McGraw-Hill Construction's Outlook 2004 Conference to Take Place in Nation's Capital on October 22-23, 2003
Industry Experts to Focus on Impact of U.S and Global Economies on Construction Trends

Executive Conference Will Launch 14 City Regional Tour

NEW YORK -- October 16, 2003 -- McGraw-Hill Construction, part of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), will bring together executives from major building product manufacturers, design and contracting firms, building owners and industry associations at the Outlook 2004 Executive Conference. It will take place at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC on October 22 and 23, 2003.

McGraw-Hill Construction connects construction industry players to the leading information and intelligence available, through its publications and databases - ENR, Architectural Record, Dodge, Sweets, ten Regional Publications, and the Network, which puts this information on anyone's desktop. Outlook 2004 gives industry executives an opportunity to look at the current and future the impact of the U.S. and global economies on the future of the construction industry.

Outlook 2004's industry experts will address the world construction climate as well as such issues as productivity, quality sustainability and new industry directions. Speakers include David Wyss, chief economist for Standard and Poor's; David Thurm, vice president, Real Estate Development for the New York Times Company; William Guerin, deputy assistant commissioner of the U.S. General Services Administration; Stephen Sandherr, CEO, Associated General Contractors, Kermit Baker, Ph.D., chief economist of the American Institute of Architects, Edith Washington, president of the Construction Specifications Institute, and Rob Cassab, head of procurement for Bovis Lend Lease Global Markets.

The highlight of conference will be the presentation of the 2004 Construction Outlook by Robert Murray, vice president of Economic Affairs for McGraw-Hill Construction. The Construction Outlook has become a mainstay of business planning for the design and construction industry since 1929.

Following the Executive Conference, McGraw-Hill Construction will sponsor a 14-city tour to focus on regional construction within the United States. In each city, there will be the Best of 2003 Awards celebration, to honor the building teams that created the best regional projects in categories ranging from commercial buildings to highway construction. As professionals from local design, contracting and architectural firms, building product manufacturing firms and industry associations get together to honor their own, they also will attend the Regional Conference for a detailed forecast of the regional industry's economic environment and market trends, with comparisons to the national scene.

Cities included in the regional tour include: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Seattle.

"McGraw-Hill Construction's national and regional agenda for Outlook 2004 is another demonstration of our commitment to providing the industry with quality information and intelligence," connecting people," notes its president, Norbert W. Young, Jr. FAIA, who will close the conference. "By connecting people, products and projects with the leading information and intelligence of the design and construction industry, we enable decision-makers to plan for tomorrow and make appropriate decisions."

For a detailed agenda of the national and regional conferences, visit www.construction.com. For more information, and to schedule interviews with speakers, contact Kathy Malangone or Jerry Cahn using the contact information below.

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. Backed by the power of Dodge, Sweets, Architectural Record, Engineering News-Record (ENR) and our Regional Publications, McGraw-Hill Construction serves more than one million customers within the $3.4 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 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 over 350 offices in 33 countries. Sales in 2002 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.

COMPANY CONTACTS:

McGraw-Hill Construction
Kathy Malangone
212-904-4376
kathy_malangone@mcgraw-hill.com

PORTFOLIO PR
Jerry Cahn
212-736-9224
jcahn@portfoliopr.com

SOURCE: The McGraw-Hill Companies