The Prospect of Project Estimating in the year 2011

In anticipation of contractors’ needs in the year ahead, technology providers are continuing to offer new products and integrations for the construction industry. One key area that will likely still remain a top priority in the year ahead is estimating efficiencies.

Estimating is important right now for a number of reasons. Primarily, in today’s competitive market environment, construction companies need to come in with low bids while still maintaining good margins to remain profitable. Estimating and takeoff technology can help.

In smaller firms, the roles of estimator and field superintendent are usually both done by the owner of a company. In fact, it is the ability of the accomplished tradesman to estimate that allows him to take the step from employee to owner of his own business. His success hinges completely on how good his judgement and objectivity is in estimating.

For the large firm, the estimator may be a partner or an employee -- even, one of several, on a team of estimators. The firm relies on an estimator to provide all the information to determine if a particular project is suitable to bid on.

Apart from the personal efficiency, the construction companies are looking at technology to become more efficient, technology providers continue to release new products and integrations. For example, On Center Software, www.oncenter.com, The Woodlands, Texas, and Benchmark Estimating, www.benchmarkestimating.com, Manchester, U.K., announced a new custom integration.

This means construction companies will be able to import takeoff data from On Center’s On-Screen Takeoff into Benchmark Estimating software. The integration is currently in development, but will ultimately save a significant amount of time in the takeoff process, while also increasing accuracy.

According to Angelo Castelli, director of business development, On Center Software, the integration will provide a new level of productivity and efficiency for estimators, and the flexibility of the systems will be advantageous for project managers.

Rob MacDonald, director, Benchmark, says many of its clients have been inquiring about digital takeoff solutions, and this integration will provide them with the solution they want.

This is just one example of new estimating-technology integrations for contractors in the year ahead. Keep your eyes open for new products and partnerships, as 2011 is going to be a big year for improved efficiencies in the industry

Annual World Of Concrete Show 2011

Annual World of Concrete Show is the biggest show on earth for the commercial concrete and masonry. The most comprehensive commercial concrete and masonry event will take place from 17 to 21^st January, 2011. In just five powerful days, you’ll access all the latest technologies, resources and education you need to keep your business current, competitive and rock-solid. Although this is the first year exhibiting at World Of Concrete or WOC, the organizer are excited to showcase their Job Simplicity product and participate in this premier construction event.

The strength of the industry’s first and most important annual trade show for concrete and masonry professionals can make a world of difference for all types of contractor business like estimating. WOC is the ONLY annual event for the architect, contractor and estimator – no other show has a more focused show floor. If you are in any business segment of the Concrete or Masonry industries, like designing, estimating and all that, this is your show. World of Concrete will bring you quality customers and targeted leads to keep your business running strong in 2011!

In the WOC, there will be two segments; the first is the Seminar (January 17-21) and the other part is the Exhibition (January 18-21). WOC will feature special unique events, a world-class education program with both 3-hour and 90-minutes sessions, industry-specific certifications & exams, interactive demonstrations and competitions, and an opportunity for you to meet with Interntional Exhibitors and network with your peers.

Benefits of Attending WOC:

• See it all in one place. Find everything you need to win more jobs, make more money and streamline your business.
• Get connected. Make new contacts and strengthen your industry connections.
• Work smarter. Learn how to work leaner, greener and more efficiently.
• Get hands-on. See, touch and test the latest products under real-world, jobsite conditions.
• Find new opportunities. Capitalize on the trends that will drive future markets and provide opportunities to profit.
• Get your questions answered. Attend expert-led seminars for the new skills, practical solutions and creative strategies to improve your business.

This is a grant opportunity for all the members of the AEC industry like architects, engineers, contractors, estimators, designer and everybody. This is the most cost effective way to gain multiple leads in the shortest amount of time.

Residential Estimating

Residential estimating can help building professional to get quick access to the details of material and labor breakdowns.
With residential estimating service the building professionals can also update cost according to the increase or decrease of the labor & material price. The building professional can easily control it’s budget, waste, jobsite theft, jobsite damage and trade misuse.
Residential estimating includes estimation of concrete, foundation steel, makeup materials, doors and windows, sheetrock, interior trim, flooring, counters etc.
With the help of residential estimating the building professional can convert their plans, blue print, elevations, sections etc. from 2D drawing into 3D model based on the information to generate realistic dimension to the cost of construction of a building in a timely manner through the use of the most commonly used construction estimating programs including Microsoft Excel.

Posted by
Rajib Dey
Business Development
The construction estimating service

The Industrial risk of Cost Estimation in the Bidding Process

Project cost estimation in the bidding process is a critical concern for the competitiveness and profitability of an engineering and contracting company. Estimates which diverge as little as possible from actual costs have to be made on the basis of relatively limited information. Of the macro-items contributing to the overall cost of a plant project, those
linked to engineering activities have been growing continuously in percentage terms for a number of years and have thus become the object of considerable interest. Moreover, since these items are difficult to standardize, estimation is particularly difficult. A method able to produce reliable estimates for these activities could certainly be usefully transferred to other project stages. The methodology proposed to formulate a bid estimate for a HAZOP study envisages the joint use of three tools to produce more accurate estimates and improve the quality of decisions through explicit assessment of the risk of over-estimating (or under-estimating) the cost.

First, an analytical estimation model based on improved structuring of available information provides more accurate estimates and facilitates the use of IT applications. Second, company knowledge gained in previous projects is structured and maintained in order to ensure continuous improvement in estimation. This information can be used to improve over time the understanding of the determinant values in the model itself, so obtaining increasingly accurate estimates and probability distributions which take account of historical errors. Finally, a simulation technique provides the probability distribution of the overall cost and thus the confidence interval of the estimates.

Project cost estimation in the bidding process is a critical concern for the competitiveness and profitability of an engineering and contracting company as it involves considerable risk. Indeed, with only the limited information available in the tender documents and the partial results of the basic engineering, an estimate must be drawn up which varies as little as possible from the effectively sustained costs. The reason for this is that the industrial goods market is becoming increasingly competitive and the typical contract is now the lump-sum, in which the contractor agrees to supply at a pre-determined price. Since the starting point for this price is the estimate prepared during the bidding, it is evident that this cost estimate is crucial to the competitiveness and profitability of engineering and contracting companies.

That’s why project cost estimation is always a critical process on the part of the engineers. The estimator must have to take great care in the estimating process to deliver an accurate calculation.

Revit Architecture Extension now available

If you have not seen it yet, log into your Autodesk subscription site and there is a new extension available for Revit Architecture - "The Roombook Extension".

The Roombook Extension for Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2011 software helps calculate the surface area of walls, floors and ceiling elements, room circumferences and the total number of furnishing elements within a project.

In addition to the automated detection of room areas and surfaces, this extension helps users configure these elements manually to local requirements, as well as achieve more accurate model take-offs. Quantified results can be exported to Microsoft® Excel® software and Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff (QTO) 2010 software.

Currently it is available in English and German, and includes the International Project Standard and the German VOB Standard measurement systems. There's a pretty good ReadMe PDF available - let us know if your subscription is up to date and you can't seem to find the extension.

Tips for a perfect estimation

Always just before to start a project some questions crawling in the minds of every member of the Architects, Engineers and Construction industry. How much will it cost? How many days will it take to finish? What will be the profit margin of the project? To get answers of all these questions you should seek the help of project estimation.

Any construction projects typically involve many dynamic aspects, yet they're often constrained by finite conditions. These contradictory forces make it very difficult to determine with pinpoint accuracy the time and effort required. By using a set of proactive estimating techniques to scope, plan, and constrain your project conditions, you can dramatically improve your estimating practices, reduce and mitigate risks, and increase your project success rate.

Do you excel at predicting the time, funding, and resources your projects will require? Whether your company aims to develop a new product or service, update an existing system, or launch a new Web site, these undertakings will require people, schedules, funding, resources, requirements, testing, revising, implementation, evaluation, and many other elements. Sometimes we forget the hidden or unknown variables that are difficult or impossible to anticipate and sometime even more difficult to resolve.

That’s why you need to be more careful when estimating for a construction project. Here we are discussing about some important tips for perfect project estimation.

1. Maintain an ongoing "actual hours" database of the recorded time spent on each aspect of your construction projects. Use the data to help estimate future projects and identify the historically accurate buffer time needed to realistically perform the work.

2. Create and use planning documents, such as specifications and project plans.

3. Perform a detailed task analysis of the work to be performed.

4. Use a "complexity factor" as a multiplier to determine whether a pending project is more or less complex than a previous one.

5. Use more than one method to arrive at an estimate, and look for a midpoint among all of them.

6. Identify a set of caveats, constraints, and assumptions to accompany your calculations, which would bind the conditions under which your estimates would be meaningful. (Anything that occurs outside of those constraints would be considered out of scope).

7. If the proposed budget or schedule seems inadequate to do the work, propose adjusting upward or downward one or more of the four project scoping criteria: cost, schedule, quality, and features.

8. Consider simpler or more efficient ways to organize and perform the work.

9. Plan and estimate the project rollout from the very beginning so that the rollout won't become a chaotic scramble at the end. For instance, you could propose using a minimally disruptive approach, such as a pilot program or a phased implementation.

10. In really nebulous situations, consider a phase-based approach, where the first phase focuses primarily on requirements gathering and estimating.

11. Develop contingency plans by prioritizing the deliverables right from the start into "must-have" and "nice-to-have" categories.

12. Refer to your lessons-learned database for "20:20 foresight" on new projects, and incorporate your best practices into future estimates.

In conclusion, by using a set of proactive estimating techniques to scope, plan, and constrain your project conditions, you can dramatically improve your estimating practices, reduce and mitigate risks, and greatly increase your project success rate!

Importance of Project Estimation

Though Project Estimation is now has become very important part for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction or AEC industry, many of us really don’t understand the importance of Project Estimation. Many think that project estimation is a waste of budget. But the fact is that it is a very important part of any construction project. If we view the project result, we find out that around 30% of projects are cancelled befire completion just because of it run out of money.

Effective project estimation is one of the most challenging and important activities in the AEC industry. Proper project planning and control is not possible without a sound and reliable estimate. The AEC industry suffers for the wrong estimation of any project badly. Under-estimating a project leads to under- staffing it, under scoping the quality assurance effort and setting too short schedule which resulting the loss of credibility as deadlines are missed. For those who figure on avoiding this situation by generously padding the estimate, over estimating a project can be just about as bad for the organization. If you give a project more resources than it really needs without sufficient scope controls it will use them. The project is then likely to cost more than it should, take longer to deliver than necessary and delay the use of your resources on the next project.

Project estimation is one of the aspects of business that requires some degree of consideration, because the succeeding phases of the project are dependent on the accuracy and the efficiency of this process. Project estimation provides details that would go beyond the capabilities of manual processing even with an army of accountants. Construction businesses require a specialized accounting software system with streamlined estimating facilities.

According to the statistic over 66% of projects are not delivered on time, on budget or to expected quality. This negatively impacts staff productivity, product quality, customer relationships and overall credibility. Good project estimation and planning goes beyond tools, techniques and processes. It’s also about the right attitude, understanding and mutual expectation – not just from the Architect, Engineers and Contractors but also from senior management. When we understand together what can be done, what has been done, and what is being put before us, we can successfully plan projects to make them more predictable.

In this way we find out that why project estimation is important for the AEC industry. Not only to win the bid, accurate project estimation is helpful to finish the project within budget and time frame that increase credibility as well as profit of them.

Labor estimating is very crucial factor for calculating accurate construction cost

Good project management in construction depends upon the well-organized application of labor, material and equipment as these components comprises a large part of the construction cost. In order to control cost of constructed facilities, labor estimating is one of the most important concerns.
The owner can gauge the success of an operating system on the whole with labor productivity by utilizing labor, equipment and capital to transfer labor efforts into useful productivity.
The labor estimating will vary according job location, accessibility of skilled labor, contract wage regulations, union or open shop labor requirements, general market conditions, and so on.Labor Productivity is frequently described as functional units per labor hour for each type of construction task. The thorough application of labor hours to a quantity result in managing the exactness and competence of labor estimating. The assessment and explanation of labor estimating process often leads to the accuracy of the project's schedule and work force requirements.
The project costs include the major factors like combined costs for worker's compensation, unemployment insurance and social security taxes. The perfect method for including these costs is to describe labor hours and wage rates; then apply percentages to the labor costs.
If construction output is stated in terms of functional units, the labor productivity will be related with units of product per labor hour, for example cubic yards of concrete placed per hour or miles of highway paved per hour.
On the contrary if it is expressed with constant dollars, the labor productivity is recognized with value of construction (in constant dollars) per labor hour to which factors for waste, overhead, and profit are added to capitulate the unit cost in dollars. A labor dollar per unit of work (ex: $20 per cubic yard for grade beams or $30 per cubic yard for walls) will only be relevant if the cost history supports the data being used.
Now-a-days computer aided design software are available for perfect labor estimating. These softwares are applied for collecting and controlling all labor records, analyzing labor costs with projects and activities for inclusion in project-based cost analysis and reporting. In order to get a perfect estimation of the complete construction costs, just add the labor estimating cost and other contingency expenses.

Posted By
Rajib Dey
Business Development
The construction Estimating Service

Estimating Software – An Aid to the Contractor

Construction cost calculations can be a big place for building estimating errors. These cost calculations can easily take a lot of time and cause errors. Yet, cost estimating is singularly the most important aspect of new home construction!

This is why using construction software is such a great idea that thousands of contractors around the country have started to do construction estimating. No one wants error in time of calculating estimation for the house. As house is the biggest and important financial investment of one’s life, we want to make it very simple and accurate estimation. That’s why you have to opt for estimating software.

First of all you have to know what estimating software is. Software estimation is the process of predicting the effort required to develop a software system. This paper provides a general overview of software cost estimation methods including the recent advances in the field. As a number of these models rely on a software size estimate as input, we first provide an overview of common size metrics. We then highlight the cost estimation models that have been proposed and used successfully. Models may be classified into 2 major categories: algorithmic and non-algorithmic. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. A key factor in selecting a cost estimation model is the accuracy of its estimates. Unfortunately, despite the large body of experience with estimation models, the accuracy of these models is not satisfactory. The paper includes comment on the performance of the estimation models and description of several newer approaches to cost estimation of a construction project.

With the ease of use, accuracy and speed estimating software gives to its users, it is no wonder so many contractors are already using it. Time is money, so the ability to do more estimates in the same time is a big saver. Many users find they can do up to ten estimates in the time it was taking them to do just one by hand, spending 1/10th the time estimating each job. This speed comes without an increase in complexity. Generally the estimating software are designed from the beginning to be easy to use and to allow you keep your current flow for estimating. Whereas the old technique can make you change and do your work the way the estimators think is best, these estimating software’s developers let you set the rules.

This easiness to learn is one of the reasons users have found they can begin doing estimates the first day they have estimating software. The complex works of estimation are made easy with it. Why the estimators would stick on the complex process without choosing the easy but accurate way to get estimation for the dream house. As little as a decade ago the job of cost estimating was a quagmire, even for experienced professional builders. But now every estimator is using the estimating software. Various estimating software are available in the market which can fulfill your requirements of estimation.

Steps to Estimate a construction Project

Estimating a construction project budget can be a tedious task that is accentuated by the fact that there are three types of costs that need to be considered. Project budgets generally contain variable, fixed and per-use costs. Depending on the size of the project, it is beneficial to use a spreadsheet to calculate and set the project budget.

Instructions:

Set the variable pay rates. For costs that fluctuate based on the number of hours consumed, set a standard pay rate. Estimate the number of hours that the resource will be assigned to a task and multiply those hours by the standard pay rate. For example, if you need to hire a contractor and mason, you can set the market standard pay rates per hour, respectively. If you believe the project will take 160 hours for each employee, your total can be calculated easily. Create a pay rate and time estimate for each variable expense in the project. After multiplying the rate by the time estimate, add up these figures so you will have the total variable cost.

Calculate per-use costs of the materials. If a particular resource costs a certain amount each time it is used, take note of the cost per use and then estimate the total amount of times you will be using it for the project. This is generally one project task that has both variable and fixed costs. For instance, the project requires a piece of machinery that has large setup costs and then hourly employee wages to run it. Combining both of these costs of the task is more efficient than tracking them separately, so you can easily manage efficiencies. As with the variable costs, calculate the estimated per-use costs for each per-use expense you perceive in the project to determine the total per-use costs.

Compute fixed costs. List all the costs that are one-time expenses that will not vary throughout the project or that you don't expect to pay more than once. For instance, fixed costs could be purchasing software, machinery, equipment or licenses. Add up all of the fixed costs to get the project's total fixed costs.

List the variable, per-use and fixed costs and then total the amount. This is considered the total estimate for the construction project's budget.

Create an addendum to include estimates. Underneath the total estimate for the project's budget, include all of the estimates used for devising this figure. For instance, say you believe it will take 160 hours each for the programmer and website designer to complete this project.

If you find all these things too much complex then just hire a professional estimator. He will do the estimates of your construction project efficiently. Quantity-TakeOff is one of the websites who provides services in different kinds of estimating.

Estimating – Make the First Step of Your Construction Perfect

Whenever you start for preparing a construction project, the first step is the most important always. The success of all projects depends on it. And the major part of the first step of any construction is involved estimating. Estimating is the tool, with which the contractor can win the bid of a project, earn maximum profit and finish the project within time frame and budget.

First of all you have to know what is estimating. Estimating is the calculation of the possible amount of required material, man power, time and cost of a construction project. The professional estimators find out with various up to date software the amount of materials from a depth research of the blue print of the floor plan. Then they calculate the present market price of the materials. The exact number of labor and various other sub contractors finds out by them. Then the daily wages of the labor and sub contractors would be calculate. The proper sequence of work also find out by the estimators not only with the help of the software but also their vast experience in this field.

An accurate estimation helps the architects to win the bid because the proper budget for the project attracts the building owners. But winning the bid is not the only help you get from estimating. You can finish the whole project within the budget. There are many instances of running out of money in the middle phase of the project. This instance is almost rare for a proper estimated project. You can also have the right sequence of work which help you most to appoint the accurate number of labor for any given phase of the project. Due to lack of error, the misuse of fund is also not found in this case. You can draw the higher profit from an estimated project than any other non estimated project. That’s why it is very important to take the first step of your construction projct by applying estimating services of various estimating service providers like Quantity-TakeOff.

Posted BY
Debarati Nath
Content Writer
Construction Estimating Service

Estimating Tips for Earthwork

Estimating the actual cost of performing earthwork requires careful consideration of the variables involved. This includes items such as type of soil, whether water will be encountered, dewatering, whether banks need bracing, disposal of excavated earth, and length of haul to fill or spoil sites, etc.

It is very important to consider what time of year the project is scheduled for completion. Bad weather can create large cost overruns from dewatering, site repair, and lost productivity from cold weather.

Pit Excavation
When figuring the slope areas of pit excavation, remember that the slope areas usually form a right triangle when viewed as a section. Since the area of two right triangles equals the area of one rectangle with equal base and height dimensions, the volume of the slope area will equal the depth of the pit (the height) times the cut back distance of the slope (the base) times half the perimeter of the pit.

Cut and Fill
If a project has a large quantity of cut or fill, consider inquiring whether the site grade can be raised or lowered to economize the earthwork portion of the estimate.

If the project requires a large quantity of fill, consider creating a borrow pit on the site. This can lower the estimate significantly, as the cost for suitable fill material can be quite high in some areas of the country. The borrow pit can also be helpful as a receptacle for on-site spoil or other excavated materials, in this case saving dump charges.

It is important to keep in mind the location and availability of dump sites for spoil while estimating earthwork . Unexpectedly, large cost can accrue if the only site open to receive spoil quite a distance away.

Clearing and Grubbing
Often one of the most expensive parts of clearing and grubbing is the disposal of tree stumps. It is a good idea to know how and where this task can be carried out before completing the estimate.

Site Access
One of the most common mistakes made in site work estimating involves site access. Estimators should visit the site not only to review site conditions, but to trace the route that the general or subcontractors’ equipment will take to get to the site. If the equipment that is to be used on this project cannot get to the site, the estimate may be completely inaccurate.

Sewerage and Drainage
One should not automatically assume that the sewerage and drainage lines will go in at the early stages of the project. It may appear to make sense from a scheduling standpoint, but the inconvenience of having the site divided in half, with open trenches, loose pipe, and restricted access, may ultimately cost more in lost time.

Subsurface Investigations
Many companies, eager to get started on their projects, shortchange the site investigation process. For the relatively short times and small amount of money involved, it is not a good idea to skimp on this important item. The untimely discovery of even one subsurface “abnormality” can be a painful lesson. Investigate the site thoroughly!

Construction estimating process

 Place the paper plans for digitization on the tablet. In the case of working with scanner version scan the plans. In the case of on-screen version, load the image. On-screen programs should work with all file types, including AutoCAD DWG, PDF, and TIFF
 Initiate the Take-Offs program
 Enter the scale units, English or metric
 Enter the scale or compute the scale from the plans by digitizing a recognized distance.
 Select the digitize area, length, perimeter, counts, multiple line segments or sum of line segments
 Digitize the item using the digitizing tablet
 Digitizing can be point to point, or continuous curves.
 Digitized items are put on view on screen while digitizing
 The software estimates the item from the digitized data. Do again for other items.
 Print a report with an image diagram of the digitized data and a table of results.
 If contractors get AutoCAD DWG files, certain programs may enable them to perform a direct CAD import without the need to digitize.
 One can export the take-off result by pressing the excel button to the excel spreadsheet. The report can also be published to DWF file format.

Posted by
Rajib Dey
Business Development
Quantity-takeoff

A variety of Functions of cost estimate in construction push you to success

Now- a- days construction becomes that business field which is changing rapidly with the changes of the society. As the total civilization is changing across the world, the demands of people are almost changing with the necessity of present situation. Ultimately the total process of construction is changing itself. To accommodate with the new kind of changes an ideal businessman must concentrate on his project as well as his project cost. Otherwise he or she can not be able to make him or herself stand steadily in the construction business.

So to be a successful businessman you must aware of the importance as well as the functions of the cost estimate in construction

Estimate Project Costs:
To determine the total cost of the project is the main function of cost estimating in construction. To estimate the individual costs of each major component of the project is the second stage of cost estimation. Even when the construction planning begins the project-wide estimate is often done before it. It is one of the vital determining factors in the final cost estimating process.

The factors behind the estimation:
The estimates for the individual parts of the project get underway once the total project budget is established. The estimates for the project depends on all the materials, labor, equipment and subcontractor costs. Such other general conditions like permit costs, temporary office costs, and utility and insurance costs also work as the “factors” behind the estimation.

Developing Materials List:
Materials keep an important part in estimating the cost of the whole project. If the list of materials becomes long, the cost of the project automatically becomes high. In that case the estimation will be done based on the high cost of the project. So an estimator must be careful about the list of the materials as it is an essential part of determining the cost of the whole project before the construction starts at all.
Some materials in a project must be looked at more critically during estimating because slight differences in their features can make big differences in their costs. And individual cost difference makes a great effect on total cost of the project as we have already discussed before.

Specify Equipment Needs:
Equipment to move materials, people and earth must be included in the final project estimate. As the estimators consider how the work will get done, they have to think about what equipment & what kind of equipment will be necessary; as the cost depends on the quality & quantity of the equipments. Estimators have to decide if certain equipment will be hired, or if there is contractor-owned equipment that will do the job. The required equipment must be specified on the project schedule for hiring, and in the case of owned equipment the equipment managers will be notified so that the hiring cost will be saved as well as the estimation will not reach at so high.

Simply, we can say estimation is just like a budget. If we can maintain our budget we will definitely save certain money for our future as we have already decided while do the budget. Similarly, if we can estimate the cost of a project properly we will definitely make a good profit which we may utilize in another project. On the contrary, if we can not we must have to face a big failure. So we must aware of the functions of cost estimate in construction to meet the success.

Interior Design Estimate

The term interior design is concerned with the improvement of an interior space. After purchasing a residential house or an office for the company premises the first thing is to optimize and harmonize the uses of the interior space.

Interior design is a practice that reacts to changes in the economy, organization, technology, demographics, and business goals of a business.

So interior design estimate is very much essential to figure out the cost of designing commercial or residential interiors.

It is very useful to estimate the cost of materials and labor required for the installation or application of paint, wall coverings, carpeting, drapery, bed coverings, and tablecloths.

Interior designers get the ability to ascertain the prices and budgets that bring satisfaction to their clients and make their business profitable.

Interior design estimates is essential for repairs, decorating products and procedures, renovation or construction work.

Interior design estimate can be applied for living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, stairways. It can also applied for personal cabin, reception desk, working area, storage room.

Posted by
Rajib Dey
for www.quantity-takeoff.com

BIM based visual estimation with Quantity takeoff Software

BIM based computerized quantity take-off and cost-estimating solution has flourished in the last 4-5 years. Quantity take off procedure can be enhanced with BIM as estimate of the quantities are derived from BIM models and the model contains the information on all the objects in the building in addition to their dimensions.

Different kinds of BIM softwares like AutoCAD Architecture and Civil 3D are applied for estimation and costing, initial pricing, report tabulation of materials, bidding, unit cost for specific items, time spent counting within a project, measuring items within a project, labor costs and estimates project costs.

With Quantity Takeoff estimators get the ability to measure, count and price building objects like walls, doors, and windows, automatically or manually. The results will be printed, exported to Microsoft Excel software, or published to DWF file format

It can also be utilized for evaluating the building design, grouping objects into proper assemblies for construction, setting congregation and item variables by pricing the objects by taking off these assemblies or items.

Quantities that have already included the estimate are represented by a dollar sign, and all the cost items are verified visually in the estimate with colors in the 3D view at any point. If any alteration is made to the design and cost items then the estimate can be updated automatically as all the objects and quantities are connected with cost items.


QTO can be organized to perform any size estimate and for checking a BIM model for precision. Data is transferred to any of the project management, or estimating systems, or amount produced as an Excel “spread sheet” file. QTO will also receive component information from cost analysis services for instance RS Means.

Unlimited component subassemblies facilitate categorization and counting of materials to an important level of detail. The Search Takeoff function make possible for quick takeoff of intellectual drawing objects, whereas the Manual Takeoff function sustains non-intelligent image formats for instance JPG and TIF.

Quantity Takeoff mechanically produces quantities tied to particular objects that results speedy, well-organized change management. One is able to mark up and round-trip comments with incorporated, redlining tools, and visually cross-reference individual objects and items.


Quantity Takeoff Process

 Place the paper plans for digitization on the tablet. In the case of working with scanner version scan the plans. In the case of on-screen version, load the image. On-screen programs should work with all file types, including AutoCAD DWG, PDF, and TIFF
 Initiate the Take-Offs program
 Enter the scale units, English or metric
 Enter the scale or compute the scale from the plans by digitizing a recognized distance.
 Select the digitize area, length, perimeter, counts, multiple line segments or sum of line segments
 Digitize the item using the digitizing tablet
 Digitizing can be point to point, or continuous curves.
 Digitized items are put on view on screen while digitizing
 The software estimates the item from the digitized data. Do again for other items.
 Print a report with an image diagram of the digitized data and a table of results.
 If contractors get AutoCAD DWG files, certain programs may enable them to perform a direct CAD import without the need to digitize.
 One can export the take-off result by pressing the excel button to the excel spreadsheet. The report can also be published to DWF file format.

Posted by Rajib Dey
for www.quantity-takeoff.com

BIM based visual estimation with Quantity takeoff Software

BIM based computerized quantity take-off and cost-estimating solution has flourished in the last 4-5 years. Quantity take off procedure can be enhanced with BIM as estimate of the quantities are derived from BIM models and the model contains the information on all the objects in the building in addition to their dimensions.

Different kinds of BIM softwares like AutoCAD Architecture and Civil 3D are applied for estimation and costing, initial pricing, report tabulation of materials, bidding, unit cost for specific items, time spent counting within a project, measuring items within a project, labor costs and estimates project costs.

With Quantity Takeoff estimators get the ability to measure, count and price building objects like walls, doors, and windows, automatically or manually. The results will be printed, exported to Microsoft® Excel® software, or published to DWF™ file format

It can be also utilized for evaluating the building design, grouping objects into proper assemblies for construction, setting congregation and item variables, and pricing the objects by taking off these assemblies or items.

Quantities that have already included the estimate are represented by a $ sign, and all the cost items are verified visually in the estimate with colors in the 3D view at any point and keep away from over- or under-estimating. In the case of any change is made to the design, the cost items and the estimate can be updated automatically as all the objects and quantities are connected with cost items.

The estimator can open up a Timberline database, and drag and drop the quantified objects generated in the previous step into Timberline assemblies or items, resulting in detailed cost items taken-off into a Timberline estimate file.


QTO can be organized to perform any size estimate and for checking a BIM model for precision. Data is transferred to any of the project management, or estimating systems, or amount produced as an Excel “spread sheet” file. QTO will also receive component information from cost analysis services for instance RS Means.

Unlimited component subassemblies facilitate categorization and counting of materials to an important level of detail. The Search Takeoff function make possible for quick takeoff of intellectual drawing objects, whereas the Manual Takeoff function sustains non-intelligent image formats for instance JPG and TIF.

Quantity Takeoff mechanically produces quantities tied to particular objects that results speedy, well-organized change management. One is able to mark up and round-trip comments with incorporated, redlining tools, and visually cross-reference individual objects and items.


Quantity Takeoff Process

 Place the paper plans for digitization on the tablet. In the case of working with scanner version scan the plans. In the case of on-screen version, load the image. On-screen programs should work with all file types, including AutoCAD DWG, PDF, and TIFF
 Initiate the Take-Offs program
 Enter the scale units, English or metric
 Enter the scale or compute the scale from the plans by digitizing a recognized distance.
 Select the digitize area, length, perimeter, counts, multiple line segments or sum of line segments
 Digitize the item using the digitizing tablet
 Digitizing can be point to point, or continuous curves.
 Digitized items are put on view on screen while digitizing
 The software estimates the item from the digitized data. Do again for other items.
 Print a report with an image diagram of the digitized data and a table of results.
 If contractors get AutoCAD DWG files, certain programs may enable them to perform a direct CAD import without the need to digitize.
 One can export the take-off result by pressing the excel button to the excel spreadsheet. The report can also be published to DWF file format.

Posted by Rajib Dey
for www.quantity-takeoff.com

PlanSwift - An unique software for accurate construction estimating

PlanSwift is an user friendly construction takeoff software. It makes the estimating as easy as just point and click. PlanSwift can load scanned plans as well as import directly from .TIF, .PDF - Adobe, .DXF, .DWF, .DWG - AutoCAD, .PLN - Dodge Plan files, .JPG, and more. PlanSwift can also download plans directly from many online plan rooms.

According to the software company it is like Swiss knife which has many utilities in one hand. This multi-tasking software has many features:
• Print or Email Plans Effortlessly
• Just Point & Clock To Calculate Areas, Linears & Counts
• New Apple iPhone Integration
• Track Changes with Comparative Plan Overlays
• Identify Takeoffs Easily By Labels And Color
• Planswift Can Also Calculate Curves (Arcs) And Cut-Outs!
• Maintain Accuracy With The Magnification Tool
• Easily Navigate Through Plans Using The Overview Window
• Fully Customizable Hot Keys And Bookmarks
• Load All Major CAD And Image File Types

Top 10 Reasons to Buy PlanSwift:

1. PlanSwift is very easy to learn. Just point and click!
2. Most estimators can estimate 10X as fast using PlanSwift vs. traditional methods (ruler & highlighter).
3. Astounding accuracy. Precisely trace/digitize items on the plan using your mouse or a digitizer.
4. Create an audit trail...if it's colored, its counted!
5. Save $ on gas, printing, and shipping costs. No more driving to pick up plans...just email them.
6. Top rated customer support...we have REAL ESTIMATORS on staff who can speak your lingo!
7. Go Green! Go Paperless! It's cheaper, faster, and more environmentally friendly.
8. Best value for your $. As shown in our testimonials, you get the most features for the best price.
9. Extremely customizable & powerful. The software can be customized to suit your exact needs. You can do your takeoff + estimate in the same software.
10. PlanSwift is becoming the platform. Because of it's integration capabilities and our SDK (Software Developers Kit), Many online planrooms and estimating software partners are creating integrations which will allow you as a customer to have a positive, integrated experience.

Posted by Debarati Nath
for www.quantity-takeoff.com

Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX Estimating Software

Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX is fast, accurate, and easy to use estimating software for improving your takeoff and estimating processes. Its robust and user-friendly features helps you to work with more efficiency, bid more jobs, win more work, and make more profit than you thought possible. This automated takeoff and estimating software can help you complete bids up to 10 times faster than manual methods and allows you to measure accurately to within 1/1000 of an inch.

With Digital Takeoff, you can easily perform a takeoff on your computer screen quickly and accurately without touching set of bulky, expensive blueprints. Using ProContractorMX for digital takeoff, contractors are able to increase accuracy, save valuable time, and minimize the possibility of costly mistakes.

ProContractorMX also provides features for Complete Estimating to automate your processes, improve productivity, and cut costs. You will be able to efficiently figure out what the materials, equipment, and labor will cost you and estimate with speed and accuracy.

Speed and accuracy is paramount when it comes to takeoff and estimating. That's why Maxwell Systems ProContractorMX provides impressive verification features that help you takeoff faster and with precision, and provides comprehensive data to see your job come together. The 3-D Visual Assemblies enable you to examine every element of a structure from every possible perspective using graphical virtual renderings, which helps you ensure everything that should be on the takeoff is actually there. Visual Assemblies are available to fit the unique needs of different types of construction, including VAs tailored to concrete, framing, masonry, sitework, and more.

Key Benefits:
Takeoff and estimating solution in a single convenient application
Complete more estimates and detailed bids in a fraction of the time it’s taking you now
Improve accuracy of estimates and avoid costly mistakes
Increase efficiency and speed across the entire estimating process
Beyond takeoff, estimating, and bid day, ProContractorMX continues to perform when you win the bid! The solution provides functionality for Buyout, Purchase Orders, Change Orders, and more, which can help you save time, simplify workflow, and improve communication between estimators, accounting, and project managers on active jobs.
Instantly find and automatically share the data you need, so the entire team can work with maximum efficiency and minimal data entry. Further, by eliminating costly errors and increasing accuracy and quality of data, your company can improve productivity and profit margins for all projects.

Posted By
Debarati Nath
for www.quantity-takeoff.com

Start your own home design with Architectural Home Designer 9.0

Chitect Architect Software, a renowned developer and publisher of 3D Architectural home design software for builders, architects and designers, recently launched Architectural Home Designer 9.0.

This software is ideal for renovating, reconstructing, remodeling, home designing, decks & landscaping, interior designing, site Planning & Estimating.

The users can easily design in 2D or 3D and generate 3D models to visualize at any angle before the commencement of actual construction.

By applying this software one can easily add, resize and automatically dimension the plans with plan check, move and arrange walls, windows, doors, and cabinets, add a room, place furniture, create decks and landscaping, redesign a kitchen, create own cabinets.

Select colors from different colors sources, change a color, flooring styles, countertops etc,

The software contains a huge library of more than 3,600 plants and 7,000 items including windows, doors, lighting, furniture, interior/exterior fixtures, cabinets, and more. You can customize your own design with it.

The software is priced for PRICE:$165.00

Posted By
Rajib Dey
for www.quantity-takeoff.com

Easi-Fronts 2.0 Estimating Tool

DORMA Glas, Millersville, Md just launched new 2.0 version of the Easi-Fronts estimating tool with some new updates like Net pricing, Improved Selector Guide, Electronic order submission, New Price Book, New web address etc.

This tool simplifies the estimating and ordering process by quickly creating the basic fabrication drawings for elevation, section and glass. It can also calculate the hardware costs quickly.

The tool can also be utilized to prepare orders and related materials for sidelites.

The tool can be accessible for immediate use at http://dormaeasi-fronts.com/

Posted by
Rajib Dey
for Construction Estimating Service

Primus-DCF - A useful tool for construction estimating

The renowned Italian software leader ACCA launched the Primus DCF. Primus-DCF is based on a DCF (Document Computation Format). It is a free software for creating Price Books, Price Lists, Estimates and Bills of Quantities.

The software is designed to facilitate the Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and building contractors to create bills of quantities and estimate and export the information to Excel, Word or PDF files.

The construction professionals get the ability to open Price Books, Price Lists, Estimates and Bills of Quantities and insert, amend or copy parts of data from a source document to a destination document


With Primus-DCF it is also possible to take-off measurements directly from any AutoCAD drawing file and be familiar with the drawing entities and automatically send the measurements to the associated Price List Item in PriMus DCF. This will help you to constantly maintain the Bill of Quantities under control and Estimate’s budget with the progression of the design phase updating all data in realtime.

The software is compatible with Windows 3.x/95/98/Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Server 2008/7/NT/3/4/SP 1/2/3/4/5/6

Downloadable link
http://www.primus-dcf.com/en/Download/tabid/79/Default.aspx

Posted by
Rajib Dey
for construction estimating service

How to make cost estimation to Pour Concrete

In order to refinish a garage floor, make a garden pavement, build your own paver stones etc., one has to find out the estimated cost of pouring concrete before starting a new project

In order to figure out the cost one has to initially compute the length and width of the area to be paved with concrete. Then resolve the thickness of the concrete to obtain the total volume of required concrete. As for instance 4 inches of concrete will be required for making a 10-foot-by-2-foot walkway.

If you put the above figures in a Concrete Calculator then it will show that for making the 10-foot-by-2-foot walkway with 4 inches thickness 0.25 cubic yards of concrete will be required. One has to buy 23 40-lb. bags or 15 60-lb. bags of concrete for this.

If you hire a concrete delivery truck, you have to pay extra charges for pre-mixed concrete deliveries and labor time along with pre-mixed concrete price.

You also have to incur expenses for other materials like gravel substrate for placing below the concrete, sand and gravel for mixing with the concrete, rebar for holding up the concrete, a squeegee to spread it, a trowel to joint it and a wheelbarrow and spade to mix it. You'll also require pre-made concrete forms and a concrete release spray for easy elimination of the forms as soon as the concrete dries. As the concrete cures you must cover it with a plastic tarp.

You also have to take into consideration for ancillary materials from hardware’s store.

In case of applying bagged concrete, obtain the cost per bag then multiply by the number of bags for determining the total concrete cost.

Also count the cost of the supporting materials. Then include this either with the cost of the pre-mixed concrete or the bagged concrete. Finally the overall cost of your concrete job will be determined.

Posted by
Rajib Dey
for construction estimating service

Global Associates has launched USA Construction / Cost Estimators Directory

Global Associates proudly introduces USA Construction Cost Estimators Directory in their cost estimation website http://www.quantity-takeoff.com/construction-and-cost-estimators-of-america.html. It is valuable opportunity for all the estimators of America to expose themselves to the customers of their region.

This directory is very useful for the customers who want the accurate estimation service as well for the estimators who get a chance to display their name in the directory. Here one gets the list of fifty states of USA. Under every state there are sub sections of the cities. There are lists of name of the respected cities with the name of their companies and contact details. This will surely help all the customers of United State of America to get the contact of all the estimators. There is a map of USA on which clicking on a certain state will take you to the list of cities of the state.

The estimator directory is a free service of quantity-takeoff.com where anyone can find many estimators of any selected region of America. In this website the estimators can also enlist their name and contact details for free of cost to get maximum exposure via online. But this service is exclusive for the American estimators only. Everyday many estimators try to find out high ranking directory but don’t find many. This estimator directory will minimize this problem. By filling up a simple form, they can easily submit their details. Only Construction estimators, Construction cost estimators, Construction project estimators and Building Cost estimators get the chance to enlist their name in this directory. In this way both estimators and customers will be benefited by the estimator directory of quantity-takeoff.com.

For more details please visit: http://www.quantity-takeoff.com/construction-and-cost-estimators-of-america.html

VALUE ENGINEERING

Value can be termed as ratio of function to cost. The value is enhanced by either improving the function, decreasing the cost, or both. Value Engineering (VE) is taken as an industrial tool for cost cutback and upgrading of product performance by system approach.

We provide specialized services in value engineering, value management, value analysis and value improvement alongwith Sustainable Design & Constructability Review.

Our services can bring benefits to the customers to modify designs & reduce energy intensive processes which minimize the overall life-cycle costs to the extent of 15-30 percent. This facilitates customers to arrange more structured way of manufacturing. The customers and manufacturers obtain benefits ranging from cost orientation to customer value orientation with reduced cost, reduced lead time, improved life, simplified assembly, improved packaging

We have a team of Certified Value Specialists (CVS) who are well versed with V.E. studies, diverse Value Improvement Processes, Value Method procedures and facilitation of "value studies, lean processes, six sigma, value walk through and other value improvement processes. Our team has also experience with all phases of the product development cycle - concept design, detailed design, prototyping and testing / validation, full scale production etc.

We have successfully completed so many projects for business & government agencies, construction industries (with highway & bridges), wastewater treatment systems; administrative buildings; aircraft parking aprons and runways; piers and wharves; education and training facilities; courthouses; mass transit systems etc.

Our value engineering service can also be useful for Hospital management that consists of hospital revenue processes, administrative procedures and sustainable Design methods to trim down unnecessary expenditure and operate with more cost-effectively.

Segments of value engineering services :-

Value Engineering in the Design-Build Process
We carry out the overall studies on behalf of Contractor on Request for Proposal (RFP) prior to bid submission. We thoroughly scrutinize the clarity of the project definition and diminish the ‘unknowns’ for which contractors may experience extra cost to their bids. Thus contractors are able to win the bid by submitting the project within budget and suitable quality.

Sustainable Design Reviews(SDR)
We create sustainable Strategies for owners, contractors and design professionals to enhance the project's environmental and economic performance by categorizing green building elements to be used in all kinds of projects. In this regard we always choose the elements with properties like energy conversion, recycled materials, improvements to indoor air quality. We are well versed with LEED Green Building Rating SystemTM.

Constructability Reviews
We execute Constructability Reviews as a cross check of construction documents for optimizing controlling costs and enhancing project value.

We perform Constructability Reviews at Pre-final design state prior to Contractor bidding and identity potential coordination issues, conflicts or errors in the contract documents, missed details, time delays, potential liability, and inter-contractor coordination items for accuracy, comprehensiveness and systems coordination.
With our service owners can considerably lessen the occurrence and size of change orders on their projects.

For immediate contact :-

Global Associates

P-100, Block A, Lake TownKolkata,

India. Zip-700 089

Email : enquiry@quantity-takeoff.com

website : www.quantity-takeoff.com

Construction estimating spreadsheet

The estimating spreadsheet for Quantity Takeoff is a general form for taking off and listing types, sizes, quantities, etc. of the various items (material amounts, labor, cost) required in a bidding process. It contains materials prices in tabular format.

Estimating spreadsheet splits costs one by one and facilitates the contractor to create a detailed estimate & cost planning in a construction project.

There are different kinds of estimating spreadsheets :-
Construction Takeoff Sheets
Plumbing Takeoff Sheets
Mechanical Piping Estimating Sheets
Fabrications Take-off Sheets
Architectural Estimating Sheet
Earthwork Estimating Sheet
Electrical Estimating Sheet
Labour Estimating Sheet
Lumber Estimating Sheet
Drywall Estimating sheet

Posted by Rajib Dey
for www.quantity-takeoff.com

Construction Estimating Courses & Training Classes

Construction courses & Training classes
There are so many renowned construction companies who provide online and offline training programs for students, engineers and construction professional. These companies also arrange customized training as per your requirements. These courses come up with practical examples and exercises and provide individual attention. The courses are especially helpful for those students who are studying for a Contractor’s License.
The students and other construction professionals will get the ability to develop a concrete estimating practice with accuracy and confidence to enhance efficiency and productivity for completing a project successfully.

Given below the examples of some noted construction companies and their detailed training schedules.
US Cost
http://www.uscost.com/training.asp
Construction Estimating Institute
http://www.estimating.org/courses.php?course=14
http://www.floridacontractorexam.org/
Florida Department Of Transportation
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/projectmanagementoffice/PETraining/default.shtm
Roctek International
http://www.roctek.com/suppServices.htm
Builders Estimating & Exam School
http://www.buildersestimatingschool.com/construction.htm
The Edge
http://www.buildersestimatingschool.com/construction.htm

Posted by RAJIB DEY

for www.quantity-takeoff.com

free electrical estimating softwares

Electrical Calculations
Electrical Calculations is one of the best free electrical estimating software mostly suitable for Electrical Engineers and tradesmen. It makes calculations for busbar and cable ratings, static and bulk power factor correction, motor starting currents and curves, enclosure ventiation, transformer calculations and many metric / imperial conversions and constants.
ELECTRIST 1.18
It is also free electrical estimating software. It is considered as a calculator software for the Palm OS, the Top-Rated Electrical and Electronic Engineering Calculator for PDAs today. There are various formulas & variations using which can be applied under a most advanced user interface. Well matched with any Palm OS device from system 3 to 6 whether color or monochrome. It comes with a high resolution feature that generates a high advance high resolution PDAs.
EstiMaker PalmOS 1.1a
This free electrical estimating software provides assistance to electrical professionals with the estimating/bidding process. By using this free electrical estimating software an estimator get the ability to perform a take-off estimate in at least a third of the usual time. The software contains database of over 4600 electrical parts along with pricing and labor data for each part. In order to compute all the factors and create a job estimate, just choose the parts needed for a job. Then point out the quantity of each part and enter amount for extras like special equipment and rentals. The software can create limitless number of jobs to be kept for future reference.
Electrc 2005
This free electrical estimating software is ideal for electrical contractors, engineers, inspectors, estimators, and electrical maintenance personnel. The software execute wire sizing, conduit fill, motor, lighting, panel schedule, transformer, voltage drop, box fill, fault current, and power factor correction calculations. The free electrical estimating software also has built-in reference table from the NEC. Many NEC parameters are supported as well as parallel conductors per phase, ambient temperature derating, terminal temperature derating, quantity of current carrying conductors derating, circuit type, voltage drop percentage, and more. All files are saved to disk and reloaded for future application.
Resistor Values
This free electrical estimating software can work out the value of a 4 band resistor based on the color bands or the reverse. It can demonstrate the color bands of a resistance value entered by the user. The trial version is limited to resistance values of 1000 Ohms (1 KOhm) or less whereas the registered version shows resistor values up to 99000000 Ohms or 99 MOhms.
Electrical Mechanics and Maths 9.2
This free electrical estimating software is an educational software package ideal for MEP sectors including Electrical Installations and Automotive Engineering. With this software the high quality graphics can be redrawn to reproduce every user change.
LadderWorks Electrical Designer 5.0
With this free electrical estimating software one is able to make horizontal prints as well as vertical prints. Printouts of electrical schematics and various different connectors including a couple of special interest printouts of Grids, and notebook sheets, and a checkbook registry. Electricians can create electrical drawings which can be saved or printed out on paper for personal use. This free electrical estimating software comes up with a heats page along with a thermocouple page. There is a three phase page including a single phase page. Anybody can create his own electrical symbol. Just open one of the gif files in Windows Paint. Then wipe out the fuse part of the picture and include your own device according to your choice.
Design Master Electrical 7
This free electrical estimating software is considered as an incorporated electrical building design and drafting program for AutoCAD. The software contains features like panel schedule, circuiting, feeder sizing, fault current calculations, voltage drop calculations, photometrics, light fixture layouts, one line riser diagrams, fully customizable graphics, circuit looping, automatic tick marks switching etc.
Best Estimate Pro
This free electrical estimating software facilitates contractors to perform accurate electrical estimates faster and easier even in 30 minutes. By applying this software purchase orders is generated directly from an estimate. One is able to modify the parts and quantities as per choice and print/fax the purchase order to the wholesaler. In order to make a change order, just modify the electrical estimate according to customer’s requirement. Print out the Estimate Comparison report with the changes for your customer. The software can track the changes you made.
This free electrical estimating software comes up with features like Labor Report which produces the estimated labor hours for each room by project phase. This helps to figure out the total time required for an employee to complete a job.

CMiC Open Enterprise v10

This technologically advanced new version will be highly beneficial for the architectural, engineering, construction and capital project owner industry.
By using a single scalable database the software integrates all project management functions and informations to improve speed and accuracy of project final costs. This will minimize the transaction time and enhance productivity.
This XML based software facilitates organizations to speed up interoperability within their own organization and interoperability with external project stakeholders.
The software comes up with our main product groups
CMiC Financials
CMiC Project Controls
CMiC Project Management
CMiC Experience Management
The software can provide the following advantages :-
Job Initiation
Estimate to Job Cost Budget
Estimate to Subcontract / Purchase
Payment Management / Compliance
Contract to Billing
PCI to Posted Owner Change Order
Job Forecast to WIP
Procurement to Payment
Financial Budget to Financial Statements
Order Bill to Cash
Time Sheet to Employee Check
Site Management

Rajib Dey
www.quantity-takeoff.com

Interior Design Estimate

The term interior design is concerned with the improvement of an interior space. After purchasing a residential house or an office for the company premises the first thing is to optimize and harmonize the uses of the interior space.

Interior design is a practice that reacts to changes in the economy, organization, technology, demographics, and business goals of a business.

So interior design estimate is very much essential to figure out the cost of designing commercial or residential interiors.

READ MORE........http://www.quantity-takeoff.com/interior-design-estimate.htm

Residential Estimating

We provide a complete residential estimating service that will be beneficial to the building professionals and owner builders. For several years we have been successfully providing professional estimating services to the new constructions, residential construction, remodeling construction, light commercial, apartments, town homes and more.

READ MORE.......http://www.quantity-takeoff.com/residential-estimating.htm

Official Google Blog: Introducing our Google Fiber for Communities website

Official Google Blog: Introducing our Google Fiber for Communities website

A great Seminar on Construction Estimating

A two day upcoming seminar on best estimating practices and real-life problems will be held on 8th & 9th September, 2010 at Omni Jacksonville Hotel, 245 Water St Jacksonville, FL 32202. Some renowned estimators and engineers will discuss on the topic of unit price estimating for facilities renovation, repair and remodeling. This seminar is ideal for facility managers, architects, engineers, contractors, facility trades-people, planners, project managers etc. who deal with facilities planning, design, construction or involved with estimating and negotiating facility job order contracts.

For registration.....

Rajib Dey
The construction estimating

Benefits of Roof Estimating

Roof estimating is very essential to find out the exact amount of material required to construct a new roof or to renovate the old roof and to get the get the exact measurement of the roof that can be quantified by area or length.

There are so many improved estimating softwares that can generate 3D roof model and virtually calculate roof estimating figure along with size, geometry and orientation of the building roof section. These informations can be applied later on to generate a cost estimate to repair or replace the roof, or to install equipment thereon.

These softwares alo help to visually count the number of ridge tabs and get the totals for shingles, plywood, hip and ridge, valley flashing, and other important components.

Benefits of using roof estimating softwares:-
• Improve the accuracy for submitting quotes, enhance productivity and efficiency, lessen the error rate including waste and boost profitability.
• Prevent disastrous to the bottom line by providing accurate calculations.
• Prevented from over or under-ordering materials and labor.

Rajib Dey
The construction estimating

Construction Estimation is must for recent competitive era

One of the fastest moving jobs around now is that of Construction Cost Estimating. Construction is the largest industry to use cost estimators; but the manufacturing industry also employs cost estimators.

Now the question is what Construction Estimation is
Simply we can say Construction Estimation is just like a “budget”. And we all aware of the fact that budget is very important for every step of our life. It is as useful for maintaining our expenditure on our home world as maintaining the economic condition of our country. At first, we make a budget and then according to this we maintain our account. Just like that, in business world specifically which is related to construction or manufacture Construction Estimation is a very essential part of the business as it estimates the production cost before starting the project.

Necessity of Construction Estimation
Every construction project, no matter how big or small, is controlled each step of the way by adherence to the project's budget. This budget is developed before the first shovel of dirt is removed or the first brick is laid on the site. It was likely compiled by a construction estimator who put together pricing for all materials, labor, and miscellaneous costs and fees associated with getting the project built.

The estimation is made early in a project & it helps determine the scope of what can be built and whether cost saving measures or value engineering must be considered. Here is lying the cause of the necessity of Construction Estimation.

Main purpose of a construction estimating
The main purpose of a construction estimator is to develop a project budget based on proposed building plans and specifications. The owner and design team use these figures to determine if they can afford to build the project the way it was designed or if changes need to be made. Other estimators are responsible for completely different tasks. They are employed by contractors to prepare bids for projects. On most jobs, the lowest bidder is awarded the contract, although other factors like experience etc. may be considered as well.

Construction Estimator must be alert until the project is rightly done
There is no word of laziness in that kind of profession. It is that profession where employees must be attentive till the end of the project and they have to remain constantly on tight deadlines. The entire project bids will have to strict as dates and pricing must be submitted on time and in the proper format. The job is therefore incredibly stressful and action-packed. Additionally, there is pressure to not make a mistake.

Recent advanced technology makes you confident & efficient
No program can guarantee that you'll win every contract you bid on, but a quality program can help you manage your day-to-day functions, increase your productivity and in turn, raise your profit margin.

The in-depth construction estimating software reviews and side-by-side comparisons can help you quickly access the needs of your small business and find the software that can help you get organized and productive.

Below are the criteria Top Ten REVIEWS used to rank construction estimating software:

Feature Set
Construction estimating software should provide all of the features you need to make your job easier. Including the ability to track job costs and bids as well as perform general office management functions. It should also accept customized formulas and calculations, provide reports, import national cost indexes, and compare subcontractor and vendor quotes and track jobs by divisions and sub-divisions.

Ease of Use
Construction estimating software manages many variables and therefore can be quite complex, but using the software should be as easy as possible. It should be well organized and presented in a logical manner.

Ease of Installation and Setup
The software should install quickly and set up without error, regardless of your computer experience.

Help Documentation
Since this type of software involves many aspects; the developer should provide tutorials, training classes and/or online demonstrations to help you learn how to utilize all of the features in a productive manner. A phone number, email, FAQs and other contact methods should be available for technical support.

A small investment in a flexible construction estimating program that can handle your needs can increase your accuracy, speed up your bidding process and ultimately add to your bottom line.

Easiness with math & Computer, good communication skills & self-confidence- just need for a Construction Estimator

Being able to accurately project the cost of upcoming projects is vital to the survival of any company. Cost estimators provide this vital information by developing the cost information needed in order to determine if a proposed product will be profitable, or to make bid for a contract. This also works to determine which endeavors are making an adequate profit.

About the job of construction estimator
A construction estimator will be responsible for calculating quotes and proposals for your employer and making sure that these proposals offer a good return on investment for the company. Construction estimators also negotiate contracts and prepare estimated construction prices based on architect's drawings, the amount of employees needed for the job and also the amount of construction materials required.

Main Criteria of being a Construction Estimator
The main aspect of the job is to analyze and compile data you have at hand. It is important that estimators have an easy inclination for math and a well-rounded confidence in their determinations. You need to be computer literate, have knowledge of office system software (such as word processing and spreadsheet) and be familiar with blueprints. Excellent communication skills are a must as you will interact with many different people at all levels in the industry.

Often an estimator's job description states that a college degree is preferred. In reality, a person can start to work in estimating as an assistant to the estimator. Upon learning the trade, they can work their way up to become an assistant estimator, then an estimator.

Types of estimators
There are three main types of estimators. The first are employed by architecture and engineering firms. They price the project as it is designed to determine whether it fits within the preliminary budget. Next the job is put out for bid to general contractors and their estimators put together estimates on what they should charge to build the project. Once the job has been awarded, the blueprints are sent to subcontractors, where a new estimator prices specific tasks, such as electrical work or carpet installation.

One must fulfill the demands of Employers to become a Construction Estimator
Employers interviewing estimators will look for three specific areas of credentials to satisfy: Education, Experience, and how you present yourself.

Education: If you have a degree in construction engineering, civil engineering or architecture then you have a big advantage to start with. If you don't have a construction related degree then try to complete a Certificate Program in Construction Estimating.

Experience: Either you have it or you don't. Field experience doing the type of work you will be estimating is very good to have. Experience producing successful estimates is the gold standard. If you don't have experience then make darn sure you satisfy the other two requirements listed here (Education and Presentation).
How you present yourself is important on several levels. The personality traits of good estimators are considered by some to be at least as important as education. Estimators must have an eye for detail, they must understand the value of money, they must be competitive and they must have an aptitude for mathematics. They must be analytical, adaptable, and technically oriented. Estimators often meet with clients and company management so they need people skills too.

Tips for improving the skill of estimation
As the estimation should be accurate & systematic, it must be done carefully & efficiently. The following tips intend to improve the skills of a construction estimator/cost planner.

1. Understand the market in which the construction process will take place.
This is an important aspect of cost estimating as the construction of buildings often involves many different specialist trades carried out by separate contractors. Understanding how these contractors operate in the current market will help arrive at a realistic estimate figure.

2. Know how buildings stand up.
Basic knowledge about the process of building construction also helps estimators accurately estimate the Preliminaries component which involves labors, plant and equipment resources required by the main contractor (builder) to project manage and supervise the construction activities carried out by trade contractors. The difference in material and labor would bring about a difference in the cost of the project.

3. Request quotes from suitable trade contractors for each project.
Each construction project has its distinctive characteristics in terms of locality, site conditions, timing, building type, etc. When asking for a quote from a trade contractor, it is important to understand the business preference and specialty of the contractor to ensure a realistic quote.

4. Utilize estimating software to help with the estimate.
Advanced technology has already made it simple to work out the costs of construction. The specialized software simplifies the process of estimation of cost, quantities of labors, plant and materials involved with the project. So utilizing this software designed to handle multiple functions one can easily & quickly make accurate construction estimation.

Efficiency is the key word for the success
Underbidding a job may cause the company to lose money, which could cost millions of dollars on large projects. Overbidding could mean the job is awarded to another firm. There is constant pressure both to get the job done and to get it done right. So “Efficiency” is the key word for the success of a Construction Estimator.

Anurupa Roy
The construction estimating service

Spreadsheet estimating portrays data relationships graphically

What is Spreadsheet
Spreadsheets have been used by accountants for hundreds of years. But computerized or electronic spreadsheets are of much more recent origin.
A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper, accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells that together make up a grid consisting of rows and columns, each cell containing either alphanumeric text or numeric values.

Uses of Spreadsheet
This program used for managing, analyzing, and presenting information. Spreadsheets allow information to be sorted or displayed in a chart or graph as well as perform calculations on data. Simply, we can say, it usually provides the ability to portray data relationships graphically.

Helpful for decision making
In the accounting world a spreadsheet was is a large sheet of paper that lays everything out for a businessperson. It spreads or shows all of the costs, income, taxes, etc. on a single sheet of paper for a manager to look at when making a decision.

What is Estimation
Estimation is the calculated approximation of a result which is usable even if input data may be incomplete or uncertain. In project management (i.e., for engineering), accurate estimates are the basis of sound project planning. It is the process of using sample data to provide a single best value for a parameter (such as a mean, proportion, correlation, or effect size), or to provide a range of values in the form of a confidence interval. So “Estimation” is very important for running a successful business.
Benefits of Spreadsheet estimating
Management accountants who are involved in the accounting of retirement benefits can make their work easier by relying on computer spreadsheet technology. Projections from spreadsheets allow management accountants to incorporate magnitude and cost-timing uncertainties that are inherent in retiree benefits plans in the accounting process. As a result, a wide range of potential values for cash flows can be generated.

Usefulness of advanced spreadsheet
Advanced spreadsheet software can be used to replace traditional capital budgeting tools in predicting the likely performance of capital investments. The most common tools, including the compounding formula, the internal rate of return and net present value calculations, assume that their variables are fixed or known numbers and do not allow for variability to incorporate uncertainties, which typify capital investments. A better alternative to these traditional tools is the spreadsheet, which performs sensitivity analysis to help financial managers deal with uncertainty. Through probability distribution, these spreadsheet tools can predict the future performance of capital investments more accurately because it reflects the actual situation more closely.

Reasons for moving to Excel or other spreadsheet estimating:
Many contractors are moving to Excel or other spreadsheet applications instead of database, assembly driven estimating software.
There are many reasons for moving towards MS Excel, including:
• Virtually any estimating process can be automated through an Excel spreadsheet.
• Unlimited flexibility – if you can think it, Excel can often do it.
• Ability to set up an Excel template to your way of estimating or to a company standard.
• Large user base. Excel is currently taught in college and many high schools.
• Training is readily available and affordable.
• Easy to move from a paper spreadsheet system to an electronic spreadsheet. You will not change how you initially build and think through the estimate.
• Excel is more powerful and user friendly than previous spreadsheet applications. You can even link open databases to Excel spreadsheets.
• Lower cost and often higher value.
• Easier to build mathematical and logical formulas.
• Clear audit trail of how the numbers are generated.
As a conclusion we can say in a sentence, with great-looking templates, easy-to-create formulas, and dynamic tables and charts, spreadsheet estimating makes perfect sense to run your business just successfully.

Anurupa Roy
The construction estimating service