Training Path for New Estimators
This training path teaches a new estimator to use CrestApps Estimator. It has twelve lessons. Each lesson has pages to read, a practice task, and what you can do at the end. Most lessons take less than one hour.
Do the practice tasks on a training site, not on the site where your company bids. Ask your administrator to set up a training site with the Estimator – Electrical setup recipe. The training site has sample prices and labor units, so you can practice without a risk to real bids.
A trainer, such as your chief estimator, can use the You can now lists to check the progress of the trainee.
Lesson 1: Find your way
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| Read | Welcome, Features and settings, Roles |
| Practice | Sign in. Find Estimator > Projects, Estimator > New bid and Estimator > Bid calendar in the menu. Ask your trainer which role you have. |
| You can now | Open the main pages, and tell what your role lets you do. |
Lesson 2: Projects and bids
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| Read | Projects, The New Bid wizard, Bids, Bid calendar |
| Practice | With the New Bid wizard, add the project Training Clinic with a bid to Summit Builders that is due next Friday. Rate the bid/no-bid checklist. Add a second bid to another general contractor. Find both bids on the bid calendar. |
| You can now | Add a project and its bids, decide to bid or not with the checklist, and see what is due next. |
Lesson 3: Documents and sheets
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| Read | Documents, Sheets |
| Practice | Upload a PDF drawing set as Drawings. When it is split, check the sheet numbers, titles, disciplines and scales, and correct one. Upload one sheet again as an Addendum, and see which sheet it replaces. |
| You can now | Load a bid package, keep the sheet index correct, and follow addenda. |
Lesson 4: Takeoff
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| Read | The drawing viewer, Takeoff items |
| Practice | Add the takeoff items Duplex receptacles (count), 2x4 LED troffers (count) and Home runs (length). On one power plan, check the scale, calibrate it on a dimension, count the receptacles and measure two runs with drops. Undo one mark. Compare the totals on the Takeoff items page with your own count. |
| You can now | Count, measure runs and areas, trust the scale, and read the quantities per location. |
Lesson 5: The catalog and assemblies
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| Read | Catalog, Prices, Assemblies |
| Practice | Find the 20 A duplex receptacle in the catalog, and read its price history and labor units. Open the assembly EL-A-DEV-REC20-MC, read its components, and test it on its test page with a quantity of 10 and another cable length. |
| You can now | Find items and assemblies, read their prices and labor units, and tell what an assembly adds. |
Lesson 6: Labor
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| Read | Labor rates, Labor factors, Job conditions |
| Practice | Answer the job conditions of Training Clinic. Pick a ceiling height above 15 ft, and see the factor. Pick a crew, and read its composite rate. |
| You can now | Set the labor rate and the labor factors of a project, and explain why the labor of a job changes. |
Lesson 7: The estimate workspace
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| Read | Estimates, The estimate workspace, Estimate templates |
| Practice | Add the estimate Base bid from the Electrical – Commercial template. Add the lines of your takeoff with Add from takeoff. Add two panelboards with the keyboard. Select the lines of one floor and Multiply them by 2. Open the calculation of the receptacle line, and find its labor hours. |
| You can now | Price a takeoff with assemblies, enter lines with the keyboard, and explain every number of a line. |
Lesson 8: Feeders
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| Read | Feeders, Electrical package |
| Practice | Add a feeder F-1 from MSB to Panel LP-1, 120 ft, four 3/0 copper conductors with a ground, in EMT. Read the conduit fill. Select a smaller Trade size, and read the fill and the smallest size within the limit. Open the checks, and find the conduit fill warning. |
| You can now | Price a feeder from the feeder schedule, and check its conduit fill. |
Lesson 9: Quotes and the recap
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| Read | Quotes and subcontracts, Recap and alternates |
| Practice | Add a Lighting package material quote with three scope items. Enter two quotes, one that excludes a scope item. Enter a plug, and select the low quote. In the recap, change the profit, add an alternate, and use Price to target with a round number. |
| You can now | Level quotes, carry the right one, set the price, and price alternates. |
Lesson 10: Checks, revisions and approvals
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| Read | Checks, Revisions and approvals |
| Practice | Add a line without a quantity, open the checks, and fix the issue from its button. Send the revision for review, and ask your trainer to send it back with a reason. Add a revision, and compare it with the first one. |
| You can now | Find and fix the problems of an estimate, and take a revision through review and approval. |
Lesson 11: Proposals and reports
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| Read | Proposals, Proposal clauses, Estimating reports |
| Practice | Add a proposal from Base bid. Add one exclusion from the clause library, and leave one alternate off. Download the PDF. Open the bid recap and the material list of the estimate, and export the material list to Excel. |
| You can now | Send a proposal, and give the bid recap and the material list to your team. |
Lesson 12: Price a complete bid
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| Read | Price your first electrical bid, Estimator Assistant |
| Practice | Price a new small project from start to end with the use case, without help. Ask the Estimator Assistant for the selling price and the line with the most labor hours, and compare its answer with the recap. Then ask your trainer to review the estimate. |
| You can now | Price and send a complete electrical bid, and record its result. |
After the training
- Learn the glossary terms that are new to you.
- Ask your catalog administrator how your company keeps its prices and labor units up to date. See Price updates.