Customer Reviews

Cost Estimating, 2nd Edition

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This book costs *way* too much. Its apparently still the "go to" book for cost estimating, even though it was published quite a while ago. Several chapters near the end talk about software cost estimating using material that is now so old as to be useless. Apparently the basic approach to cost estimating hasn't changed much since the book was published, nor have the financial analysis approaches. There are far more mistakes in the exercises in the book than one would expect. Having said all that, it was the required text for a class in cost estimating, so I bought it, read it, and will probably keep it around to use in the future. I'm glad I was able to get it used but in great condition, as it meant I paid only about $65 for it instead of the $140 or so asking price new.

I was a cost estimator by trade and training. This is one of the few text books I've found that has a lot of real-world application and value. If your business requires that you prepare detailed, auditable proposals with solid 'Bases of Estimates,' this is a good book for your library.

This was a required textbook in a cost estimation course. I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, the book covers many aspects of cost estimating. On the other, it covers the material in a somewhat shallow way. Although the author mentions some of the mathematical techniques involved in cost estimating, those parts of the book are usually explained superficially. The chapter on software cost estimation is so brief and general that it is hardly useful. The text is also excessively verbose, which can make it hard for the reader to stay interested.

On the positive side, the book does provide a set of good guidelines to follow during the estimating process. It also has a lot of useful statistics and rules of thumb. The appendices contain some useful data on the time it takes to perform various manufacturing tasks.