Takeoff software can save you time during a project by making it easier to estimate materials and costs. It also helps avoid miscalculations and delays.
Choosing the right takeoff software for your construction needs requires some research and consideration. Consider the complexity of the project, features you need, and your budget.
PlanSwift
PlanSwift is one of the top-rated takeoff and estimating software packages available on the market. It is designed primarily for use in the construction industry, and it includes a range of features that help contractors to complete project estimates quickly and accurately.
It has a strong suite of tools that make it easy to import project plans, calculate material and labor totals, and create custom assemblies. It also offers special takeoff features for a variety of construction trades, including concrete, drywall, electrical, plumbing, flooring, framing, decking, HVAC, insulation, and landscape.
The software’s point-and-click interface allows estimators to directly drag and drop items and assemblies onto digitized blueprints. They can then measure linear measurements, angles, and other parameters in seconds.
As a bonus, the software also automatically gathers the measurement and unit counts needed for takeoffs, making it easier to prepare estimates for bidding. The streamlined process of collecting these quantities helps users to eliminate the need for manual takeoffs and dramatically reduce the chance of miscalculating materials or missing components.
This software is also Excel compatible, which makes it easy for users to share their estimates with customers or colleagues. They can also print or export their jobs from the program.
In addition to this, the software has a set of useful tools for enhancing its efficiency, such as a new undo button and tabbed browsing capabilities. It also supports multiple item selection and improved folder structure, and it converts units automatically.
Another helpful feature is the ability to snap to points on a CAD file. The red snap box turns green when the user hovers over a specific point in the design. It also allows them to lock the digitizer on the 90- and 45-degree axes.
PlanSwift is a popular choice among contractors, and it has received many accolades since its release in 2020. In fact, it was ranked number 1 amongst its competitors in the 2020 Software Excellence Awards.
Its one-time membership model, lifelong activation, and easy-to-use interface are a few reasons why it has become a popular choice for construction businesses. It also comes with a wide range of takeoff templates and customizable templates, which helps contractors to speed up the estimating process.
BlueBeam
Bluebeam is a powerful takeoff software that works on Windows computers and offers a number of features to help contractors improve their productivity. It also comes with a suite of collaborative tools to help teams work together on projects.
Takeoff software can help save you time and money by improving your business processes, but it’s important to choose the right tool for your needs. Make sure that the product you buy supports the file types and methods of input that you use, and check that it can integrate with the estimating, project management, or bidding tools you use.
The most common takeoff software features are:
Visual Search – Using optical character recognition (OCR) technology, the takeoff software will detect words in blueprints. This makes it easier to find important information in the documents.
Count Measurement – Another useful feature is the ability to apply count measurements to specific items within blueprints. This can be used to track how many different items are required for a job, and it can also help estimate costs more accurately.
Automark – Revu can automatically rename page labels on PDFs using bookmarks, prefixes and suffixes. This helps to reduce errors and improve workflow.
Compare Documents – Bluebeam Revu has a comparison feature that can automatically mark up drawings by comparing pixel-by-pixel, adding clouds around differences to help reviewers see any changes.
As you might imagine, these features are quite powerful and can greatly speed up the estimation process. For example, Dublin-based ClearTech Engineered Solutions has reduced their design review times to just 25 minutes.
Buildee is an online, cloud-based takeoff and estimate generator that has an intuitive user interface and supports multiple file formats. Users can upload and share files through the web or directly from a desktop or mobile device, saving them time in the office and improving accuracy while on site.
The Bluebeam website has a helpful product selector to help customers determine the best version of the software for their needs. The company also offers several maintenance packages, including a $99/year Standard version and a $119/year CAD version.
STACK
Stacks are an abstract data type that place restrictions on where you can add and remove elements. This property has a number of advantages, such as program compactness and hardware simplicity.
Several data structures can be implemented with stacks, including linked lists and arrays. Unlike other data structures, stacks use the LIFO (Last In First Out) ordering principle to determine how items are stored.
This principle places newer elements near the top, and older ones near the base. This is important because it allows programs to store data in a way that makes sense for how the data will be used.
The order in which elements are added to a stack depends on the size of the element and the length of time that has passed since the element was last added. Depending on the exact implementation, each insertion adjusts the stack pointer by a certain amount, points the stack pointer to the next unused location in the stack, and copies the new top item to the stack area.
Another major difference between stacks and arrays is that stacks can only add new items to the top of their data, while arrays can push and pop data in any direction. This can have a significant effect on the performance of programs that use stacks.
Some of the most common uses for stacks include reversing the order of elements, evaluating polish strings and performing other operations on linear sequences of data. In addition, they can be a useful tool for performing memory allocation and deallocation.
Stacks are also an excellent way to handle and control the execution of smart contracts. However, they are not the most popular choice among blockchains because of their complexity and limited functionality.
As with any software, it is important to learn how to use it correctly. If you do not, your application may not function as expected or even crash.
It is crucial to make sure that you understand the process of performing stack upgrades. While this can be a complex and lengthy process, it is a necessary step to keep your environment safe from any possible data loss.
Active Takeoff
Active Takeoff is a simple and powerful estimating and takeoff software designed for construction businesses. It features state-of-the-art functionalities that reduce or eliminate the need for paper works while allowing users to make more precise calculations. It supports both metric and imperial systems and offers an elegant user interface where all the tools you need are placed.
The software is also known for its incredible customer support that helps customers get the most out of their investment. This enables them to manage their construction projects more effectively and efficiently.
One of the best things about Active Takeoff is its ability to automate estimating processes, saving contractors valuable time and money on labor costs. In addition, it can help them avoid errors by taking all of the calculations away from estimators.
Another great thing about Active Takeoff is its ability to easily import digital plans. This way, contractors can cut down on the amount of paperwork that they have to keep track of and will be able to save money on printing fees.
In addition, the program features an integrated pitch converter and functional estimating extensions that are so accurate that they can significantly reduce the chances of calculation errors. This means that you can compute measurements for areas like walls, floors, siding and roofs more accurately than ever before.
Lastly, the program has a flexible pricing scheme that can be customized to meet the needs of your business. This will ensure that you get a solution that fits your budget and will be able to provide you with all of the services that you need.
This type of software is ideal for any company that needs to improve their takeoff process and streamline it. It can help you make sure that you are calculating everything correctly and that you are using the correct materials.
The software is compatible with both Macs and Windows computers. It also has a very minimal learning curve and is easy to use.
Its user-friendly interface and simplicity can be a huge benefit for any company that is looking to boost their productivity and efficiency. In addition, it can also be used by teams that are looking to collaborate on a project and have a unified system for all their information.