Proper Precon Podcast
Proper Precon Podcast
Troy Simon and Trey Darnell
Where Are All The Estimators?
1 hour 13 minutes Posted Apr 23, 2026 at 4:19 pm.
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Show notes

The construction industry has been talking about a labor shortage for 30 years, but the office side of the problem doesn't get nearly enough attention. In Episode 2 of Proper Precon, Troy Simon and Trey Darnell dig into the estimator shortage hitting pre-construction teams right now: why we're just trading talent instead of growing it, what happens when your senior estimators retire and take their knowledge with them, and what GCs can actually do about it.

They also break down the latest construction tech acquisitions (Nemechek/HCSS, Trimble/Document Crunch, Autodesk/Rumbix), what volatile material costs mean for pricing risk, and a deep dive into a major Cal Poly student housing project to show what a real pre-con team looks like at scale.

Plus: how construction management programs are falling short, what a better university curriculum could look like, and a live look inside Ediphi to show how the right tool can carry context — not just math — so knowledge doesn't walk out the door when your best estimator retires.

Proper Precon is powered by Ediphi — the only true cloud-native pre-construction platform built by estimators, for estimators. Learn more at ediphi.com.