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Are you still performing your takeoffs manually? If so, you probably spend more time shuffling through papers and plans than putting together your estimates and bids. Chances are you aren’t alone. While construction takeoff software has been around for decades, there are still many in the industry who perform their material takeoffs and estimates by hand.
In the past, construction firms that were first to adopt and implement new technology were simply reaping the benefits of the competitive advantages over those that weren’t. Construction tech is advancing at a rate now that companies that continue to refuse to adopt tech are going to go the way of the dodo.
Getting buy-in to adopt new technology can be challenging. First, you must get budget approval to purchase any new equipment or software, which means proving a return on your investment. Then you have to get buy-in from the end users and have them embrace using whatever new technology you purchase rather than reverting to the old ways of doing things, not because it’s easier or better but simply because it’s familiar and how they’ve always done it.
Digital construction takeoff software is a great solution to ease into tech adoption. You’ll see a measurable return on investment as your estimators streamline their estimating process and deliver more accurate estimates and bids in a fraction of the time it would take to perform them manually.
Here’s a look at some of the benefits that your estimators, and your company, will have from using construction takeoff software.
Save Time With Faster Results
Doing takeoffs manually is extremely time-intensive. With construction takeoff software you can complete your takeoffs faster by reducing how long it takes to complete some of the most time-consuming tasks.
Here are four of the most time-consuming manual takeoff processes that can be completed in a fraction of the time using construction takeoff software:
Repeating Takeoffs
If you work on any type of building that has repetitive spaces, like hotels, classroom buildings, apartment buildings, dormitories, hospitals, etc., you know how time-consuming it is to do takeoffs for each individual room. With construction takeoff software you can perform the takeoffs once and then replicate those quantity results for all the rooms with the same layout.
Manually Counting Objects
Another time-sucking task is having to sift through the plans and manually count objects like doors, windows, plumbing fixtures, light fixtures, and more. With construction takeoff software, you can automate the process and save yourself tons of time.
Plan Review
It can be extremely difficult and frustrating to identify changes between drawings, especially on revised drawings that aren’t properly marked. You could spend hours trying to find all the differences and still miss something.
With overlays in construction takeoff software, it highlights anything that’s been added or removed between revisions by highlighting them with different colors. Not only will it save you time when comparing drawings, but it also prevents something little from getting missed.
Performing Takeoffs on Multiple Items in the Same Area
If you needed to measure the walls, ceilings, and floors in a room manually you would have to do each takeoff individually and calculate your measurements for each. Then, you would have to repeat that process over and over again for each room, hallway, and space in the building.
With construction takeoff software you can select what objects you want to measure, do the takeoff on your screen once and it will measure everything you selected at one time. This is a huge time-saver for multi-trade contractors or contractors that needs to measure multiple objects for their takeoffs.
These are just a few examples of how construction takeoff software can save you time over your manual process and just scratches the surface of the time-saving features provided with digital takeoff and estimating solutions.
Improve Productivity & Efficiency
Performing digital takeoffs is a reliable, repeatable process to quickly measure quantities, areas, and linear distances. Most construction takeoff software allows you to customize and create conditions and digitizations that you frequently use to improve the productivity and efficiency of your estimating team. Using similar procedures already loaded into the software allows for a quick, painless, and consistent process.
Doing manual takeoffs can be a long and tedious process. Reducing the amount of time it takes to finish your takeoffs by using construction takeoff software will allow more time to focus on getting your job costs and estimates right, which will result in better bids and free your estimating team up to potentially take on more work.
Enable Better Collaboration
One of the major benefits of many takeoff solutions is the ability to have multiple users working on the same project at the same time. Being able to collaborate and communicate in real time with other team members while performing digital takeoffs can lead to better estimates and bids.
Collaborating on your projects can be a simple process when you use the right software. Being able to integrate your takeoff software with other solutions like job cost tracking, estimating, and project management software will help keep your entire team organized and working for the same data sets.
Deliver Accurate Bids
Your bids are only as good as your estimates and your estimates are only as good as your takeoffs. Manual takeoffs are prone to human error from not factoring in the scale of the plans, to missing or outdated plan sheets, to miscalculations.
With digital takeoff solutions, you can easily organize and manage plan sheets and addenda, ensuring nothing gets left out. Easily set the scale of the plans and create digital takeoffs to automatically get accurate measurements for volume, surface areas, height, perimeters, and more. No more worrying whether your measurements or conversions were off. Getting precise takeoff quantities will lead to more accurate estimates and more profitable bids.
Get a Competitive Advantage
Takeoff software gives you the capabilities and tools necessary to finish your bid faster than you could by doing it by hand. Get a leg up on your competitors by being able to complete fast and accurate takeoffs and estimates to deliver better bids.
By completing takeoffs faster, you can build in more time to review and double-check your estimates and bids. Get your estimating team in the habit of completing your bids ahead of schedule rather than scrambling around at the last minute to get everything submitted on time.
Final Thoughts on Construction Takeoff Software
Winning more bids, or improving your bid-win ratio, starts with better estimates. Better estimates come from accurate takeoffs. By using construction takeoff software, you can easily decrease the time it takes to perform your takeoffs, allowing you more time to ensure your estimates and bids are complete, competitive, and profitable.
ConstructConnect has the right construction takeoff software for your business. Whether you’re looking for a cloud-based, collaborative solution like ConstructConnect Takeoff, or one of our purpose-built takeoff and estimating platforms like On Center Software, PlanSwift, or QuoteSoft, we can help you find the right software for your business.
