is a construction estimator if he can’t bring in business?

Another stressor for the estimators is the reluctance of the preconstruction companies to employ technology and historical data to streamline their work. 

The few contractors, who now use technology to improve their estimation expertise, have a huge advantage in not only developing their teams, but retaining them as well. Keeping your best talent from leaving you becomes impossible when competing companies get a wind of their work.

When offered a better salary, a preconstruction professional will refuse a counter offer to stay back — believing he had been denied his due reward for too long, states the Niche SSP’s construction estimator salary survey.

That’s why preconstruction companies need to ensure that their preconstruction teams have competitive salary packages, access to historical data, and flexibility to work from home. Needless to say that estimating teams that don’t have access to historical data and rely on Excel for estimations win fewer projects.

Experts say contractors will surely help preconstruction teams reduce stress levels if they allow them the flexibility to work from home.

Research shows that estimation professionals can easily achieve preconstruction and estimating objectives while working from their homes. 

This can increase work efficiency, save time and money for everyone, and reduce stress for preconstruction professionals. There is a cost of stress for the national economy as a whole as well as what it can cost an individual, says the American Institute of Stress, a nonprofit organization.

“Regarding the cost of stress to an individual estimator, it is well known that stress reduces the effectiveness of one's auto immune system which can lead to sickness. The personal cost of stress can be as much as $10,000 per year in copays, surgical procedure deductibles, over-the-counter medication, and chiropractor fees,” the Institute states. 

Where preconstruction companies can facilitate estimators better to reduce their stress, estimators too can help themselves by ensuring a few steps.  

While the market doesn’t allow estimators to use ‘standard’ unit prices for an extended period for their bids, they can rely on re-pricing exercises to monitor markets and revise data.

While securing different materials and services, estimators can ask suppliers and contractors/subcontractors to make sure that they are quoting the prices according to the current market condition. 

If estimators make it a habit to ensure the current market prices of materials and services, it can mitigate risk factors to a great extent.

Another great way an estimator can cut risk is to make sure that owners and competitors are informed about the market trends. This exercise can prove beneficial in projecting similar outcomes in the market as everyone will know what to expect.

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