CONSTRUCTION ESTIMATING SOFTWARE BUYERS GUIDE


CONTENTS

I. Intro to Estimating
II. When to Buy 
III. Software Benefits
IV. Starting your Selection Process 
V. Takeoff Software, Cost Databases, and Worksheets
VI. Vendor Selection
VII. Implementation

Introduction to construction estimating: Software can streamline bidding, help you get jobs


Effective construction estimating is more than just making sure your firm keeps material and labor costs in check. It's also a matter of making sure your customers are charged an accurate and fair price for the work that you do. It's no surprise, then, that, in the words of Walter Mathieson of Mathieson Consulting in Glendale, Ariz., "Estimating is the lifeblood of the construction industry. If you have failures in estimating, you will be out of business before you know it."

Failures, though, are hardly uncommon. Ask yourself two questions. One, do you rely on manual tools, such as spreadsheets, adding machines or paper, to arrive at estimates? Two, even if you are using some sort of software, do you reach a point in the process where the spreadsheet just doesn't cut it and you resort to working on paper?

If your answers are "Yes," then you're probably wasting time and money and making it harder for your firm to compete against companies that have automated their construction estimating process. You could increase your speed, productivity, and improve the accuracy of your estimates with the right estimating software.

Excel is good -- but it may not be enough

According to the latest CFMA technology survey, 14% of contractors use Microsoft Excel to create, manage and communicate construction estimates. Contractors cite Excel's wide availability and its ease of use as reasons for sticking with the software, and our Microsoft Excel user reviews reinforce this point.

However, relying solely on Microsoft Excel for construction estimating may leave a firm lacking, said Dion Langness of Software Consultants in Lake Elmo, Minn.

"People are so familiar and so comfortable with Excel that they often have a hard time looking at a comprehensive estimating solution," he said. "If you are using Excel right now to do your estimating, it's important to look beyond your company's and employees' comfort level and familiarity with Excel as a tool and look for tools that can improve your bottom line by giving you faster and more accurate estimates per project."

This, Langness admitted, is not an easy thing to do. "Construction firms are often reluctant to take the step up to estimating software solutions," he noted. "We have found that it is...challenging to get people to really recognize the value and the benefits of a construction estimating software system. Most people simply do not like to change software systems unless they are forced to."

Well worth the investment

The challenges of implementing new software -- training users, migrating data from older applications and simply figuring out how it all works -- can often be enough for a firm to say "No." However, as two contractors recently learned, the benefits of construction estimating software can easily outweigh the amount of time and money invested in the new program.

Phil Arnt of GCM Contracting said that, thanks to Maxwell System's estimating software, his firm can complete estimates five times faster -- "and we're more accurate," he said. In addition, the use of estimating software helps the firm communicate more effectively, since all users have access to the same data at the same time.

Meanwhile, Gray Purcell's $1,100 investment in Plan Swift estimating software paid for itself after only seven months of use, noted Davis Edwards, a project manager at Gray Purcell. Edwards used the software to revisit construction estimates on three projects and found incorrect entries that could have amounted to more that $1.3 million in lost revenue.

Moreover, now that the company has automated its estimates, takeoffs have improved. "The quantities are more accurate, and the template I created it makes it less likely I'll miss something," Edwards said. "I have a complete record of all the quantities that were used to create the estimate."

*** Is it time for your company to start looking at construction estimating software? To learn more about the right time to upgrade, look to the next segment of our construction estimating buyers guide.

Next: When to Buy