Best Construction Estimating Classes in Miami

What is Construction Estimating?

Construction estimating involves creating a detailed cost breakdown for all components of a construction project. Construction estimating takes into account the costs of equipment, labor, materials, site permits, and anything else that could cost money or impact the profits of a project. This cost estimation takes place during the pre-construction phase so that everyone involved can get a sense of the feasibility of a project and its projected budget. 

Learning construction estimating can lead to a fulfilling career in the AEC industry. To create a detailed cost estimate, construction estimating professionals need a strong background in math and will need to know the fundamentals of the construction process, how to read blueprints, important industry and safety regulations, and market pricing trends. Though it can be a complex skillset to learn, it is a necessary and in-demand skillset used for all construction projects. This training can prepare you to become a Contractor, a Construction Estimator, or a Construction Project Manager, and it can be useful for other architecture and engineering professionals who can use it to ensure that their designs are practical and able to be built within a particular budget range. 

Construction Estimating Classes in Miami

The Virtual Design & Construction Institute (VDCI) offers high-quality construction estimating classes for learners of all levels. VDCI is a nationally accredited educational institute, meaning that its courses, certificate programs, and certification classes meet rigorous standards for excellence in education. Their classes are self-directed, part-time, and online, so students can begin a course immediately upon enrollment and receive structured training that is catered to their own pace and learning needs. In these self-directed courses, students will still be able to engage with industry experts, other students, and program alumni, and VDCI offers career support for those navigating the job market in their chosen fields. 

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VDCI’s Construction Estimating Course can be a good place to start. This course is open to beginners and provides 20 hours of project-based construction estimation training. In about three weeks, students can expect to learn everything they need to know about how construction estimates fit into the construction process, what the different types of estimates and cost calculations are, what tools and software you need to use for construction estimating, and what others skills you will have to learn to take on this role. This course provides an introduction to cost estimating that can help those looking to enter the AEC industry gain foundational knowledge and training, and it can enhance the skillset of professional designers, drafters, and tradespeople already in the AEC industry. 

Another training option for those wanting to learn construction estimating is to enroll in VDCI’s Blueprint Reading Fundamentals Course. As you’ll learn in a construction estimating course, being able to read and understand construction documents or blueprints is fundamental to the practice of estimating construction costs and generating a budget. Even before taking a construction estimating course, it can be useful to learn blueprint reading, or these skills can be learned together in VDCI’s nine-week Blueprint Reading & Construction Estimating Course. This combined course trains students in reading important documents like floor plans, elevations, and schedules for both residential and commercial construction before guiding students through the course on construction cost estimating. After taking a construction estimating course, you can also enroll in additional courses to learn the fundamentals of the construction process, learn how to generate construction documents, or learn construction management. These classes can be found as individual courses or as bundled programs of study in VDCI’s course catalog. 

Learners in Miami might also consider taking a course through Miami Dade College, a local community college with many in-person, online, and hybrid training options to learn construction basics. Miami Dade’s General Construction Estimating class is a three-week-long, in-person course offered in the evenings, making it convenient for those with full-time jobs or other daytime obligations. Students will learn how to estimate costs for construction materials, labor, and quantities from an expert instructor. You can take this course for college credit or pay to take the course without enrolling as a student at Miami Dade. 

Florida-based Gold Coast Schools offers an Introduction to Construction Estimating and Bidding Essentials course. This is a two-day course that students can take in-person at one of Gold Coast Schools’ training facilities or livestream online from the convenience of home. Prospective Contractors and other professionals looking to learn about cost estimating and bidding will find this introductory course especially useful. This course provides project-based instruction so that students learn about preparing estimates and can practice their skills with real-world estimating exercises. 

Those interested in an online-only program can consider Florida International University’s Fundamentals of Blueprint Reading & Construction Estimating. This is a three-month, self-paced course that provides instruction on how to read residential and commercial blueprints and estimate construction costs. This course is suitable for beginners and only requires the ability to use a personal computer. Upon enrollment, students will gain immediate access to the course and its 50 hours of training material. 

Construction Experts, Inc. also offers a self-paced, online course in construction estimating. Their 101 Introduction to Construction Estimating course covers the types of estimates, how they are organized, how to estimate costs, techniques for pricing and generating quantity takeoffs, and other important cost estimating skills. Students will have access to course materials for 10 weeks after enrollment, and they can work through them entirely on their own and at their own pace. 

What Can You Do with Construction Estimating Training?

Construction estimating training will allow someone to understand how construction costs are generated. This training teaches you how to generate detailed cost estimates and how those estimates relate to construction designs and plans. Individuals with this training can look at construction documents like floor plans, elevations, or schedules and start to translate these documents into material, labor, and equipment costs. This training allows you to fulfill a critical and in-demand role for clients and companies and can be the start or continuation of a sustainable career in the AEC industry. 

Other professionals outside of the construction industry can also find this training useful. Architects, Engineers, and interior Designers, in particular, might find it useful to understand the relationship between their designs and technical drawings and the costs of the projects they are designing. This can help them to become better designers as they will be able to think about how each line, shape, surface, material, and texture relates to the real-world process of sourcing, buying, and using construction materials to physically build a structure or building system. 

What Will I Learn in a Construction Estimating Class?

In a construction estimating class, you will learn how to estimate the costs for a construction project. Learners can expect to receive training in the underlying concepts of construction estimating as well as the technical skills necessary to master this skillset. This will involve learning about the types of estimates, how cost estimation is related to construction documents, how to organize cost categories, and how to use tools, software, and spreadsheets during the process of generating a detailed cost estimate. 

Classes in construction estimating will sometimes include units on how to read construction documents. Blueprint reading is part of the skillset for someone who professionally calculates construction costs, and this is a skill often taught alongside construction estimating. Knowing how to interpret and read blueprints allows you to generate costs for required construction materials, labor, and equipment. 

A training class in construction estimating will also enhance your skills of accuracy and attention to detail. These courses will emphasize that one of the most important parts of cost estimating is being as accurate as possible, as mistakes can literally cost a company money. You will develop a keen eye for detail in these classes, as the projects you undertake will force you to pay attention and go through all of your calculations and estimates deliberately and with care. 

What Kinds of Training Options are Available to Learn Construction Estimating?

Construction estimating courses come in a variety of training formats, including in-person, live online, self-directed, and on-demand. In-person training involves physically going to a classroom or training facility for regularly scheduled courses. You learn the material at the same time and in the same location as other students. This kind of training is provided by a variety of educational institutions, including universities, community colleges, vocation schools, continuing education programs, and digital skills training centers. 

Another training option is enrolling in a live online course. This is a remote learning option where students attend regularly scheduled courses with other students but do so from home or another quiet location. Live online courses are taught by expert instructors and will often take place through video platforms like Zoom. The course material can be similar to in-person courses, but live online courses might offer additional forms of digital engagement, like message boards, discussion posts, or weekly video meetings with peer groups or mentors. These courses might be offered by the same institutions that offer in-person training, though there are many online-only digital skills training providers as well. 

Both self-directed and on-demand construction estimating courses are remote, asynchronous online training options. This means that students are given access to course material and can work through it at their own pace. Common course material includes textbooks, video lectures, practice material, and quizzes. Most self-directed and on-demand courses allow students to start immediately upon registering for the course, and students will have access to course materials throughout the duration of their studies. 

The major difference between self-directed and on-demand courses is that self-directed training comes with additional guidance and mentorship opportunities that on-demand courses lack. Self-directed courses provide support from expert instructors or mentors so that students receive individualized feedback on their skills and have someone to turn to for help with course material or with job-related questions. On-demand courses generally lack access to this kind of guidance, instead, students will teach themselves from pre-set course materials. On-demand courses are often offered by large education companies like Udemy, Coursera, or Skillshare, whereas self-directed courses can be offered by similar education providers as in-person and live online training options. 

Choosing the Right Training Method for You

Finding the right training method for you involves thinking of your own learning needs and also considering the cost, curriculum, schedule, and training format of a given course. In-person training is often considered the best way to learn and retain course material. This training method allows students to access the instructor and other learners in real time, and most find it easier to focus on course material in a dedicated learning environment like a classroom. In-person training can be more difficult to find, especially for a niche topic like construction estimating. These courses can also be less cost-effective than other options and less accessible to those with full-time jobs or busy schedules. 

Online training is a great alternative to in-person training. The biggest advantage of online training is convenience--whether you’re taking an instructor-led class or learning course material on your own, online classes allow you to learn from the location most convenient to you. For many, this means learning from home. Online courses are also more likely to have part-time options for training, and live online classes, in particular, are more likely to offer evening or weekend classes for those who cannot take a class scheduled during the workweek. 

The biggest benefit of live online training is that you are still learning from an instructor and can still engage with your classmates. This will help keep you focused on the course material and push you to learn the skills necessary for construction estimating. Self-directed courses are another option for someone who values some amount of guidance and structure when learning new material. Self-directed and on-demand classes are both best for self-motivated learners, as some find it hard to complete the course material when learning remotely and online, as there is nothing to force you to study, practice, or finish a course.

Career-oriented learners will want to find in-person, live online, or self-directed courses. These are the courses most likely to offer detailed, comprehensive construction estimating training, and these training formats often come with additional career support services. Services can include mentorship and networking opportunities, portfolio development, or aid in preparing for and navigating the job market. On-demand courses will teach you the rudimentary basics of construction estimating but will usually not offer the professional skill development necessary to take your skillset from the classroom into the workplace. 

How Hard Is It to Learn Construction Estimating?

Construction estimating can be a difficult skillset to learn. This skillset involves needing to have a good handle on math, blueprint reading, estimating software, and the construction industry. Many people, however, learn construction estimating after spending time working in the construction trades, where they have already gained some of the necessary knowledge and technical skills to do this work. Anyone willing to devote time and energy to learning how to estimate costs and generate budgets for construction will generally be able to do so. 

What are the most challenging parts of learning Construction Estimating?

The most challenging part of learning construction estimating is that it involves mastering a number of related skillsets. At minimum, you’ll need to know about the construction process and know how to read blueprints, generate material and labor costs from blueprints, shop for vendors and suppliers, and collect and analyze cost data. Additionally, you need to have strong math skills and have a very strong attention to detail, which might not come naturally to some people. Construction estimating can be a high-pressure role as budgets need to be as accurate as possible, and mistakes can cost companies money. 

How Long Does it Take to Learn Construction Estimating?

It can take a few months just to learn the basic knowledge and technical skills you’ll need for construction estimating. If you’re learning construction estimating alone, it can take as little as two to three weeks to learn the fundamentals. If you need to learn additional skills like blueprint reading, expect it to take longer. To become proficient at construction estimating, you will need to gain on-the-job experience working on real construction projects, and most find it takes at least one year of consistent practice to do this job professionally. How long it takes can also depend on the skills you already have. Some with a construction background will find it takes less time to learn cost estimating for construction projects because they have on-the-job experience to inform their studies. 

Can I Learn Construction Estimating Free Online?

You can learn some of the basics of construction estimating and the necessary software for free online. Noble Desktop’s YouTube channel is a good place to start learning about career pathways in design and how to use industry-standard software. YouTube has other construction estimating tutorials that many find useful, and you can even find short courses through providers like Coursera or LinkedIn Learning. You cannot learn professional skills development for free, so those wanting a career in construction or to use their construction estimating training professionally will want to enroll in a course for more structured guidance to learn this skillset. 

Some will also start learning construction estimating while on the job when working on construction projects. If this is true for you, a construction estimating course can help you further develop your abilities and turn your skillset into a sustainable career. 

What Should I Learn Alongside Construction Estimating?

Along with construction estimating, you will also need to know how to read construction documents or blueprints. These construction plans are a kind of universal language in the AEC industry that those estimating construction costs will use to calculate the cost of materials and labor. If you don’t already know how to read blueprints, it is best to learn this skill prior to taking a construction estimating course. You can also find combined blueprint reading and construction estimating courses that beginners will find particularly useful. 

It can also be useful to learn basic CAD or BIM software. Software programs like AutoCAD and Revit are industry-standard in construction, and they are used to generate the construction documents that you’ll base your estimations upon. These programs are also collaborative, so it is likely that you’ll need to have a basic familiarity with this software so that you can view plans, annotate them, or upload your estimates to share with team members, clients, and other project stakeholders. 

Industries That Use Construction Estimating

The main industry that uses construction estimating is the AEC industry. This is an industry that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to grow at a rate faster than average compared to other occupations and industries in the US. This is true in Miami, as well, which has long been known for having a solid construction industry as well as a need for trained Architects, Engineers, and interior design professionals. 

Most who learn cost estimating work in construction, in some form. They will learn how to read blueprints and generate projected costs of construction materials, labor, and equipment so that projects can set a reasonable budget to follow during the construction process. It is common for Contractors, Constructor Estimators, and Construction Managers to all need training in construction estimating as these professionals are focused on creating budgets, monitoring budgets, or making sure a project stays within its budget. 

Other architecture and engineering professionals can also benefit from learning construction estimating. As Architects, Engineers, and other designers create building, structure, or system plans, learning cost estimating can help ensure that their designs are feasible. They will be the ones whose designs are turned into the blueprints used to create a budget for the project, so knowing how this process works can have a lot of benefits for these professionals, even if they are not in direct cost estimation roles. 

Construction Estimating Job Titles and Salaries

Many of the jobs and job titles associated with construction estimating have Estimator in the title, making them easy to spot. Professionals known as Construction Estimators are most associated with this training. These are the individuals tasked with generating a project’s costs of materials, labor, and equipment. They need to know the market costs for construction projects and will need to contact suppliers, vendors, and subcontractors for quotes on the cost of their goods and services. Construction Estimators in Miami earn an average yearly salary of around $81,000, which is on par with the national average. In Miami, the average salary for Construction Estimators ranges from $50,000 to $131,000 and will depend on a number of factors like education, experience, and industry specialization. 

You can also find the Construction Estimator role listed as a Cost Estimator, or these might be slightly differentiated. Cost Estimators might estimate overall costs for a wider array of projects, while Construction Estimators might work on generating costs for a singular building, infrastructure, or systems project or a part of a project. You can also start as a Junior Estimator and work your way up to more senior-level positions like Chief Estimator or Estimating Manager, though which positions are available can depend on the structure of the company you are working for. 

Construction Managers or Construction Project Managers can often also need construction estimating training. These professionals are responsible for managing construction projects from start to finish. This will include overseeing how the budget is generated and working to ensure that the project adheres to the approved budget and stays on schedule. This is a senior-level role on a construction site, and the average salary for a Construction Project Manager in Miami is around $101,000 a year. This is higher than the national average, and salaries can range from $65,000 to as high as $156,000 in Miami. 

Construction Estimating Corporate Training

If you are looking to upskill or reskill your workforce, consider enrolling your team in VDCI’s corporate training classes. VDCI offers both a Construction Estimator Course and a combined Blueprint Reading & Construction Estimating Course for those needing to learn both skillsets. All VDCI courses are online and self-directed so that learners can start the course immediately and move through it at their own speed. Additionally, students can take courses in-person at VDCI’s training facility in Manhattan, and courses can be scheduled onsite at your location. 

Discounted bulk vouchers are available for enrollment in VDCI’s regular courses. This allows you to determine which courses to offer to your employees, and it allows them to handle the scheduling and logistics. Email partnerships@vdci.edu to schedule a free consultation for your organization or to learn more about corporate training options. VDCI’s expert instructors can also create a custom curriculum for your team’s needs and skill level.