Topical Info Center for Microsoft Excel for Construction Estimating
Helpful Guides and Articles
User Reviews
Microsoft Excel helps LCO Associates create construction estimates and cash-flow reports, while Word is the firm's product of choice for general reports. Information from both applications is then stored on a Microsoft Access database. "Each and every member of the office staff uses these applications, and pretty much everyone knows the basics of Excel, Word and Access," employee Selvan Assiskumar noted.
LCO Associates, which provides cost-consulting services for commercial construction projects in North America, uses an array of popular programs to simplify communication between employees and with clients. The Ottawa-based firm relies on general office tools such as Microsoft Excel, Word and Access, as well as more specialized construction-industry applications, including Primavera Project Planner and Palisade Corp.'s @Risk, to conducts its business.
"To create construction estimates, cash flows, cost reports and the like, we use Microsoft Excel and customize the format using Excel's built-in tools. For reports, tables and to state assumptions, for example, we use Microsoft Word," said Selvan Assiskumar, who joined LCO Associates about eight years ago. "For tasks such as storing project cost details, contacts and sub-contracts, we use Microsoft Access."
Before purchasing Microsoft Office and Access, LCO Associates used earlier versions of spreadsheets and word-processing applications, he said. But Microsoft's solutions have proven cost effective, easy to learn and are the de facto standard among construction and non-construction firms, making it easy to share documents between different companies, Assiskumar added.
"I think the Microsoft programs and our other software tools may have minimized the actual cost by 75%. Each and every member of the office staff uses these applications, and pretty much everyone knows the basics of Excel, Word and Access," he noted.
Assiskumar rated Microsoft Office and Microsoft Access an 8 out of 10 for creating and storing construction estimates and other job costing details.
To streamline its construction estimating, ASRC Energy Services, part of the vast oil and gas process industry in Alaska, relies extensively on an integrated solution comprised of Microsoft Office coupled with more specialized WinEst and Primavera software.
The ability of the applications to interoperate, and therefore keep data consistent and up to date, should deliver productivity and accuracy benefits, said Robert May. (He noted that having only used the solution for six months made it difficult to come up with an estimated return on investment yet.)
"This solution had better integration capabilities with other programs we were already using," said May, one of more than 1,500 employees at the Anchorage-based firm. "Now everyone is on the same page, using the same up-to-date information. There are no silos of outdated data in PCs because all the information is centralized in the server."
Merging construction estimates from multiple users who are simultaneously working on a project is now much easier and accurate, he said. This consistency makes Microsoft Office a must-have for all estimators and project control professionals, May said.
Overall, May rated the Microsoft Office suite an 8 out of 10 as a construction estimating software tool.
Sticker shock at both the high up-front and annual maintenance fees associated with specialized cost estimating software programs led Joe Issa of Albert Kahn Associates to try Microsoft Excel instead.
The spreadsheet application, a component of Microsoft Office, was already installed at the Detroit-based planning, design and management firm, Issa said. "If I had wanted to buy MC2 or Timberland basic software, it would be at least $5,000," he said. "By using Excel I am saving $5,000 and at least $1,500 per year for maintenance."
Since it is part of the widely popular Microsoft suite, Excel is user-friendly and familiar to co-workers within Issa's consulting group, he said: "Everybody knows how to use Excel. If you have specialized software you'll be the only one able to use it."
Issa rated Microsoft Excel a 6 out of 10. He did note that, were he a contractor as opposed to a consultant, he would likely buy separate cost estimating software.
Blog Entries
Products
Book Excerpts
Find Software Tips
ProEst Estimating
Company Overview
Founded in 1976, CMS (Construction Management Software) offers estimating software for construction contractors. The firm's two products, ProEst Estimating and ProEst Takeoff, are customizable for general contractors, residential home builders, and other trades, such as concrete/masonry, electrical, landscaping, mechanical and plumbing.
9520 Padgett Street, Suite 104
San Diego, CA
Phone: 858-348-1364
Toll Free: 800-255-7407
Fax: 858-348-1365
Web: proest.com