- #Commercial construction takeoff software manual#
- #Commercial construction takeoff software software#
- #Commercial construction takeoff software professional#
Owners, contractors, architects and engineers are moving to advanced cost estimating and management systems, and many oversight groups such are beginning to also require their use. A 'short list' of additional capabilities includes the ability to work with multiple cost books/guides/UPBs, track project status, automatically compare estimates, easily copy/paste, clone, and reuse estimates, and integrated sophisticated visual estimating and quantity take-off (QTO) tools.
These systems enable cost estimators and project managers to collaboratively work with multiple projects, multiple estimates, and multiple contracts.
#Commercial construction takeoff software software#
Sophisticated, cost estimating and Efficient Project Delivery Software systems are also available to integrate various construction delivery methods such as Integrated Project Delivery, Job Order Contracting, and others (IDIQ, JOC, SABER.) simultaneously and securely. In sharp contrast, programs that are designed for civil construction, include libraries and program features for roadway, utility, and bridge builders. For example, programs that are designed for building construction, include libraries and program features for traditional builders. Īs cost estimating programs became more and more popular over the years, more advanced features, such as saving data for reuse, mass project-wide changes, and trade-specific calculations, have become available.
#Commercial construction takeoff software professional#
Other benefits include the use of reference to cost databases (aka "cost books") and other data, predictable and professional looking reports, speed, accuracy, and overall process standardization. As a result, commercial cost estimating software applications were originally created to overcome these errors by using hard-coded formulas and data structures. These were typically formula errors and cell-reference errors which would often lead to cost overruns. Commercial estimating software Īs cost estimators came to rely heavily on spreadsheets, and the formulas within the spreadsheets became more complex, spreadsheet errors became more frequent. For example, data entry remains tedious and prone to error, formula errors are common, and collaboration and information sharing are limited. Accuracy, however, is not necessarily improved and productivity is not maximized. While spreadsheets are relatively easy to master and provide a means to create and report a construction cost estimate and or cost models, their benefit comes largely from their ability to partially relieve estimators of mundane calculations.
#Commercial construction takeoff software manual#
Many construction cost estimators continue to rely primarily upon manual methods, hard copy documents, and/or electronic spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel. With the advent of computers in business, estimators began using spreadsheet applications like VisiCalc, Lotus 1-2-3, and Microsoft Excel to duplicate the traditional tabular format, while automating redundant mathematical formulas. They became known as green sheets or spreadsheets.
Some of these were similar to accounting ledger paper. Cost estimators used columnar sheets of paper to organize the take off and the estimate itself into rows of items and columns containing the description, quantity and the pricing components.