McGraw-Hill Construction Launches 'Bid Management' for Contractors and Subcontractors
Network Module Greatly Facilitates Process of Managing the Bid Process

NEW YORK, NY, January 18, 2005 - McGraw-Hill Construction, part of the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), today introduced the 'Bid Management" module for the McGraw-Hill Construction Network to enable contractors and subcontractors to greatly simplify and speed-up the process of collecting information for bids, maintaining records, and tracking performance.

"Since we introduced the McGraw-Hill Construction Network over 18 months ago, we've been listening to General Contractors and Prime Subcontractors to identify what else can be added to make it more valuable to them," said Tim Ryan, Executive Vice President for Contracting and Services. "We heard that they wanted a service which would reduce the time spent managing the paper flow involved with composing and submitting bids, as well as one which allows for greater management analysis. McGraw-Hill Construction Network Bid Management meets their needs for such a productivity tool; it simplifies the distribution and collection of bidding documents; reduces reprographic costs and provides archiving, all in a private secure environment."

As one of the first users, here's what Brent Ranabargar, estimator from Key Construction, Inc. out of Dallas had to say about the service, "The McGraw-Hill Construction Network Bid Management service will allow us to bid more projects and reach more people all over the country in a shorter amount of time, which will ultimately increase our profit. Moreover, it has tracking and reporting tools to help contractors manage their businesses more effectively."

The Bid Management module's feature:

• Centralized document repository of plans, specs, addenda, notifications and transmittals, etc.
• Private, secure environment for protected communication with selected vendors.
• Easy email or fax distribution of bid invitations and documents, reducing reprographic costs,
• Private subcontractor and supplier directory to help customers focus on the winning team.
• Archiving and reporting capabilities to monitor the bidding process and provide cost analysis.

The McGraw-Hill Construction Network provides owners, architects, engineers, contractors, and building product manufacturers with a platform that seamlessly connects all of the industry-leading information and delivers it directly to the desktop. It includes the industry's largest active project database, powered by Dodge - with over 600,000 projects and 60,000 digital plans and specifications, and the industry's most comprehensive building product marketplace, powered by Sweets - with over 61,000 product listings, from more than 10,700 manufacturers. It also includes breaking news, who's who, and what's happening from the Company's leading industry publications - Architectural Record, the award-winning magazine of the Architectural Institute of American, Engineering News-Record, the industry's leading construction weekly and ten Regional Publications, and 12 regional publications. Finally, it also provides access to timely analysis of industry trends and forecasts from McGraw-Hill Construction Analytics.

"Bid Management leverages the power of the McGraw-Hill Construction Network to connect users to the people, products and projects involved with the design and construction industry in order to give them a competitive advantage when bidding on projects," said Norbert W. Young, Jr., FAIA, McGraw-Hill Construction's president. "Now, contractors not only can evaluate the best project opportunities, find the most active architects, engineers and subcontractors for jobs, but efficiently and effectively collect the information they need to submit proposals. By focusing their time and energy on composing truly winning proposals, rather than the mundane communication and information collection processes, contractors do what it takes to grow their businesses."

For more information about Bid Management, including demonstrations, contact Kathy Berger at Kathy_Berger@McGraw-Hill.com

About McGraw-Hill Construction
McGraw-Hill Construction connects people, projects and products across the design and construction industry. From project and product information to industry news, trends and forecasts, the Company provides industry players the tools, resources and applications that help them save time, money, and energy, especially through the new McGraw-Hill Construction Network TM. Backed by the power of Dodge, Sweets, Architectural Record, Engineering News-Record (ENR) and 12 Regional Publications, McGraw-Hill Construction serves more than one million customers within the $4 trillion global construction community. For more information, visit www.construction.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies
Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, BusinessWeek and McGraw-Hill Education. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2003 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.

COMPANY CONTACTS:

Media Contact
Kathy Malangone
McGraw-Hill Construction
212.904-4376
kathy_malangone@mcgraw-hill.com

Agency Contact
Jerry Cahn
PortfolioPR
212-736-9224
jcahn@portfoliopr.com

SOURCE: The McGraw-Hill Companies