Estimating in the Computer Age

摘要

Notwithstanding the tremendous upheaval in the construction industry due to COVID, you still need to bid work. While the advent of BIM and the many, many computer-based estimating programs now available make the process faster and, in many cases, more accurate, the actual process of estimating has not changed very much. While you can add "assemblies" at the click of a mouse that are itemized, priced and ready for the supplier to order or "see" how your piping will install, and where, through BIM, the estimator still has to know what he is looking at and how it will play out in both material and labor costs in the real world. Accuracy in estimating, above all else, is imperative. This is especially true in the current bidding climate. My editor's column in the November issue detailed the fact that many projects have been canceled while still on the architect's drawing board, while others that were "in progress"' have been halted... many never to start again.