A cost estimate is the starting point of all construction projects. The success of any construction project depends on the estimation process which will directly affect all the aspects of the construction. In fact, the relationship between the contractor and the client begins from the cost estimate document. Since you work so hard to produce the best results, the last thing you want is an unhappy client.
Keeping a construction project within budget and scope is incredibly important to every builder. Whether you are just renovating your house or business, remodelling a property or undertaking a large construction project, understanding your costs and getting accurate estimates could determine failure or success. Using builder’s estimating software, for instance, can give you a significant edge. This means you could be up and running in no time, including timely completion of construction projects, management of projects within budget, tender and bid management, and even inventory control.
Builder’s need to exercise a great deal of control over the course of a project and that begins right from the project estimation process. The construction industry is infamous for projects going over budget or out of scope. Builders take the hit in many of these kinds of situations, including their reputations. Therefore, accurate estimation is one of the topmost concerns for any builder. Builder’s estimation software significantly increases the overall agility and operational performance of any construction project.
It is every builder’s nightmare to feel like they don’t have control over a projector that their project was going up the creek without a paddle. Say, your client wants to build a perimeter wall around their premises. They give you the dimensions of the wall, and you prepare an estimate, including all the materials required. Your client suddenly changes the wall. It could be anything from the type of wall to its dimensions. This would be every builder’s nightmare, especially if they had used manual methods estimating.
In the modern construction industry, clients constantly want project estimates, and they want them yesterday. Builders’ estimating software is simply software applications designed specifically for contractors to accurately predict the costs of a construction project. This is achieved by determining the materials they need and the quantities they need to order for the successful completion of the project. What would previously take hours and even days can now take a fraction of the time using estimating software.
So while you are still running around with measuring tape or punching out all kinds of calculations on your spreadsheets, another contractor has already punched out an estimate within minutes. Nearly all industries now use some form of software application or automation process to streamline its operations. Builder’s estimating software has been a game-changing technology that has helped boost efficiency levels across the industry. Both large and small construction companies can now cut down human errors, improve the accuracy of estimates, and confidently issue estimates.
Builder’s estimating software gives you back the control of project costs and with incredible efficiency. You’d simply need to input the new dimensions or changes, and the software would review the estimates within a fraction of the time. The builder’s estimating software would then spit out a new and revised estimate in a flash. With added functionalities such as the capability to upload blueprints, estimating software allows for speedy and accurate revisions, which are not uncommon in the construction industry.
But that’s not all. The best builder’s estimating software can quickly produce a report that can identify missing materials in your estimate, which are sure to impact your bottom lines once the project is underway. In fact, even after you win the job, the builder’s estimating software can help spot potential overruns that often produce undesirable project outcomes. Project overruns often mean that your firm may not make the kind of profit margins envisaged at the beginning of the project.
Other than the significantly increased accuracy levels, one other significant advantage of using builder’s estimating software is the overall efficiency of the process. Errors are either completely eliminated or kept to a minimum, including huge savings on time and labour costs due to the elimination of slow, costly and cumbersome paper plans. Builders are now able to prepare more bids within the same time frames as well as simplify their workflows. Therefore, the benefits accrued from using builder’s estimating software significantly outweigh the acquisition and deployment costs.
There are different kinds of estimating software in the market. While some are specifically designed to measure costs and measurements of specific materials, others focus on the financial side of the project, including job costing, accounting and even payroll. Therefore, it is not just about selecting the application that fits your budget, but rather, which needs it will serve and what key functions, it should perform to enable your firm to improve its efficiency levels.
However, some standard considerations may include ease of use, which means that all the relevant people in your firm must be able to use the software. Compatibility and integration, which means that you may need to consider if and how the software will integrate with your existing systems. Finally, your local compliance and regulations, that is, if the selected software is able to follow the rules and regulations of your industry. An important question to ask would be; can the software help improve your regulatory compliance while cutting down the costs?
Other (important) standard considerations would be whether the software can; estimate the right way, expedite the estimation process, estimate, track and generate change orders, generate professional looking proposals, allow remote access over the internet, access to databases for the cost of materials, and ability to upload blueprints of proposed projects.
Estimating software such as Cubit combines the power of BIM with a unique natural takeoff system to deliver the most user-friendly 5D builder’s estimating software available to the construction industry. Its on-screen measurement can help you save hours, and with far greater accuracy, as compared to using a scale ruler. Using and estimating software solution like Cubit (which has an almost fanatical user base across the UK) will ensure not only ensure pinpoint accuracy but also proven ROI. This means that builder’s estimating software eventually pays for itself many times over.