Construction Estimating Software

Why Not Excel?

"Spreadsheet Syndrome"

Organizations are often hesitant to use excel for complex calculations due to:

perceived risk of programming errors
belief that specialized software is inherently superior

Rebuttal

Estimating software is doing very simple math under the hood.
Commercial software is not without risk of bugs.
Existing implementations hardly qualify as specialized.

The idea that specialized software ought to be preferred over monolith spreadsheets is well-founded, however, it is the case with construction estimating software that the proprietary options are functionally identical to a particularly involved workbook, except that they can not be modified to fit new use-cases.

Material Pricing

Apps generally assume users will utilize material pricing services like Supplier Xchange for precise pricing.

A Minimal Implementation

Resolve Takeoffs
Extend Items
Labor Extension

Suppose a minimal

[
	{
		"type": "takeoff",
		"attributes": {
			"length": 20
		},
		"assemblies": [
			{
				"item": "EMT Conduit",
				"factor": 1
			},
			{
				"item": "EMT Connector",
				"factor": 1
			},
		]
	}
]

{
	"attributes": {
	},
	"products": [
		{
			"manufacturer": ""
		}
	]
}

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