Having a good construction dictionary in your office will
come in handy when specialized terms pop up during the
course of work. I collected as many as I could and paged
through them to compare both content and layout. Broadly
speaking, I found that while many dictionaries have had multiple
editions over the years, they lack updates on recent technological
and design innovations. Even the dictionaries I felt
were the strongest tended to miss terms such as structural insulated
panel (SIP), exterior insulating finish system (EIFS), laminated
veneer lumber (LVL), or insulating concrete forms (ICF).
Here are my picks for the best construction dictionaries, in
rank order:
Means Illustrated Construction Dictionary ($60