International Cost Engineering Council

* Reviews added to this page in April 2005

AACE International

AACE International Transactions of the 48th Annual AACE Meeting. AACE International, 2004

Adaptive Environments Centre Inc and R S Means Engineering Staff (Collaboration) *

Means ADA compliance pricing guide: cost data for 75 essential projects. 2nd ed., Reed Construction Data, 5th ed., AACE International, 2004

Amos, Scott (Editor)

Skills and knowledge of cost engineering. 5th ed., AACE International, 2003

Aspen Technology Inc *

R-books: Richardson books on CD. 2004 ed., Aspen Technologies, 2003

Desrosiers, Bruce A and DelPico, Wayne J *

The practice of cost segregation analysis. Reed Construction Data, 2004

Drummey Rosane Anderson Inc, Lewek, David, Macaluso, Joseph and Murphy, Brian C

Building and renovating schools: Design, construction management, cost control. Reed Construction Data, 2004

Dutch Association of Cost Engineers

DACE Prijzenboekje. 23rd edition, Dutch Association of Cost Engineers, 2003

Humphreys, Kenneth K (Editor) *

Project and Cost Engineers' Handbook. 4th edition, Marcel Dekker Inc, 2005

Lewis, Scott (Editor) *

2003 Construction Facts: The Sourcebook of Statistics, Records and Resources in ENR, v.251 no.20a, McGraw-Hill, 2003

Lewis, Scott (Editor) *

2004 Construction Facts: The Sourcebook of Statistics, Records and Resources in ENR,v.253 no.24, McGraw-Hill, 2004

Reed Construction Data *

Means CostWorks 2005, Reed Construction Data, 2004

Skills & Knowledge of Cost Engineering

Scott Amos (Editor), 5th ed., AACE International, 2003

Now in its 5th edition, this updated and expanded guide for fundamentals is an excellent choice for anyone interested in a concise reference to all aspects of the cost management. The 5th edition includes 31 chapters on cost estimating, planning and scheduling, progress and cost control, project management, economic analysis, risk, and much much more. The prior 4 editions were extremely well received and the current edition greatly expands upon the content of those prior editions. The physical size of the 5th edition is almost double that of the 4th edition and is sizably greater than the earlier editions.

Dr. Amos has brought together many of the contributors to the earlier editions along with a number of new contributors to produce a truly outstanding book that every cost engineer, estimator, and quantity surveyor will want to have on his or her bookshelf.

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August 2004 Reviews

Means Cost Works 2004 (Software). Reed Construction Data, PO Box 800, Kingston, MA 02364-0800, USA, 2004. Fax: +304-291-5728. Internet Secure Site: http://www.means.com/direct. CD ROM, Pricing varies depending upon selected features.

The 2004 edition of this exceptional data base contains 18 of the R. S. Means annual cost books plus a wage rate utility and a CostWorks Estimator , an estimating package. R.S. Means (now Reed Construction Data) introduced CostWorks several years ago and it has become a very popular data base, particularly for use in the field. The purchaser chooses which books are desired and pays only for those specific volumes. To obtain a complete set of the Means cost books, or even a partial set, requires a considerable amount of shelf space. With this CD, the complete Means' cost library is available at the user's fingertips and can be used on any job site with a laptop computer. Cost Works also provides hot links to many useful reference sites and can export data directly to Lotus®, Excel®, and Windows® applications. Quarterly updates may be downloaded directly from the Means website.

Building & Renovating Schools R. S. Means Div., Reed Construction Data, PO Box 800, Kingston, MA 02364-0800, USA, 2003. Internet Secure Site: http://www.means.com/direct. 412 pages, hardbound. US $99.95. ISBN 0-87629-740-8.

This new R.S. Means reference book is a needed addition to the literature on construction cost management. School projects are a major part of construction activity and this new book provides an excellent overview of the major factors in design, cost control, and schedules for school construction. Also included are a number of case studies of recently completed school projects and cost models for elementary, middle, and high school facilities. costs. Rates are given as of 1 July 2001, 1 July 2002, and 1 January 2003 with increments for 2003 and future years as specified in existing union contracts.

AACE International Transactions of the 48th Annual AACE MeetingAACE International, 209 Prairie Ave., Suite 100, Morgantown, WV 26501, USA, 2003. Fax: 304 291 5728. Internet: http://www.aacei.org. E-mail: info@aacei.org. CD ROM, US $74.95 to AACEI members; US $99.95 to non-members. Looseleaf paper version: US $165 to AACEI members; US $190 to non-members.

The current edition of AACE International Transactions includes the papers which were presented at the 2004 AACE International Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, USA. Included are 89 papers are covering claims and dispute resolution, cost/schedule control, estimating, global projects, IT/IM in project and cost management, project management, planning and scheduling, and decision and risk management. This edition also includes the course workbook for the AACE "Skills and Knowledge" course which is offered annually in conjunction with annual meetings of AACE International.

February 2004 Reviews

Dutch Association of Cost Engineers Price Book, 23nd Edition. Dutch Association of Cost Engineers, PO Box 1058, 3860 BB Nijkerk, The Netherlands, 2002; E-mail: napdace@mos-net.nl. 274 pages, softbound. Euro 89.00. ISBN: 90-5895-009-3.

Do you want a data book of unit costs from hundreds of actual projects in Europe? If you do, this publication is the book for you. Now in its 23rd edition, the DACE Price Book (Prijzenboekje) retains its pocket size format. It contains an incredible amount of actual project cost information for completed process industry projects submitted by leading engineering - construction and process industry companies. This book is truly worth its modest cost for anyone concerned with estimating projects in the North Western part of the European Common Market. While the book is in Dutch, its many cost tables are very easy to interpret using and English-Dutch glossary in the book's appendix.

January 2004 Reviews

Measuring Mechanical and Electrical Services by John Sierra. Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, PO Box 301, Deakin West, ACT 2600, Australia, 2003. E-mail: terry@aiqs.com.au; Internet: http://www.aiqs.com.au; 32 pages, softbound. AU$ 20. ISBN: 1-876389-16-8

Several works by Joseph Sierra have been reviewed on this web page in the past and were felt to be excellent additions to the literature of cost engineering and quantity surveying. The present work is no exception. As was true of the prior works, this book is brief and to the point while also thoroughly covering its subject. The measurement and pricing of mechanical and electrical services is complex and prone to error. Mechanical and electrical can account for as much as 60% or more of the total cost of a building project. If the measurement and pricing is not done correctly, the final project costs are likely to deviate significantly from the original estimates. This work presents a clear and concise treatment of this complex problem and provides excellent guidance for mechanical and electrical measurement.

Project Risk Management in the Construction Industry: A Review by Terry Lyons. Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, PO Box 301, Deakin West, ACT 2600, Australia, 2003. E-mail: terry@aiqs.com.au; Internet: http://www.aiqs.com.au; 44 pages, softbound. AU$ 25. ISBN: 1-876389-17-6

This compact volume presents a review of risk management practices as they apply to the construction industry. Major topics of discussion include risk management expectations, the risk management process, risk identification, risk assessment, risk attitude, and risk response. A fairly extensive bibliography of literature on the topic is provided along with tables enumerating risk identification tools, risk assessment tools, and risk response techniques discussed by each author listed in the bibliography. The book is a good overall summary of the various approaches to risk management but, in the mind of this reviewer is incomplete because it omits reference to a significant amount of literature in the field, particularly the publications of AACE International and the works of Michael Curran, one of the early pioneers of risk management work in the engineering and construction industry. The only reference to any of the huge number of AACE publications is one article published in 1994. No mention of the work of Curran appears anywhere in the book. This oversight is significant but may be due to the author residing in Australia and not being familiar with all sources of information outside of Australia. Readers of this work would be wise to also look at the three volume AACE International publication, AACE International's Professional Practice Guide to Risk which was edited by Michael Curran and was previously reviewed on this web site. This publication includes nearly 300 articles on the subject. Information about this huge three volume publication is available at http://www.aacei.org.

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