The American Concrete Institute recently publish 318-11 building code

The American Concrete Institute has launched ACI 318-11 to be applied for all concrete design, construction, inspection, repair, and research professionals. The new publication includes most updated code necessary for concrete building design and construction together with the corresponding commentary.


ACI 318-11 will provide a great assistance to Engineers, architects, contractors, specifiers, building officials, students, and professors.


Key features of  ACI 318-11:
There are advancements for Reinforcement detailing for seismic applications which include reinforcement detailing for distinct segments of special structural wall systems, detailing of horizontal bars at special boundary elements, and tightened confinement details for flexural hinge regions of large beams.


In order to verify the concentration of dissolved sulfates in water, brackish water, or seawater, Test methods ASTM D516 and D4130 should be applied and to find out percent sulfate by mass in soil ASTM C1580 should be followed.


Recently accessible bend bar types are incorporated into proper provisions. Grade 80 bend bars in compliance with ASTM A615 or A706 should be utilized for non-seismic applications. Zinc and epoxy dual-coated reinforcing bars per ASTM A1055 are also now recognized.


Test records required to find out standard variation for a mixture design should be up to 24 months old. In order to execute acceptance testing of concrete  the testing agencies must adhere to ASTM C1077.


Detailing requirements for ties for circular columns have been explained thoroughly and addition made for minimum reinforcement of deep beams.


There are amendments for Detailing requirements of temperature and shrinkage reinforcement for post-tensioned slabs.

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Global Associates
A pioneer company in construction estimatingJoin our estimating forum  

CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM GEARED TO HELPING SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

The Miami-Dade County Department of Small Business Development and Turner Construction Company recently hosted graduation ceremonies for 56 people from 45 companies who participated in the annual Turner School of Construction Management Training Course.

The course provides participants from all aspects of the construction industry with training and continuing education units. In

This year, it began March 29 at the Miami Dade College Kendall Campus, running nightly on Tuesdays and Thursdays through June 21.

The graduation ceremony took place June 23 at the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus Chapman Conference Center. Each participant got a certificate of completion.

Additional partners in the training program are the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, Miami Dade College Community Education and the Southern Florida Minority Supplier Development Council.

Many participants are the county-certified owners and operators of the company they represent. They include small business owners who function as general contractors and subcontractors offering services and products such as interior design, painting, landscaping, flooring, land clearing, construction cleaning, tile, roofing, cabinetry, electrical, plumbing and other businesses related to the construction industry.

The course covers topics such as business development, pre-construction and estimating, contract surety bonds, bidding and purchasing procedures, safety on the jobsite, quality control, contract risk management, contracts 101, building information modeling (BIM), Introduction to green building, LEED, blue print reading and specifications, construction ethics, chapter 558 construction defects, chapter 489 construction law and rules and much more, including community presenters with topics such as “how to do business” with various organizations.

Turner Construction Company has for more than a quarter-century offered free training courses that have helped many people. One of its major community contributions has been to provide these professional construction management courses to help small, minority and women owned professionals work and compete for contracts in the construction industry.

The training program serves to expand the skills of minority, women, disadvantaged and small-business enterprises and the company says it has been crucial in helping Turner achieve successful contracts with M/WBEs across the country.

Since it began in 1969, 32,000 graduates have passed through the program nationally.

Newly launched measurement grouping tools for for pavement maintenance contractors.

Go iPave recently released measurement grouping tools which will facilitate USA based contractors to group any measurements alongwith asphalt, concrete, edging, sidewalks, turf etc. efficiently.

Go iPave makes the measuring bidding process smooth for pavement maintenance and service contractors as the contractors can now easily visualize specific surfaces in bid proposals, precisely calculate job costs and materials. Besides the contractors can save measurement groups to a workspace file for future reference and modification.

By utilizing the measurement grouping tools the Pavement maintenance contractors will get the ability to know the total quantity of asphalt they are working with, how long are all of the sidewalks and how much edging are they going to prep for?

Key Benefits:
• Group measurements by asphalt, concrete, sidewalks, turf and mulch
• Boostup efficiency while identifying all surface types included in bid proposal
• Smoothly allocate job costs and materials needed for each surface type/measurement group
• Simplify proposals by saving measurement groups to individual spreadsheet tabs
• Provide customers with detailed bids outlining exact surface type measurements like concrete and asphalt

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Global Associates
A pioneer company in construction estimating
Join our estimating forum

Estimating Method for Home Remodeling

Remodeling of house is an important part of today’s life. As we love to change the look of our house frequently it has to done with proper planning. Estimating the cost of the home improvement with the help of contractors is the easiest way to figure the cost of your job. Essentially, all you have to do is to ask several contractors to give you bids for the job. The contractors will be glad to give you estimates or quotes for the prices of labor and materials to complete your project. This is a simple process, but there are some aspects of this type of estimating that can skew the numbers. If you want accurate figures, you should follow some basic rules. What are those rules. Let's find out.

Plans

If you are going to allow contractors to do your job for you, a set of plans for what you want done is an absolute necessity. Even if the job is a small one, you will want to give each contractor bidding the work a set of plans. Without the plans the contractors cannot possibly bid the job competitively.

The plans you issue to contractors don't have to be elaborate, but they must detail all important aspects of the job. A rough sketch of what you want done will probably be adequate, but don't attempt to estimate your job with contractors until you have some type of plans to hand out.

Specifications

Specifications are as important, if not more important, than plans when working with contractors. When you put your job out to bids, you want all contractors pricing the same materials and services. This is only possible with a set of plans and a detailed set of specification.

It is not enough to list your specifications casually. You should not say that you want a new toilet, a new lavatory, and new faucets for the lavatory and bathtub. The specifications should include all technical data needed to identify the specific items you want. This information will normally include a model number, style, color, and similar information.

Tips for concrete estimation

Estimating concrete reinforcing costs is a vital phase of a construction. For ascertaining this keep in mind that the reinforcing steel supplier has taken account of all accessories, cutting, bending, and allowances for lapping, splicing, and waste. When no lap specifications are mentioned add 10% to your quantities for lapping, splices, and waste. Also consider 10% waste for welded wire fabric.

Consider the labor unit price for the subdivision of Reinforcing to put in accessories like bean and slab bolsters, high chairs, bar ties and tie wire

Besides checking structural drawings and architectural drawing, also take into consideration the mechanical and electrical drawings for equipment pads and grouting requirements on steel drawings

Deduct small (two square feet or so) while making estimation of the concrete quantities for floor slabs or walls.

One can avail the concrete prices from suppliers near the job site. A volume discount is obtainable which depends on the competition in the area. Don’t forget to add for waste on the whole for slabs and footings on grade.

In the case of compression testing for a project consider a least amount of one test per pour on smaller pours and a smallest amount of one test for each fifty yards of concrete placed. Each test should comprise of a minimum set of three cylinders.

For structural concrete estimation, includes the requisites for concrete additives, curing methods and surface treatments. Also give consideration to climate conditions alongwith hot or cold weather conditions, prerequisites for concrete placing and finishing methods and equipment.

For estimating precisely the components like formwork, reinforcing steel, ready-mix concrete, placement of the concrete mix, finishing of the surface, and curing should also be considered.


In order to finish the concrete surface a good rule of thumb for finishing concrete permits 1,000 S.F. of slab per each cement finisher.

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
rajib@jobs2india.com
The estimating Service

A complete online course for estimating & bidding

A complete course over the internet is being arranged to provide training on construction estimation & bidding.

The course module will involve the followings :-
An Overview of Estimating and Bidding
Planning and Organizing the Estimate
Estimating General Conditions
Estimating Labor and Equipment
Estimating Sitework - Excavation
Estimating Sitework - Utilities and Other Site Amenities
Concrete Estimating - Footings and Foundations, Slab on Grade, Columns, Walls,and
systems
Estimating Masonry Construction

The participants shoud have the following skills :-
Capability to read blue prints
Accustomed to use spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel, Lotus 123, or Quattro Pro
Basic construction knowledge that includes basic math skill, Estimating terminology (quantity take off, unit price, production rate, etc., versed with calculator and
architectural scale

The course will last for 10 week long.

The course fee will vary from $600 for AACE member and $500 for Nonmember

For registration & detailed overview, please visit the following link
https://www.aacei.org/educ/online/courses/DLC105.shtml

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Construction estimating Service

Cubic yard formula for concrete estimating

A cubic yard is one kind of unit of measurement mostly used in estimating the amount of concrete required for a project. In order to estimate the amount of concrete, the volume of the spaces occupied by the concrete should be determined first. Concrete is ordered by the cubic yard.
To calculate a cubic yard, use the formula by multiplying the length, width and height of the area. The cubic yard is equivalent to 27 cubic feet. One cubic yard of concrete would fill a container that is 1 yard by 1 yard by 1 yard or 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet or 27 cubic feet.
As for example a patio of 12 feet by 10 feet at 6 inches deep = (12' x 10' x 6") / 324 = approx. 2.25 cubic yards (2.22 rounded to a typical delivery amount)
Next, determine the depth desired in inches. Multiply the total square feet by the depth in inches. Divide it by 324.

Rajib Dey
The construction estimating