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
