Monday 14 October 2013

PDF plan takeoff software


                       The construction industry is a hypercompetitive market where even the smallest advantages can make millions in a single job. In an industry where every contractor competes against the other and projects are the more coveted commodity, speed and accuracy are everything. With the advent of PDF plan takeoff software, contractors are more efficient and accurate than ever when it comes to bidding jobs. The basic lifecycle of a construction project starts with an architect who draws up a plan, and these days plans are drawn electronically, not on long roles of paper like the public imagination would like to envision.

These plans go through some engineers and to whoever is funding the project, and then the plans are sent out to the contractors to make bids on. The bidding process is a feeding frenzy because the yields can be so high and the competition is so saturated, but PDF takeoff software can give some contractors an edge. By using PDF plan takeoff software, contractors can complete their bids in less time and with far greater accuracy than they ever could with paper plans. Before PDF plan takeoff software, the plans were either given to contractors as paper drawings or as printouts from the architect, and then the estimator within the contracting company would generate an estimate of the cost.

The estimates took hours and hours to complete, because every little line on the image had to be traced and measured by hand. Before PDF plan takeoff software, estimators were stuck at the desk for hours with a calculator and a ruler in hand. Now, thanks to PDF plan takeoff software, the whole process stays in the digital realm. Digital drawings go from the architects and engineers straight to the contractors’ estimators and their PDF plan takeoff software. PDF plan takeoff software has made the whole industry more competitive because estimators can make more accurate bids in a fraction of the time, allowing contractors to bid more and more jobs. PDF plan takeoff software is one of those small innovations that end up playing a giant role in the business process, and in an industry as powerful and profitable as construction, PDF plan takeoff software has become a necessity for the competitive and successful firm. PDF plan takeoff software acts as a catalyst for the intermediary process between the page and the construction site, connecting the architect at his desk to the hammer and nail with more efficiency.