A Better Estimate
The estimate is playing a much bigger role than ever before—is your technology equipped to handle the changes?
Many builders have made the step of migrating their estimating process from a paper and pencil process to one managed via Microsoft Excel. However, Excel can only take a builder so far. Those builders and contractors looking to improve processes may find they quickly max out their capabilities within the common spreadsheet environment.
“We still have a lot of companies in this industry that have not migrated to a database-driven estimating solution, meaning they are still using generic spreadsheets, like Excel and Lotus,” says Steve Watt, president, WinEstimator Inc., www.winest.com, Kent, Wash. “The problem with generic spreadsheets is they don’t contain an underlying database of their estimating methods, (and estimators) tend to reinvent the wheel every time they put an estimate together.”
That process of reinventing the wheel, Watt maintains, is daunting enough when it comes to a typical home building project. However as takeoff methods become increasingly difficult, and the need to manage multiple options on a home accelerates, builders may want to reexamine the many benefits of using a more sophisticated estimating application.
Start with Design
Integrating data between design and estimating can save time in takeoffs as well as reduce the likelihood of human error. There are many steps both custom and production builders can take to link CAD (computer-aided design) to the estimate.
“What you actually get from the CAD package is really the takeoff, measurements, areas, volumes,” says Brad Finck, vice president, business development, Cadsoft, www.cadsoft.com, Guelph, Ont. “What that allows you to do is when you pass through the estimate you are getting all those measures automatically, which can be linked to part numbers in the estimate.”
For the most part, moving the information from the CAD to the estimate is as simple as clicking a button, says Finck. Of course, a bit of setup is required before the solutions can be linked.
“Once (builders) own both pieces of software, they have to match the drawing objects in the catalog in the CAD software to the estimate database,” says Finck. “As long as that relationship has been defined, then you only have to do that once and then any new drawing that you create with those objects in the CAD system will automatically link over to the estimate.”
Alongside Cadsoft, companies such as SoftPlan, www.softplan.com, Brentwood, Tenn.; Chief Architect, www.chiefarchitect.com, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; and Argos Systems, www.argos.com, Bedford, Mass., contain such interfaces to estimating.
SoftPlan, for one, has taken this process one step further. The company has its own estimating software within the CAD piece called SoftList, which allows users to do accurate estimating through a variety of features.
While SoftList isn’t new, the recent release of SoftPlan Version 14 offers builders dozens of new features within this estimating piece, such as BuildSoft Export and Export to QuickBooks Estimates. Another is Highlight Material Command, which allows builders to generate a material list in SoftList, highlight entities, and automatically display material calculations in SoftPlan.
A unique feature in Version 14 is the Takeoff Highlight Tool. A takeoff can be defined in name, color, and size and placed within a drawing. Upon placement, information such as area, perimeter, and volume appears.
While this integration between CAD and the estimate offers immeasurable benefits in terms of time savings, some builders may not be as eager to draw.
“If you don’t want to draw then the estimating package is important, but then you should look for an estimating package that has a good digitizer interface or something like that,” says Finck. “But if you actually do want to produce plans then you are much better off to get CAD software that has good integration with an estimating interface.”
Another option for builders who don’t want to draw is to work closer with the architect. Some architects may be willing to link CAD designs to the builder’s estimate, but this creates some obstacles, according to Mike Gillum, director of development, estimating, Maxwell Systems, www.maxwellsystems.com, King of Prussia, Pa.
“It is sometimes difficult when architects and engineers don’t want to release digital files. They are protective of them for liability reasons, but it is becoming more common for the files to either be in AutoCAD or even more so now, PDF (portable document format) file format,” says Gillum.
With Quest from Maxwell Systems, estimators can do digital takeoffs onscreen with the CAD integration, according to Gillum.
“On the estimating side, we bring in the digital files to complete takeoff using your mouse,” says Gillum. “The architect or engineer will provide the digital file, we can import that CAD file, and then the contractor can do takeoff on the screen using his mouse, rather than having to lay that blueprint out on a digitizer board. It saves him the time of having to go and get those blueprints.”
About six months ago, WinEstimator released DesignEst Pro specifically designed to link to Autodesk’s, www.autodesk.com, San Rafael, Calif., Revit. With this product, builders can explore “what if” scenarios associated with design to see how something may impact the project budget.
UDA Technologies, www.udatechnologies.com, Auburn, Ala., introduced CAD integration in its ConstructionSuite 2007, with capabilities to link to Cadsoft Envisioneer.
According to Daniel Hayden, director of product development, UDA Technologies, the recent release of ConstructionSuite 2008 introduces links to Chief Architect. By the end of 2008, Hayden says UDA also hopes to add SoftPlan to its mix of CAD integration.
The series of software from Contractors Software Group’s, www.contractorssoftwaregroup.com, St. Paul, Minn., has also made it a point to interface its product with outside CAD software including Cadsoft, SoftPlan, and Chief Architect, allowing builders to save time and reduce the amount of human error.
3D Estimating
While some estimating providers have been focusing on improving and expanding integration between CAD and the estimate, others are taking an approach to incorporating 3D into the estimate.
Taking it a step further, on the residential side, Maxwell Systems’ Quest Estimator has a feature called 3-D Visual Assemblies. According to Gillum, the database within Quest holds assemblies with all the labor, materials, equipment items, information, and pricing.
“As you build that visual assembly, you are just going to takeoff a quantity,” continues Gillum. “Once you do that, all of the components in that assembly—all of the labor, materials, and equipment components—are automatically calculated based on the wizard that is in that Visual Assembly.”
The unique thing about Maxwell Systems’ Quest Estimator is that it has 3D graphics to go along with the assemblies. As builders add concrete and other materials to a slab, a 3D graphic image of the slab is built at the same time. For builders this means they can visually see what is being built.
“A lot of our customers will use that 3-D Visual Assembly as a BIM (building information modeling) tool,” continues Gillum. “(Homebuilders) will take that out to the field to show the buyer, ‘this is what you are paying for, this is what it contains, and this is how we are going to build it.’ As we all know, pictures are worth a thousand words.”
Several other estimating applications also offer assemblies. For example, Sage Timberline Office, www.sagetimberlineoffice.com, Beaverton, Ore., offers Smart Assemblies within the Residential Homebuilder Database and Residential Knowledgebase. These intelligent assemblies allow homebuilders to do quick and easy takeoffs using historical information.
Even though BuilderMT, www.buildermt.com, Lakewood, Colo., is not specifically an estimating provider, its ProDetail estimating database has more than 1,000 takeoff assemblies, according to the company. The plan and option estimates are designed to work with the model/option purchasing database for use with its Workflow Management Suite.
Custom vs. Production
As the integration between design and estimating continues to evolve, the ability for builders to stay on top of the latest trends can be quite difficult.
For builders looking for a bit of assistance in this area, Cory Shively, partner, CG Visions, www.cgvisions.com, Lafayette, Ind., works primarily with custom builders, helping them embrace the concept of BIM as it relates to the homebuilding process. CG Visions provides basic plan services to help with everything from leveraging technologies associated with BIM, to materials and estimating processes.
According to Shively, pulling information from the CAD drawing can help builders get an accurate bill of materials. However, Shively says he has encountered builders who still want to conduct takeoff by hand, yet use the technology as a backup.
“Some builders are still comfortable doing a hand takeoff,” says Shively. “However, they like having the bill of materials kind of as a cross check to verify that they didn’t miss something.”
Shively points to one custom homebuilder who used the bill of materials from CG Visions as a cross check, in turn getting a $5,000 rebate check from drywall installers because they over billed on quantities.
“And he used the bill of materials, just as a quick check, where had he not had the bill of materials he would have had to go through and done a hand takeoff on the plan to then justify his numbers,” adds Shively. “He was really easily able to just look at the bill of materials, provide it, and say ‘hey this is what the square footage is.’”
On the production side, CG Visions offers plans services and options management, which is an important aspect when estimating plan sets. Tim Beckman, partner, CG Visions, works primarily with production builders to manage options.
“To walk you through that process, we will get a builder that approaches us that wants to develop a plan-set offer, maybe three or four different elevation options, sunrooms, bay windows, alternate second floors,” says Beckman. “We can put all that information into a CAD system that allows us to select any one of those options individually or a combination of those options and actually solve for a specific lot based on those options (we have) selected.”
For production builders, this means quickly and easily managing multiple options. While CG Visions has tried and evaluated several different CAD applications, VertexBD from Argos Systems is the product it believes is best suited to support multiple different options for production builders.
“With the VertexBD system (if you have all of your options preset up within the project) you open the project, you say you want to do a lot-specific plan set, it opens up a database, and you then select your options,” says Shively.
Turbulent market conditions have forced today’s estimators to stay one step ahead of rising costs. It is with this intent that HomeFront Software, www.homefront-software.com, Calgary, Alta., developed PrecisionBuilder.
Using this product, custom builders can update and maintain model and option price books with linked purchase orders. Using up to 12 forecasted cost periods—which can be measured by weeks, months, or years—builders can conduct test scenarios on margins, thus being able to price a model based on future costs.
For example, if you anticipate an increase in certain materials throughout the next few months, you are able to build that into your model, refresh prices in the database, and instantly review margins. This data is then used to develop the selling price. Upon acceptance of a sales contract, the baseline estimate for that floor plan/options is established and sent to accounting.
This becomes a powerful tool for ensuring the price that is estimated today is still relevant when the project begins construction.
Daryl Shenner, president and CEO, HomeFront Software, says the figures developed by estimating are pushed out to sales, as well as pushed back in detail to accounting and purchasing based on how things progress throughout the build cycle.
The ability to use technology to manage options fixes a lot of problems for production builders in the office before going out in the field.
Both Shively and Beckman have heard of builders in the field flipping a plan over and reading it backward because a homebuyer requested something reversed. With technology, a plan is instantly flipped within the program, and the estimates are changed based on this flip. It seems so simple, but it is capabilities such as this that make the biggest difference when it comes to saving time and cost.
“And on the topic of reversing the plan, it will also go through and change off all left-hand swing doors to right-hand swing doors,” says Beckman. “So if the bill of materials process is run after the plan is flipped it is going to switch all of those material codes that again will run through the backoffice ordering process.”
According to Shively, the greatest appeal of automating this entire process is the time-saving factor. He says with VertexBD, the turnaround time to remove all the legacy data and create a lot-specific BIM model averages anywhere from 30 seconds to three minutes.
It’s a whole new world in homebuilding, and the estimate has capabilities to take your company farther. Choosing the right technology tool for the job has never been more important.