Carlson Takeoff 2012 can speed up the design file conversion process

A new wing added to Carlson Takeoff software with the emergence of Carlson Takeoff 2012. Some robust improvements like increased 3D visualization, capability for working with PDF files, and the ability to provide customized, more professional reports. 

The contractors now get the ability to speed up converting design files. The estimators can now transform images to CAD linework acclerating the process of making this image data useful. 

This CAD-based project-estimating and modeling software is compatible with  AutoCAD® 2012 and IntelliCAD® 7.0 built-in. 

For road work project the contractor can break out cross section quantities by staging and also the reporting of inappropriate material for end areas with newly added report formatter.

The software is also very useful for creating machine control models that output to all leading machine control providers.

Carlson Software is also presenting a bunch of other softwares like 2012 versions of Carlson Survey, Carlson Civil, Carlson Hydrology, Carlson GIS, Carlson Point Cloud, Carlson Mining, and Carlson Natural Regrade, each featuring its own industry-specific improvements.


Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Global Associates
A pioneer company in construction estimatingJoin our estimating forum 

Chilton unveils ChiltonEstimating ideal for professional automotive technicians

Chilton just released ChiltonEstimating, an online tool to create estimates, work orders, and invoices for professional Automotive Technicians.

By utilizing ChiltonEstimating the users can avail the current labor times with all content online and with two shop-user logins they can work on multiple job simultaneously. Besides the users can also open two work orders at a time to save huge time.

The information within ChiltonEstimating is regularly updated to enable users to get the most appropriate and latest information while carrying out an estimate. Furthermore, all vital customer information within ChiltonEstimating is accumulated securely online to ensure that all data may not be lost or destroyed.

ChiltonEstimating comes up with several pricing option to suit your requirements and can be purchased as an annual or monthly subscription.

Buy online

System Requirements
Internet Explorer 7.0 or later versions, Firefox 3.6 or later versions
High-speed Internet connection
Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7, 32bit or 64bit versions

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Business Development
Global Associates
A pioneer company in construction estimating
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Related Costs of a built construction

The owner should take into consideration the preliminary capital cost and the consequent operation and maintenance costs for a building construction. The cost component is formed with these cost categories.

The capital cost relates to the expenditures required for initial formation of the construction. The capital cost consists of land acquirement expenses along with assembly, holding and improvement, Architectural and engineering design, Construction financing, Planning and feasibility studies, materials, equipment and labor, Insurance and taxes throughout construction, Owner's general office overhead, equipment and furnishings not taken in construction, Inspection and testing.

The operation and maintenance cost over the project life cycle for succeeding years should comprise of relevant land rent, Labor and material for maintenance and repairs, cyclic renovations, Insurance and taxes, Financing costs, Utilities, Operating staff, Owner's other expenses

The extent of these costs varies according to nature, size and location of the project in addition to the management organization.

In order to compute the life cycle costs the owner should also consider the equivalent operation and maintenance cost of each alternative for a suggested construction.

In a construction budget there should be arrangements for allowance of contingencies or unexpected costs all through the construction process. This contingency must be contained in each cost item or incorporated in a single category of construction contingency. The amount of contingency depends on historical experience and the predictable complexity of a particular construction project. The contingency expenses for a construction may be associated with design development alterations, schedule adjustments, general administration changes (such as wage rates), contradictory site conditions for those anticipated, Third party obligations required for the duration of construction, as for example new permits.

The owner can avail the contingent amounts not expend for construction near the end of construction to the owner. These amounts can also be considered as additional project elements.

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Business Development
Global Associates
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Construction Contract - General Overview

A construction contract is a contract purposely carried off for the construction of an asset or a group of interdependent or interrelated assets relating to the design, technology and function or ultimate purpose or use.

A fixed price contract denotes to a contract where the contractor consents to a fixed contract price or a fixed rate per unit of output, which may be subject to cost escalation clauses in some incidents.

A cost plus contract denotes to a contract where the contractor is recouped for permissible or otherwise defined costs in addition percentage of these costs or a fixed fee.

Under IAS 11, if a contract addresses two or more assets, the construction of each asset reported for individually if (a) separate proposals were submitted for each asset, (b) portions of the contract regarding each asset were negotiated independently, and (c) costs and revenues of each asset can be evaluated. If not, the contract is reported for in its entireness. [IAS 11.8]

Two or more contracts are accounted for as a single contract if they were negotiated together and the work is interconnected. [IAS 11.9]

If a contract provides an alternative to order one or more extra assets, construction of every extra asset is accounted for as a separate contract if either (a) the additional asset dissents considerably from the original asset(s) or (b) the price of the additional asset is separately negotiated. [IAS 11.10]

Schedule of Quantities
A schedule of quantities is formed for all the projected works after the creation of architectural and engineering design. The true project cost will be determined by putting estimated unit rate adjacent to each work item. In order to keep the design intact the cost of budget should be amended with the change of building material or lower requirement of specification.

Estimation / Cost Planning
An estimate of capital cost along with direct & indirect cost and an estimate of capital expenditure containing plant , labor , material , temporary works , fixed overhead , subcontractors , suppliers , operation and maintenance etc. should be prepared for financial schedule to evaluate the economic viability. Simultaneously, an income schedule must be set up for a commercial project to anticipate the profitableness and rate of return.

Financial Support
Financing of a project, particularly for a commercial project, may significantly affect the choice of project size and type of contract to be selected by the client. In case the financial status mainly governs the size and sequence of the project, the client itself should know well about the financial schedule of its capital investment and expenditure. If short of funding, it should look for supports well in advance from outside parties or banks when necessary.

Contingency
In spite of preliminary investigations in engineering design stage, there are always possibilities of experiencing unanticipated problems after the commencing of work. With the purpose of doing away with the situation of running out of budget, the client or its engineer frequently take into accounts a contingent sum of money to cope with the unpredicted additional works.

Preparation of Contract Documents
During the design phase the engineer should have arrange for the right form of contract documents to be utilized with construction to the client. Sincere attention and sufficient time should be given to organize the contract documents failing which may cause sudden additional expenditure. Now-a-days some common forms of contract known as FIDIC Contract are available.

Preparation of Tender Documents
At the time of submitting tenders some vital information like represent the full design , detailed requirements , stage completions of works , contractor’s responsibilities , terms of payment and any other special conditions should be included into tender drawings , specifications , bills of quantities , works programme and the contract documents so that the renderers’ can easily understand the value of work to render a competitory but precise quoted price to cover the whole of the work. Inadequate information in the tender documents will cause disputes and claims accordingly throughout and at the end of the contract.

The following documents should be included into a tender:
a) Instructions to tenderers
b) Form of Tender
c) General Condition of Contract
d) Special Condition of Contract
e) General Specification
f) Particular Specification
g) Bills of Quantities
h) Methods of Measurement
i) Tender Drawings
j) Additional appendices
k) Form of Agreement

Preparation of Bills of Quantities (BoQ)
The bill of quantities contains a schedule of predetermined work items for item-by-item portion of contract works. It presents the brief description of the necessitated work and with estimated quantity taken off from the tender drawings. To get over the complete work the contract may include a series of bills which constitute a part of the tender documents for the renderers to estimate against each item with a unit rate or unit price. On the ground of the total offered price will then be developed. Assessment of the BoQ items will be based on the “preamble” and compliant with the process described in the “Standard Method of Measurement (SMM)”. A brief examination must be carried out to resolve the errors related with the “BoQ unit” and the numerical figures of the “ BoQ quantity”.

Though construction contracts are considered as the systems for evaluation construction cost, they also constitute the allotment of risk to the different parties involved in the construction. The owner is empowered to select the type of contract to be utilized for a specific facility to express the terms in a contractual agreement.

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Business Development
Global Associates
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Sage include a new SQL Server database to it's Sage Timberline Estimating software

Sage North America, a part of The Sage Group plc and a leading provider of business management software and services, just released a new estimating solution to aid contractors to win more jobs and maximize Profit.

Sage developed a Microsoft's scalable, SQL Server database backend to its Sage Timberline Estimating product. Now-a-days Sage Timberline Estimating is considered as the most extensively-used estimating product in the construction market.

The latest SQL version will increase productivity and create & manage estimate quickly in an automated way. It will also execute enhanced data analysis and management and keep all estimates in one location. The estimator will be able to access, manage and back all the data easily.
Sage employs Microsoft's .NET framework to model businesses processes and construct a very visual, user-friendly interface with the same look and feel across modules.

Jon Witty, general manager of Sage Construction and Real Estate, pronounces the product "a welcome replacement for underpowered estimating solutions and generic spreadsheets."

Sage Timberline Estimating do away with unnecessary data entry and error-prone processes facilitating projects to run proficiently from preliminary estimate to project achievement.

Sage Timberline Estimating come up with some advancement like a Subcontractor Bid Grid, Variable, customizable pricing, industry specific databases, and custom reporting options.

With 'Subcontractor Bid Grid option the software can store, analyze, and select subcontractor bids and quotes by individual item or groups of items. The Users will get the ability to log each subcontractor's name, bid quantity, unit price, total bid amount, and additional notes in the pop-up grid. From there, users click on the bid to utilize and it's added to the estimate.

GET DEMO

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Business Development
Global Associates
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BIM authorizing estimating software can enhance the estimating process to a great extent

Building Information Modeling (BIM) generates a complete digital model of the building that can produce exact bill of material and cost estimate along with coordinated drawings and details.

A conceptual building information model can provide a quick feedback on several design assumptions as the model contains components with historical cost data, productivity data and other estimating data.

BIM based estimating process can also cut down overall contingency and dependability and cause huge savings in profit.

In an BIM based estimating & takeoff system the design model is linked with estimating process and the quantity takeoff along with overall estimating process is greatly enhanced. The faster feedback on proposed design changes can be easily achieved.

CostX
CostX®, a complete construction estimating solution for estimators to employ the most advanced on-screen measurement system with BIM to extradite better results to clients.

With its 3D graphics capability CostX® can rapidly and precisely take off quantities from 2D drawings and bring forth automatic quantities from 3D BIM models. Prepare estimates, bills of quantities and tenders easily and all in a fraction of the time and cost.

Read More.......

SmartBIM QTO
SmartBIM QTO from RSMeans, is contrived for architects and designers to estimate or refine costs swiftly for a project. The software provides early cost estimation for Revit projects. As a project changes, the architects get the ability to carry cost estimates for various design options to alleviate “what-if” scenarios. After the formation, any line item can be edited manually allowing users to input their own costs or further refine the estimate using the RSMeans CostWorks® database.

Read More.......

DProfiler
DProfiler is a one kind of building information modeling (BIM) software, cognized “macro BIM,” that can generate the 3D conceptual models with detailed estimates. The software is applied in the planning and conceptual design stages to develop a precise and concurrent cost estimate of a projected design.

Read More.......

Vico Cost Planner
Vico Cost Planner™ provides the model-based quantities for cost calculation, estimating, and value engineering module in the Vico Office Suite. The software has the ability to make highly precise estimates in less time.

With an evolutionary approach, Cost Planner provides uninterrupted cost feedback across all project stages commencing with a costing scheme at the business development stage and progressively increasing in coarseness as more specific data and accurate quantities are accessible from the 3D BIM model.

Read More.........

Vico Cost Explorer
Vico Cost Explorer™ provides visual monitoring system with which a estimator can quickly hold and transmit project cost variances, compare them to targeted costs and track cost drivers.

Cost Explorer provides online feedback ceaselessly about the status of your project and get better communicating and understanding of cost changes. The bidirectional link that connects the Cost Explorer, the 3D model and the Assembly-Component views offers rapid visual feedback for cost issues be present in the project.

Read More..........

Innovaya Visual Estimating
By utilizing Building Information Modeling (BIM) system, Innovaya Visual Estimating delivers the most authoritative and accurate cost estimating solutions by transporting objects from Autodesk’s and Tekla's BIM applications to MC2 ICE and Sage Timberline. The software is compatible with Autodesk Revit®,AutoCAD Architecture/MEP, and Tekla® Structure.

Read More.........

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Business Development
Global Associates
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Construction Project Management: A new Era of AEC industry

Construction Project Management is the overall planning, coordination and control of a project from inception to completion aimed at meeting a client’s requirements in order to produce a functionally and financially viable project that will be completed on time within authorized cost and to the required quality standards. Project management is the process by which a project is brought to a successful conclusion. Construction project management (CPM) is project management that applies to the construction sector (3rd Forum” International Construction Project Management” 26th/27 June 2003 in Berlin).

Everybody acknowledge the contribution of architects and civil construction professionals who help their customers to create their dream homes into reality. Many construction management companies are there who have the aim to provide the customer with the information and resources that help them to understand ACC better while they work to support them in their endeavors. The construction project management includes showcasing the most favorite project, sharing customers’ home plan template, highlighting their expertise in terms of construction sequence and best practice and sharing the success story of the customer.

The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) (a primary US construction management certification and advocacy body) says the 120 most common responsibilities of a Construction Manager fall into the following 7 categories: Project Management Planning, Cost Management, Time Management, Quality Management, Contract Administration, Safety Management, and CM Professional Practice which includes specific activities like defining the responsibilities and management structure of the project management team, organizing and leading by implementing project controls, defining roles and responsibilities and developing communication protocols, and identifying elements of project design and construction likely to give rise to disputes and claims.

Functions

The functions of construction project management typically include the following:

• Specifying project objectives and plans including delineation of scope, budgeting, scheduling, setting performance requirements, and selecting project participants.
• Maximizing resource efficiency through procurement of labor, materials and equipment.
• Implementing various operations through proper coordination and control of planning, design, estimating, contracting and construction in the entire process.
• Developing effective communications and mechanisms for resolving conflicts

Vu360 - An exclusive software to View, Markup and Takeoff Project Documents

Vu360 is a free internet-tethered digital document viewer that facilitates contractors to easily update and annotates blueprints on construction documents and generate detailed & accurate estimates to communicate RFIs. The application also helps subs or other project team members to review plans from remote sites.

The application is built up with Microsoft .net framework and can be incorporated with BB-Bid’s online plan rooms and other online products. The application can also be utilized to takeoff .pdf and .till document.

Vu360 is amalgamated with The Blue Book Network’s search tools in order to effortlessly find and spec products, materials and equipment in addition to message contractors and suppliers.

Vu360 contains an in-built web-browser, making it your window and entrance to all the construction information needs.

Some exclusive features of Vu360:

Capability to view PDF, TIFF and all HTML Web pages

Markup and Takeoffs contains Counts, Linear, Square Foot, Volume etc.

The quantities are exportable to Excel or XML

Capability to rapidly communicate information through email or PDF

Keyword Search help you to search the specification book and your own markups

Incorporated with BPM Select to quickly obtain detailed information on products

Integrated with thebluebook.com to quickly obtain information from subcontractors and suppliers

Download now
http://www.thebluebook.com/2011/index.php?id=16#Instructions

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Global Associates
A pioneer company in construction estimating
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Newly launched measurement grouping tools for for pavement maintenance contractors.

Go iPave recently released measurement grouping tools which will facilitate USA based contractors to group any measurements alongwith asphalt, concrete, edging, sidewalks, turf etc. efficiently.

Go iPave makes the measuring bidding process smooth for pavement maintenance and service contractors as the contractors can now easily visualize specific surfaces in bid proposals, precisely calculate job costs and materials. Besides the contractors can save measurement groups to a workspace file for future reference and modification.

By utilizing the measurement grouping tools the Pavement maintenance contractors will get the ability to know the total quantity of asphalt they are working with, how long are all of the sidewalks and how much edging are they going to prep for?

Key Benefits:
• Group measurements by asphalt, concrete, sidewalks, turf and mulch
• Boostup efficiency while identifying all surface types included in bid proposal
• Smoothly allocate job costs and materials needed for each surface type/measurement group
• Simplify proposals by saving measurement groups to individual spreadsheet tabs
• Provide customers with detailed bids outlining exact surface type measurements like concrete and asphalt

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Global Associates
A pioneer company in construction estimating
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General Contractors now embrace latest construction technology to win more bids

Recently the construction industry is undergoing a tough situation due to recession. As a result the general contractors from all discipline are loosing jobs in their own countries and migrating to other countries for finding jobs.

Now the construction market become so competitive and the contractors are choosing alternative ways like lowering their bids, adopting new types of construction, going down-market for better job etc.

But the contractors can overcome this situation by adopting latest web based technologies. These technologies help contractors to create the cost estimates required to bid on projects in other regions more effectively.

Among these technologies the most important are online plan rooms, bid management software, takeoff and estimating software, building information modeling (BIM), and cloud-based project management software.

Online plan room
With the development of online planroom now, contractors have the option of either doing everything online by going to a physical planroom. Here the contractors will find Plans, Specifications, Addenda, Bid Invitations & Planholders available 24x7.

Contractors can manage and track plans, order prints, arrange for deliver, and compile a historical record of plans and specs. The contractors can also download these to estimate costs and bid on the projects. The contractors will be able to search for construction projects by type (e.g. commercial, industrial, and transportation), by trade (e.g. HVAC, concrete, and plumbing) and by location.

Of late, the process is further accelerated by integrating online plan rooms with backoffice software.

Bid Management Software
By applying bid management software, contractors can easily bid on jobs in other regions. The software centralize and simplify the distribution of Bid Invitation and Bid Management for General Contractors. The contractors will be in a position to know how much they spend, and set the parameters to alert when the cost of a desired spot exceeds the designated amount. As per the situation the contractors can decide whether to raise their bid or settle for a lower ranking.

A sub contractor receives a bid invitation and can submit a proposal after downloading supporting plans and project specs. From there the general contractor can evaluate bid proposals, view a project’s history and statistics, and prequalify their sub contractors all online.

These types of software help buyers (i.e. general contractors) connect with sellers (i.e. subcontractors and suppliers). These software contain some advanced features like contractor pre-qualification, bid solicitation and response tracking, and document management.

Onscreen Takeoff and Cost Estimating
Contractors get the ability to complete the entire estimate process from digital plan takeoffs, estimating materials and labor, and creating bid reports all on one screen. This helps contractors to win bids in less time.

After calculating the material quantity, estimating software draws real-time pricing information from national databases, thus letting contractors to calculate the cost precisely for any category of construction in any region.

Most companies achieve ROI from their On-Screen Takeoff software investment within the first year

Building Information Modeling
Building Information Modeling can automate measurement and costing of construction works. BIM can enhance the speed of takeoff work. With BIM the contractors can manipulate how qty's are calculated, re-assign Take off Items and Take Off quantities and generate quantities by location without changing the actual model at all.

BIM provides 4D (Adding the aspect of Time to a project phasing/sequencing) and 5D ( Adding the aspect of Cost to a project cost estimating) virtual modeling of a building. Now the contractors are using 4D BIM extensively. In 4D BIM the cost information is contained in the BIM or can be linked or associated to the building objects. Construction schedules can be created with model elements and associated with tasks and the corresponding materials, resources, and labor; all of which are optimized by location.

5D BIM can be utilized for coordination, quantity takeoff, cost estimation, project scheduling and production control. With 5D BIM the contractors can easily understand which aspects of the project are contributing to changes in cost.

Cloud-based Project Management Software
Cloud or web-based project management software facilitates contractors to create, manage, track, and share project documentation more efficiently, and communicate and collaborate with project team members more effectively.

These software can keep track of documents and seize them in one central easily-accessible place. The contractors can make decisions faster, automate documentation and reduce costs.

The status of project items like daily schedules, change orders, punch list items, requests for information (RFIs) and other project tasks can be viewed quickly.

Read more on the Software Advice blog : Technology Accelerates the Migration of Contractors

Vico Software presents Vico Office R3

Vico Software launches Vico Office R3 that generates a Construction-Oriented 5D BIM Environment for owners and contractors.

By utilizing this latest software the contractor get the ability to produce several types of BIM model with cost and schedule information.

The general contractors can computerize the task of generating location-based quantities both for estimates and for the powerful Flowline™ schedules.

This integrated construction management software is very useful for large complex building projects and can be utilized for coordination, budgeting, and project control alongwith modeling, scheduling and estimating.

Vico Office R3 converts 3D BIMs by integrating construction-caliber quantities with location, 4D scheduling data, and 5D cost estimating data to evaluate the schedule and cost impact of changes throughout preconstruction planning or throughout the project's build phase.

Posted by Rajib Dey
Senior Executive
Global Associates (The pioneer company in construction estimating)
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American Concrete Institute introduces four new publications useful for concrete industry

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) launches four new publications focusing on the most updated concrete-related information and technology.
All ACI members are eligible to get a special discount (up to 40 percent) on all ACI publications.
In order to avail the Publications, one can call to 248-848-3800 or visit the link http://www.concrete.org/general/home.asp for online order.

The details of the publication are given below:-
Guide to Hot Weather Concreting (305R-10) This guide deals with the problems related with hot weather concreting and provides solutions like proposed preparations and methods for use in general types of hot weather construction for example pavements, bridges, and buildings.
Price: $57.50 (ACI members $35.00)

Guide to Cold Weather Concreting (306R-10) This guide focus on concrete temperature through mixing and placing, temperature loss during delivery, training for cold weather concreting, safety requirements for concrete that don’t have construction supports, figure out strength development, procedures of protection, necessities of curing and admixtures for speeding up setting and strength gain including antifreeze admixtures.
Price: $60.50 (ACI members $37.00)

Report on Corrosion and Repair of Grouted Multistrand and Bar Tendon Systems (423.8R-10) This report contains the information associated with the evaluation of corrosion damage in structures reinforced with grouted multistrand and bar tendons. The report also includes a assessment of existing practice for assessing corrosion damage and typical repair schemes together with the historical background. Specific probable problem areas for grouted tendons are explained for each critical part of the tendon.
Price: $41.50 (ACI members $25.00)

Specification for Producing a Skid-Resistant Surface on Concrete by the Use of Epoxy and Aggregate (503.3-10) This specification demonstrate the system for generating a skid-resistant surface on hardened concrete by the utilization of a multi-component epoxy resin. The specification takes into consideration controls for resin labeling, storage, handling, mixing, and application; surface evaluation and preparation; and inspection and quality. Besides, it also provides an aggregate applicable with the coating. Also obtainable in a Metric version.
Price: $32.50 (ACI members $20.00)

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Global Associates
A pioneer company in construction estimating
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Construction Estimating Checklist: A New Era of Estimating Service

If you are a newbie in the estimating service zone then you should know about construction estimating checklist and how to organize them. it is not possible to get the help of expensive software for fancy estimate proposals. Well you need at the very least some sort of checklist. There is a lot of free e4ducation and tips online to help your design a good construction estimating checklist. From how to methods to tips, all you have to do is search on the Google.

The Checklist of Construction Estimating

But you have to follow a basic structure for your construction estimating checklist should consist. Assuming you have the name of your company and address already registered, your form should have the following main features on it: Client Information like full name, address, phone number of both work and at home, email address; Project Description like brief description of project to ensure that your estimate includes all the client wants, example would be Kitchen remodel or Bathroom remodel or roof repair and Project ID: as your business grows and you end up deciding on what software will best help you manage your business, you will need each project to have the separate id. As the hope that the client will continue to use you for other projects, each project should have their own identification.

The teamwork to create a checklist

The Estimate: Now break down all the different steps the job will entail with a cost of 10% more that you think you can do the job for. This gives the client some wiggle room to negotiate bringing you back down to where you would have estimated the job to cost but giving the client a feeling of win/win negotiations. Total the cost. But the most important part of this estimate is that it should have an expiration date. You have no control over material cost but know that your supplier revises their cost on a particular day of the week and then your estimate should be in direct correlation to that cost. Your suppliers will give you an estimate of cost in writing guaranteeing the quote till a particular date. Make sure to make note of that date and make sure to include that date in your estimate.

Now make sure to organize your estimate by phases, no more than 3 phases. As you will ask for upfront payment per phase and schedule a walk through the completion of every phase with the client. Make sure to charge them for walk through inspections as the project may require city inspections in addition to your detail inspection which cost time. But this will also help you control the client wanting to do an unscheduled inspection which would take you away from your work and may be an insurance liability.

This should give you a good idea how to get started making an effective construction estimating checklist.

Why to Outsource cost Estimation Service?

The architectural companies always want reliable but affordable service in cost estimation. The offshore companies who are solely providing cost estimating can help the architectural firm to focus on their core business. The cost estimating companies are used estimating cost in various Civil, Architectural, Structural, HVAC, Earthwork, Material, Labour and many more sectors of US, UK, Canada and Australia.

The cost estimating outsourcing service provider focus on providing effective building cost estimation services for various small, medium or large project offering accurate cost estimation as per the client’s need. The engineers of the estimating firm have the ability to perform an in-depth analysis on the client’s input of hand sketches, 2D drawings or even blueprints and provide construction cost estimations and building cost estimations in terms of cost value. That’s why you should outsource your cost estimation project and get benefits of the accurate estimation in an affordable price.

The cost estimation service providers give the clients the cost information needed to make a bid for a contract. They also help their clients in deciding whether a proposed new product will be profitable and which endeavors are currently making a profit. All these information will help greatly the offshore architectural companies. With the help of their service they can track the actual costs as the project develops. The expert team of cost estimating can provide accurate 3D models based on the inputs from the clients and give a realistic dimension to the cost of construction of a building.

A complete online course for estimating & bidding

A complete course over the internet is being arranged to provide training on construction estimation & bidding.

The course module will involve the followings :-
An Overview of Estimating and Bidding
Planning and Organizing the Estimate
Estimating General Conditions
Estimating Labor and Equipment
Estimating Sitework - Excavation
Estimating Sitework - Utilities and Other Site Amenities
Concrete Estimating - Footings and Foundations, Slab on Grade, Columns, Walls,and
systems
Estimating Masonry Construction

The participants shoud have the following skills :-
Capability to read blue prints
Accustomed to use spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel, Lotus 123, or Quattro Pro
Basic construction knowledge that includes basic math skill, Estimating terminology (quantity take off, unit price, production rate, etc., versed with calculator and
architectural scale

The course will last for 10 week long.

The course fee will vary from $600 for AACE member and $500 for Nonmember

For registration & detailed overview, please visit the following link
https://www.aacei.org/educ/online/courses/DLC105.shtml

Posted by Rajib Dey
Business Development
Construction estimating Service

Maxwell Systems™ introduces ProContractorMX™ version 2.5

Maxwell System Inc, a pioneer software company in takeoff and estimating, job cost accounting, and project management, just launched Maxwell Systems™ ProContractorMX™ version 2.5. The latest version will provide a great benefit to the concrete and masonry construction companies to enhance their productivity and profitability.

The software can manage the complete project lifecycle , procurement, bids and proposals, financials, employees, payroll, equipment. The contractors will be in a position to find out their exact job costs.

Maxwell Systems™ ProContractorMX™ maintain flawless workflow that varies from takeoff and estimating through job cost accounting and project management, and ultimately for critical reporting and analysis.

By applying this latest software the contractors can easily get their plans obtainable in the estimating.

ProContractorMX 2.5 comes up with some new features like ProContractorMX Connect, Document Management, Payroll Electronic Filing, Building Information Modeling (BIM.

ProContractorMX Connect – Generate the latest project information in the office or in the field. Give access to all the vital documents and reports with the help of latest mobile device and easily track the development of the project.

Document Management –Produce, track, systematize, and handle the project related several documents; put up significant, online "paper” trails; and put alerts for critical due dates. Thus the contractors are able to meet up deadlines, and keep on schedule.

Payroll Electronic Filing – The software can be utilized for electronic tax filing. ProContractorMX 2.5 produces tax file information following processing payroll and makes e-files (or magnetic media) that can be used for filing to state and federal agencies.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) –Bring in items from a Building Information Modeling or BIM file and create an estimate alongwith cost items and quantities.

Posted by
Rajib Dey
Business Development
The construction estimating service
rajib@jobs2india.com

Residential Estimating

Residential estimating can help building professional to get quick access to the details of material and labor breakdowns.
With residential estimating service the building professionals can also update cost according to the increase or decrease of the labor & material price. The building professional can easily control it’s budget, waste, jobsite theft, jobsite damage and trade misuse.
Residential estimating includes estimation of concrete, foundation steel, makeup materials, doors and windows, sheetrock, interior trim, flooring, counters etc.
With the help of residential estimating the building professional can convert their plans, blue print, elevations, sections etc. from 2D drawing into 3D model based on the information to generate realistic dimension to the cost of construction of a building in a timely manner through the use of the most commonly used construction estimating programs including Microsoft Excel.

Posted by
Rajib Dey
Business Development
The construction estimating service

The Industrial risk of Cost Estimation in the Bidding Process

Project cost estimation in the bidding process is a critical concern for the competitiveness and profitability of an engineering and contracting company. Estimates which diverge as little as possible from actual costs have to be made on the basis of relatively limited information. Of the macro-items contributing to the overall cost of a plant project, those
linked to engineering activities have been growing continuously in percentage terms for a number of years and have thus become the object of considerable interest. Moreover, since these items are difficult to standardize, estimation is particularly difficult. A method able to produce reliable estimates for these activities could certainly be usefully transferred to other project stages. The methodology proposed to formulate a bid estimate for a HAZOP study envisages the joint use of three tools to produce more accurate estimates and improve the quality of decisions through explicit assessment of the risk of over-estimating (or under-estimating) the cost.

First, an analytical estimation model based on improved structuring of available information provides more accurate estimates and facilitates the use of IT applications. Second, company knowledge gained in previous projects is structured and maintained in order to ensure continuous improvement in estimation. This information can be used to improve over time the understanding of the determinant values in the model itself, so obtaining increasingly accurate estimates and probability distributions which take account of historical errors. Finally, a simulation technique provides the probability distribution of the overall cost and thus the confidence interval of the estimates.

Project cost estimation in the bidding process is a critical concern for the competitiveness and profitability of an engineering and contracting company as it involves considerable risk. Indeed, with only the limited information available in the tender documents and the partial results of the basic engineering, an estimate must be drawn up which varies as little as possible from the effectively sustained costs. The reason for this is that the industrial goods market is becoming increasingly competitive and the typical contract is now the lump-sum, in which the contractor agrees to supply at a pre-determined price. Since the starting point for this price is the estimate prepared during the bidding, it is evident that this cost estimate is crucial to the competitiveness and profitability of engineering and contracting companies.

That’s why project cost estimation is always a critical process on the part of the engineers. The estimator must have to take great care in the estimating process to deliver an accurate calculation.

Tips for a perfect estimation

Always just before to start a project some questions crawling in the minds of every member of the Architects, Engineers and Construction industry. How much will it cost? How many days will it take to finish? What will be the profit margin of the project? To get answers of all these questions you should seek the help of project estimation.

Any construction projects typically involve many dynamic aspects, yet they're often constrained by finite conditions. These contradictory forces make it very difficult to determine with pinpoint accuracy the time and effort required. By using a set of proactive estimating techniques to scope, plan, and constrain your project conditions, you can dramatically improve your estimating practices, reduce and mitigate risks, and increase your project success rate.

Do you excel at predicting the time, funding, and resources your projects will require? Whether your company aims to develop a new product or service, update an existing system, or launch a new Web site, these undertakings will require people, schedules, funding, resources, requirements, testing, revising, implementation, evaluation, and many other elements. Sometimes we forget the hidden or unknown variables that are difficult or impossible to anticipate and sometime even more difficult to resolve.

That’s why you need to be more careful when estimating for a construction project. Here we are discussing about some important tips for perfect project estimation.

1. Maintain an ongoing "actual hours" database of the recorded time spent on each aspect of your construction projects. Use the data to help estimate future projects and identify the historically accurate buffer time needed to realistically perform the work.

2. Create and use planning documents, such as specifications and project plans.

3. Perform a detailed task analysis of the work to be performed.

4. Use a "complexity factor" as a multiplier to determine whether a pending project is more or less complex than a previous one.

5. Use more than one method to arrive at an estimate, and look for a midpoint among all of them.

6. Identify a set of caveats, constraints, and assumptions to accompany your calculations, which would bind the conditions under which your estimates would be meaningful. (Anything that occurs outside of those constraints would be considered out of scope).

7. If the proposed budget or schedule seems inadequate to do the work, propose adjusting upward or downward one or more of the four project scoping criteria: cost, schedule, quality, and features.

8. Consider simpler or more efficient ways to organize and perform the work.

9. Plan and estimate the project rollout from the very beginning so that the rollout won't become a chaotic scramble at the end. For instance, you could propose using a minimally disruptive approach, such as a pilot program or a phased implementation.

10. In really nebulous situations, consider a phase-based approach, where the first phase focuses primarily on requirements gathering and estimating.

11. Develop contingency plans by prioritizing the deliverables right from the start into "must-have" and "nice-to-have" categories.

12. Refer to your lessons-learned database for "20:20 foresight" on new projects, and incorporate your best practices into future estimates.

In conclusion, by using a set of proactive estimating techniques to scope, plan, and constrain your project conditions, you can dramatically improve your estimating practices, reduce and mitigate risks, and greatly increase your project success rate!

Labor estimating is very crucial factor for calculating accurate construction cost

Good project management in construction depends upon the well-organized application of labor, material and equipment as these components comprises a large part of the construction cost. In order to control cost of constructed facilities, labor estimating is one of the most important concerns.
The owner can gauge the success of an operating system on the whole with labor productivity by utilizing labor, equipment and capital to transfer labor efforts into useful productivity.
The labor estimating will vary according job location, accessibility of skilled labor, contract wage regulations, union or open shop labor requirements, general market conditions, and so on.Labor Productivity is frequently described as functional units per labor hour for each type of construction task. The thorough application of labor hours to a quantity result in managing the exactness and competence of labor estimating. The assessment and explanation of labor estimating process often leads to the accuracy of the project's schedule and work force requirements.
The project costs include the major factors like combined costs for worker's compensation, unemployment insurance and social security taxes. The perfect method for including these costs is to describe labor hours and wage rates; then apply percentages to the labor costs.
If construction output is stated in terms of functional units, the labor productivity will be related with units of product per labor hour, for example cubic yards of concrete placed per hour or miles of highway paved per hour.
On the contrary if it is expressed with constant dollars, the labor productivity is recognized with value of construction (in constant dollars) per labor hour to which factors for waste, overhead, and profit are added to capitulate the unit cost in dollars. A labor dollar per unit of work (ex: $20 per cubic yard for grade beams or $30 per cubic yard for walls) will only be relevant if the cost history supports the data being used.
Now-a-days computer aided design software are available for perfect labor estimating. These softwares are applied for collecting and controlling all labor records, analyzing labor costs with projects and activities for inclusion in project-based cost analysis and reporting. In order to get a perfect estimation of the complete construction costs, just add the labor estimating cost and other contingency expenses.

Posted By
Rajib Dey
Business Development
The construction Estimating Service