So what does Software Advice consider the most surprising finding in its recently concluded construction estimating survey? It was the discovery that top estimating priorities do not align with top estimating challenges, representatives for the Austin, Texas-based company told Construction Project Controls and BIM Report (CPC/BIM). While less than 25 percent of companies consider bid accuracy to be a top challenge, 75 percent of them reported that improving accuracy of bids and estimates is a top priority for this year.
Source: Software Advice construction estimating page (http://www.softwareadvice.com/construction/cost-estimating-software-comparison/)
When asked to provide the most likely reason for this dichotomy between top priorities and top challenges among survey respondents, Software Advice Marketing Director Houston Neal and Derek Singleton, the company’s ERP analyst, jointly answered, “It’s no surprise that speed, accuracy, and profitability are top priorities. But it is interesting that so many companies don’t consider accuracy a top challenge (relative to the others listed in this chart). Especially because so many companies still over- and under-estimate their projects (as displayed in another chart in our report).
“The order of top challenges is also interesting. More companies consider staff experience and process standardization as bigger challenges than estimate accuracy.”
In CPC/BIM’s email interview with Neal and Singleton, they provided the following additional information about the survey results:
CPC/BIM: Based on the statistics, what recommendations/advice would you like to make to construction professionals? For example, regarding the results from the ‘Top Estimating Challenges’ section of the survey, what would you recommend to estimators for them to make more accurate estimates for labor?
Software Advice: The purpose of this report is to give companies a set of benchmarks they can use to compare their estimating processes against industry standards. So, our best advice is to carefully consider the results and self-perform an audit to see how you stack up.
CPC/BIM: Which result, in your opinion, makes the best argument for a construction professional to make the switch to estimating software? Perhaps it is the finding that turn-around time for a bid is shortened, typically, by two days, when using estimating software, increasing the likelihood of securing a contract with a tight federal procurement deadline?
Software Advice: Look at the percent of estimating software users who say their system is working. Roughly 81 percent. Second to this statistic, the chart displaying the percent of companies that over- and under-estimate bids builds a case for estimating software. Based on this data, it’s the most accurate way to estimate projects.
CPC/BIM: Based on the survey results and other developments in the industry, what future trends in construction estimating do you foresee emerging?
Software Advice: Estimating as a function or discipline doesn’t change much. But estimating technologies are always evolving. It will be interesting to see if more web-based (i.e., “cloud”) estimating software systems become available and if more companies move to an estimating solution -- and off of spreadsheets -- as a result.
CPC/BIM: What plans, if any, do you have for conducting a follow-up survey in the future? When may such a follow-up report be released? Annually?
Software Advice: We don’t have any plans yet to release a second edition of this report. However, we will be releasing a similar report on construction project management in the next few months.
Results of the survey, in which more than 100 construction professionals responded, can be accessed through this link: http://blog.softwareadvice.com/articles/construction/2012-construction-estimating-benchmark-report-1050212/.
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