# Construction AM References



## Silvamela (Sep 3, 2008)

Hi,

Anyone had any luck finding good/specific references for Construction AM? Only first topic is in CERM...Just can't buy one book for one topic, neither I have much time just searching  Not my area, I am a water person...

:thankyou:


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## ramicoce (Sep 3, 2008)

You shouldn't need a specific reference for the AM sections. The construction questions in the AM are typically simple ones such as cut/fill, scheduling, etc. The CERM 10 covered all of the construction questions that I remember in April; I assume the CERM 11 would cover as much or more.


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## Dexman1349 (Sep 3, 2008)

I only used the CERM. The big difference was that I took the Construction PM too. I had spent a couple years working with a general contractor so I just learned how to do estimating, scheduling, quantity take offs, etc.

I'm not really sure what resources would be needed to learn how to do this kind of stuff. A couple chapters in the CERM that I found very useful with refreshing on the scheduling was Chapter 81 (10th edition = Project Management) and for econ was chapter 85 (10th edition = Engineering Economic Analysis). The Econ chapter was a great refresher if you had to take an econ class in college.

As far as the quantity take offs / estimating portion, it's just basic algebra. You add up the quantites (make sure your units are correct &lt;- this will make or break alot of your calcs) and multiply by the correct unit price. The AM portion of the exam gave all of the necessary data to do these calcs, you just need to be savvy to the construction slang (ie, 1 yard of concrete = 1 yd^3 = 27 ft^3). Some of these type of problems require you to read them thoroughly multiple times to make sure that you are arranging the information correctly so that it can be solved quickly. I would advise doing practice problems (I think there were a couple in the NCEES practice problems) just to get the hang of doing these calcs.


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## Silvamela (Sep 3, 2008)

Dexman1349 said:


> I only used the CERM. The big difference was that I took the Construction PM too. I had spent a couple years working with a general contractor so I just learned how to do estimating, scheduling, quantity take offs, etc.
> I'm not really sure what resources would be needed to learn how to do this kind of stuff. A couple chapters in the CERM that I found very useful with refreshing on the scheduling was Chapter 81 (10th edition = Project Management) and for econ was chapter 85 (10th edition = Engineering Economic Analysis). The Econ chapter was a great refresher if you had to take an econ class in college.
> 
> As far as the quantity take offs / estimating portion, it's just basic algebra. You add up the quantites (make sure your units are correct &lt;- this will make or break alot of your calcs) and multiply by the correct unit price. The AM portion of the exam gave all of the necessary data to do these calcs, you just need to be savvy to the construction slang (ie, 1 yard of concrete = 1 yd^3 = 27 ft^3). Some of these type of problems require you to read them thoroughly multiple times to make sure that you are arranging the information correctly so that it can be solved quickly. I would advise doing practice problems (I think there were a couple in the NCEES practice problems) just to get the hang of doing these calcs.


Thanks so much, it sounds encouraging!!


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## Tido (Sep 3, 2008)

Silvamela said:


> Hi,Anyone had any luck finding good/specific references for Construction AM? Only first topic is in CERM...Just can't buy one book for one topic, neither I have much time just searching  Not my area, I am a water person...
> 
> :thankyou:


You don't need any more reference for the AM than CERM. I used my 9th and was more thann enough! The NCEES sampe exam will give you a guide about what to expect. There was one question out of the box though that I didn't expect (I actually checked the list of topics after the exam and found remotely similar thing) and probably no book prepares you for such and common sense will do it in such cases....and I am a water person too!

Good luck.


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## KingPH (Sep 3, 2008)

Tido said:


> You don't need any more reference for the AM than CERM. I used my 9th and was more thann enough! The NCEES sampe exam will give you a guide about what to expect. There was one question out of the box though that I didn't expect (I actually checked the list of topics after the exam and found remotely similar thing) and probably no book prepares you for such and common sense will do it in such cases....and I am a water person too!
> Good luck.



Tido is right. The CERM is all you need. The other site has a list of Chapters that are within the CERM pertaining to the Construction portion of the test. Study these chapters and you'll be fine.


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## Guest (Oct 13, 2008)

Wait a minute .. you mean John Lennon was wrong when he said Love is all you need ??!!

JR


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## mattsffrd (Mar 4, 2009)

KingPH said:


> Tido is right. The CERM is all you need. The other site has a list of Chapters that are within the CERM pertaining to the Construction portion of the test. Study these chapters and you'll be fine.


what other site? could you post the list/the site?


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## Mike_NC (Jun 11, 2009)

Yea..

What "Other Site" are you all referring to?


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## SPSUEngineer (Jun 12, 2009)

ppi 2 pass


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## EnvEngineer (Jun 17, 2009)

I used CREM 11 and was glad I had the update, it has the construction stuff better organized. Ruwan is also helpful he has some scheduleing, cut fill and OSHA stuff that was helpful. CREM 11 will get you through but Ruwan is a help.

The index is the key to CREM 11, its big and covers almost everything, you need to practice taking key words from questions and finding them in the index. big help


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