How important is your Construction Estimating Software?

Months before a building project begins, estimating the potential cost is critical to the success of your bid. The right construction estimating software in your organisation will:

• Reduce frustration by orderly managing sub contractors and supplier costs.
• Increase your Sales Opportunities, by generating estimates faster and maximising your opportunities.
• Win more sales, with confidence in your estimate and costing, allowing stronger negotiation practices in closing the business.
• Provide superior Control throughout out the construction process, using the estimate as an initial budget and plan how the project will be managed and controlled.

The project estimator using the construction estimating software is critical to the success of your bids, projects and possibly your operations. Estimates need to be precise in evaluating and estimating proposed construction costs. Once the expected construction costs are estimated, a decision as to margins can be made and then a bid can be created and forwarded.

Ensuring estimates incorporate all indirect and direct construction costs prior to tender submissions is critical, how else can you negotiate to win a deal?

These are the seven factors critical when selecting the construction estimating software for your business!.

1. The Intuitiveness and ease of use of your estimation software. Your estimators, surveyors, project managers, engineers and the like need not only to understand the estimating software and information outputted but are quickly able to find what they need, process, and move on.
   
   
2. Flexibility to match your internal workflow processes. Do you need to manage estimates across multiple disciplines, involve multiple contractors, standardises your internal authorisation process. By standardising estimating workflow processes, you will reduce the risks and exposure to errors and omissions in preparing your estimates.
   
   
3. Security, version control and audit ability. Although closely linked to your workflow processes these factors should influence heavy on selection of an estimating system.
   
   
4. Integration with other applications such as word, excel, TRASER, industry and trade price lists, project management applications and accounting engines. By integrating your estimating software with these applications, estimates will be generated faster, double entry minimised and possible duplication errors can be eliminated once the project is commenced.
   
   
5. Can estimating data be used for:
   1. Purchase Orders
   2. Resource Scheduling information
   3. Schedules and Project Management templates
   4. Subcontractor work order requests and submissions
   5. Supplier project pricing requests and submissions
   6. Internal and external cost presentation reports and tender documents.
   7. Equipment schedules and rental requirements.
      
      
6. What additional productivity tools are available? Advanced Estimation Software products now include tools like:
   1. Integrated linear conversion utilities, why use pen and paper to record length and area. Enter conversion requirements then use your mouse to calculate.
   2. Electronic take offs giving you the ability to quickly transfer project dimensions including lengths, areas, and volumes directly from CAD documents.
   3. Model Estimating. Similar to “wizards” you may find in some applications, Model Estimating requests a structured series of questions from the estimator, once complete the estimate is generated automatically.
   4. Industry specific tools such as “Cut and Fill” generators for earthmoving takeoffs.
      
      
7. Reporting. Having access to statistical & financial reports from within the system will provide management key information with respect to the future strategy and direction of the organisation as a whole. Your estimating system may provide critical information with respect to:
   • evaluating your estimating processes,
   • future resource requirements,
   • individual estimator performance,
   • contractor competitiveness and supplier comparisons,
   • sales reports with respect tenders won and lost by industry or market type.

Sage Timberline Standard Estimating Interface is easy to use in the familiar Excel type format.

>> Go to the Sage Timberline Construction Estimating Software Web Site here <<