American Society of Professional Estimators

What is the

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ESTIMATORS?

 

The ASPE is a fellowship of professional estimators pursuing construction excellence through a variety of collaborative resources.

Our core values are:

·        Education:
 We passionately care about educating and mentoring the next generation of professional estimators!

·        Professionalism:
 We passionately care about promoting professional estimating as a lifelong pursuit of excellence and credibility!

·        Fellowship:
 We passionately care about developing a network of industry leaders and peers worth belonging to!

  

And in the beginning was the Estimate…

 If you are interested in a career that will allow you to make a meaningful contribution to your company, offers job security, and pays well, we invite you to join us at our next meeting of the ASPE, held the 4^th Tuesday of each month (except November and December due to the holidays). 

 

As President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Society of Professional Estimators (ASPE), one of my duties is to communicate the importance of recognizing the value of your estimating knowledge, and promoting Certification and Continuing Education of the Estimator.  It starts with understanding that we are in a cost-based business, and that every dollar generated in our industry starts with an estimate.  Your value to your firm increases with the experience and knowledge of the factors that represent risk and your ability to mitigate that risk.  In our industry, some skills cannot be taught from a book – you need hands-on experience to fully grasp the subject.

 

For example, making productivity adjustments when bidding work requires an in depth understanding of the activities required to complete the task, and the outside risk factors that influence performance.   Simply applying extra hours to mitigate the risk is one approach, but what if you price yourself out of a job because of the contingency you applied?   The
professional estimator will identify the risk, and then attempt to make it go away.  To do that requires in depth
knowledge of the task, and an understanding of all the factors that contribute to the successful completion of that task. 
If by changing equipment from what is normally used to a piece of equipment better suited to the logistics impacting production at this particular location, you may have mitigated the issue and maintained your competitive advantage.

 

Join us at our next meeting of the ASPE.  We passionately care about education.  The agenda includes an educational portion featuring a guest speaker sharing insight into topics pertinent to construction industry.  We also conduct seminars for professional organizations such as the ASPE, AACE, NAWIC and CMAA.  We participate in and conduct contractor boot
camps for contractor pre-qualification for LACCD, LAUSD, San Diego Water District, and other Public Works programs, as well as teach courses at various local universities and colleges.  We also offer customized seminars to businesses interested in the professional development of their employees.

 

N. Joe Miller, CPE, ME 
President – Chapter 1 of the American Society of Professional Estimators