The construction professional has to be a “jack of all trades, and master of all.” This text covers a wide range of subjects, reflecting the breadth of knowledge needed to understand the dynamics of this large and complex industry. This edition introduces extended coverage in the scheduling area to address more advanced and practice oriented procedures such as Start to Start, Finish to Finish, and similar relationship between activities in a network schedule. This book has been used widely and has become a fairly standard course text at many universities around the U.S. The first three editions have enjoyed wide success as an introductory treatment of the subjects which are critical to success in the construction industry. This fourth edition preserves the features that have been most appreciated by its users throughout the years, and adds suggestions provided by instructors and students through formal surveys and informal feedback to the authors.