Any Division 9 Experts Out There?

Abram Germano

I'm a junior estimator in New York working on a lot of projects and pushing over into project management at the same time. Does anyone else ever find them selves filling both these positions and how do you deal with the work load?

We are growing more and more from a sub-contractor to general contracting, and I'm just looking for advice in ways to be able to become an asset to this company.

I say Division 9 only because that is the bulk of what we handle in our contract work, but we also do exterior/structural framing, doors frames and hardware, and so on.

Drywall1

Ok I'm just a redneck from the Midwest.....but what is Division 9?

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mseneker

Division 9 is the section used in specifications for drywall contractors who do commercial work. This a national standard. If you bid real commercial work. You will be going to division 9 in the spec book for details of what you are required to do on the bid. Goggle CSI Divisions for more details.

Drywall1

Knew I'd get a stuffy response

Mabye someday I will bid "real" commercial work.

Nate

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Brockster

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Drywall1

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Tim0282

Great reply!! I agree. I think the not so real commercial jobs pay, too. And I've had to go to section 9. Goody for me... And poop in a drywall bucket in a real pinch

mikey48

I just do remodel and some sheetrock when the job is too small, I feel lower than you guys.

Tim0282

We either use stilts or a bucket to get a little higher than the others. But be careful, watch for drop cords and such...

mseneker

Did not mean to offend! 65% of our work is residential and we only handle wood stud commercial projects which are small to medium. A lot of churches as well. It was hard to make the transition over to bidding commercial from prints and I still find the specs hard to understand at times. I also find commercial prints to nearly hide information on the prints themselves or within the specs. Commercial contractors come in from all over the USA and each architect or engineer has a little twist on the way they present prints.

Again, did not mean to offend. I'll do a better job of reviewing my posts in the future.

If you are interesting in bidding more commercial work a good start is to register with bluebook.com. Hope that lead pays for my ignorance.

Happy Holidays.

mikey48

mseneker, your apology is excepted, think we had a little fun with it anyway.
Happy Holidays

Brockster

Yep, some of the specs are hard to read and found on different pages. I use several different highlight pens first on drywalled surfaces for easier reading. Like all number (4) walls get yellow (5) gets blue and so on when I'm trying to count sheets for a bid and also helps when we're hanging as not to miss anything.

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Drywall1

No stress man! Ive bid some biguns before. I just flip thru the spec book till they start talkin drywall. Bid a 100k grid job once, cloud ceilings and the whole 9 yards. My uncle has been an estimator for the last 20 years he probably would kick my a55 for asking that question.

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buildenterprise

I'm strictly a division 12.5 guy, heck with that 9 stuff.

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Abram Germano

I've grown into the habit of looking for things the architect hides in the specs. Sometimes I find, especially in the products sections, materials being called for that are not on the drawings. What I've been taught is that the spec trumps the drawings. Sometimes those materials you find in the spec are very costly, so be careful not to just breeze through to fast.

Davey

HI Abram.

I am not sure if you have a specific question but I am an architect/builder and I am also a specialist in Masterformat Specs and contract admin. If you are looking to be an asset to any firm I believe that you have to have a proper attitude which includes my 5 rules.


1. treat people like the way you like to be treated. everyone wants to have a satisfying day.
2. If you don't know the answer say " I don't know the answer but I will find out for you"
3. do not overextend yourself because you want to get ahead. If you can't complete the work in the time frame you have to let people know right up front.
4. If someone is not pulling their weight then they have to be replaced but in a factual and direct method. We can't afford to have you take too long on this item so we are going to give half your workload to Joe Blo
5. Suggest a fun thing to do at least once a month with co-workers even if it is just a night out with beers.

If you want to know about Div 9 then you can email me directly.

Abram Germano

Dave, thanks for the tips. I greatly appreciate your insight. I heard a job super talking with another co-worker the other day and he was talking about a project manager he knows. I heard him say that when this PM is on a job, he can be sure the job will get done. I heard a sense of confidence in his voice that he had in the project managers' ability to produce good jobs and happy clients. It was then that I realized that I wanted to be that guy.