As the title would indicate, I am looking for some sort of Cost Estimation software and/or Excel spread sheet.
What do you people use to give your clients a general idea of how much a project is going to cost?
unless r.s. means has a digital version now, i'm don't know that there would be anything that would actually GIVE you estimating information. we present our spreadsheets in excel, but all of our data comes from past experience and contractor friends.
when i was doing my construction management minor, we used means and excel (graduated 18 months ago). we also used primavera as a scheduling software, and i noticed recently that in the gehry technologies/catia software package that they have integrated primavera to help make it the "4D" software that they claim it to be. everything that i have had personal experience with has been old-school bidding with means/sub-contractors and excel.
For small projects, I use unit costs from previous contractor bids, and also refer to bids for little things that architects forget...sealant, for example. Note also that contractors tend to take off quantities differently than architects - they don't subtract for openings when taking off area of a wall, for example.
Estimating tools in this economic climate are pretty worthless. How the heck can you price out a job with the cost of materials up and down and up and down. There is also the factor of the labor department and how much profit a contractor is willing to make inorder to keep their shop up and running. It is kinda like blowing a kiss into the wind. You can be perfectly honest with a client and tell them that but also tell them when the bids come in your sure your not going to have a big spread amongst most of the bidders. Last job I bid there was a 30,000 dollar spread between high and low bidder after we tossed out the guy who was 200,000 dollars over everyone else. He did have the balls to call me and say he just didn't understand how the other guys could be so much lower. I told him I didn't have a problem with the numbers where they were because I have worked extensively with two of the contractors on the low end of the project.
Autodesk Quantity Take Off 2009 works pretty well. Especially if you have a BIM software to feed to program with information. But it's not required. Autocad will do as well.
Cost Estimation Software/Spreadsheets
As the title would indicate, I am looking for some sort of Cost Estimation software and/or Excel spread sheet.
What do you people use to give your clients a general idea of how much a project is going to cost?
unless r.s. means has a digital version now, i'm don't know that there would be anything that would actually GIVE you estimating information. we present our spreadsheets in excel, but all of our data comes from past experience and contractor friends.
when i was doing my construction management minor, we used means and excel (graduated 18 months ago). we also used primavera as a scheduling software, and i noticed recently that in the gehry technologies/catia software package that they have integrated primavera to help make it the "4D" software that they claim it to be. everything that i have had personal experience with has been old-school bidding with means/sub-contractors and excel.
Means offers a couple of on-line tools:
Means
I believe the quick cost estimator is free if you register.
These guys offer some sample data via the web and are cheaper than Means, but I am not sure I would trust it to show to a client.
Saylor
For small projects, I use unit costs from previous contractor bids, and also refer to bids for little things that architects forget...sealant, for example. Note also that contractors tend to take off quantities differently than architects - they don't subtract for openings when taking off area of a wall, for example.
Estimating tools in this economic climate are pretty worthless. How the heck can you price out a job with the cost of materials up and down and up and down. There is also the factor of the labor department and how much profit a contractor is willing to make inorder to keep their shop up and running. It is kinda like blowing a kiss into the wind. You can be perfectly honest with a client and tell them that but also tell them when the bids come in your sure your not going to have a big spread amongst most of the bidders. Last job I bid there was a 30,000 dollar spread between high and low bidder after we tossed out the guy who was 200,000 dollars over everyone else. He did have the balls to call me and say he just didn't understand how the other guys could be so much lower. I told him I didn't have a problem with the numbers where they were because I have worked extensively with two of the contractors on the low end of the project.
Autodesk Quantity Take Off 2009 works pretty well. Especially if you have a BIM software to feed to program with information. But it's not required. Autocad will do as well.
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=10354648&siteID=123112
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