There should be a quantity surveyor on every construction site. Particularly when it comes to budgeting or cost estimation while effectively adhering to building codes. As a result, every construction company should invest in the best quantity surveyor who guarantees to provide a significant return on investment over time.
To earn the title of “good quantity surveyor,” you must produce a good takeoff that informs the client of the costs of the identified elements, which is necessary for creating the Bill of Quantities.
Thus, the Bill of Quantities that a construction company should adhere to is your responsibility as a quantity surveyor. It includes a thorough guide to the best contractor estimates, including item descriptions and recommended building material quantities. This enables you to have accurate work instructions, real-time component or element prices, and construction estimation.
Quantity surveying: What is it?
Quantity surveyors, also known as construction cost consultants or cost estimators, can be based on-site or in an office and work for either the client or the contractor. On the basis of the initial specifications and requirements for the project, they ensure that the costs of significant construction and infrastructure projects are precisely estimated.
A quantity surveyor should be a permanent member of the team from the beginning to the end of a construction project to ensure accurate costing and continued financial viability.
Quantity surveyors make sure there are no cost overruns and that the purse strings are not too tight by maintaining a fair and realistic approach to the funding of every project. There is a chance for a disastrous result at either extreme. The quality of the project might suffer if budgets are too tight, and if spending is spiraling out of control, funds might exhaust before the project is finished.
Why is software necessary for quantity surveyors?
The ability to launch the takeoff procedure directly from an image or blueprint file type using simple, effective point-and-click features is one of the other benefits of using quantity surveying software.
The amount of time required for measurements can be decreased by using instruments that support measurement replications. The best software for quantity surveying also includes tools that enable you to copy measurements exactly as you like from one drawing to another.
In essence, they create a single, adaptable, easily accessible “electronic” file that contains all surveying and quantity data related to the construction project, such as drawing files, copies of the plans, measurements, etc.
Quantity surveyors ensure that cost planning is effective so that everything that occurs following a realistic project cost estimate that has been accepted by the stakeholders—from the tender to the final project costs—is in line with it.
Because they can now be quickly identified and fixed, project overruns are now less likely as a result of continuous process monitoring. In addition to providing budget and cost estimates, quantity surveyors can assist architects in comparing prices for various building assemblies or finishings.
The primary goal of the quantity surveyor is to generate profit for the stakeholder. Cheap errors and poor workmanship could put the project’s outcomes in danger. As a quantity surveyor, you run the risk of losing clients or your career if you make expensive mistakes and disregard details.
Utilizing the least amount of labor possible, quantity surveying software aids in measuring, defining, and pricing quantities while also significantly increasing productivity. Utilizing the best quantity surveying software is therefore sensible.
It has been suggested that quantity surveyors could play crucial roles in the fight against corruption in the construction industry.
Only a quantity surveyor is specially trained to do this, despite the fact that other team members on a construction project, such as engineers and architects, can also look at a project’s expenses. A budget’s clarity can be quickly assessed by quantity surveyors, who can also identify its root causes.
Starter Quantity Surveying must know Software list
1. Microsoft Excel
Without a doubt, one of the best programs for computation and data analytics is this spreadsheet package from the Microsoft Corporation family.
The program has proven to be very helpful and advantageous to many professions in our modern world, particularly those that deal with accounting and statistics.
The quantity surveyor also makes good use of the excel software, using it to carry out a variety of tasks and effectively plan their work. Examples of tasks carried out with the help of the excel software include: Using Microsoft Excel templates as measuring and estimating tools for building and civil projects; performing calculations required throughout the course of a project, such as measurements, bills of quantities, rate calculations, resource pricing, and project valuation; and
2. PRISM
PRISM Estimating is project cost estimation software for companies that demand standardization and centralization of estimates and estimating data.
Users of PRISM Estimating are able to generate conceptual estimates for feasibility studies, producing a range of thorough estimates that support the hiring of staff and the development of trustworthy budgets.
We know you’ve been getting by with spreadsheets, but now is the time for a better, more accurate estimate. MS Excel is unable to control, validate, or standardize any of the inputs or formula computations within each estimate.
For companies that demand consistency in their data estimation, it is used to estimate project costs. The PRISM Estimating software allows users to generate conceptual estimates for finishing the work and developing a fair budget.
This program promotes teamwork and harmonizes the budget and anticipated expenses to remove project risks. All of the estimated classes can be handled by a single system.
PRISM Estimating offers carbon estimating capabilities to provide a unified platform for the estimation of cost and carbon from the cradle to the grave.
When used in conjunction with the PRISM Cost module, this feature of PRISM Estimating increases the ability to include carbon tracking at the end of the period.
In PRISM Estimating, embedded carbon is calculated as the estimate is created and stored at the resource level. The organization can keep track of how the cost and carbon will change as the estimator changes the materials being considered and the construction techniques being used thanks to this functionality.
Project teams can weigh a variety of options when comparing cost and carbon thanks to the software’s carbon tracking. This provides our customers with a simple means of evaluating the trade-offs between prices and carbon emissions.
3. PlanSwift
PlanSwift is the most effective quantity takeoff program. It can be used to generate accurate estimates for any type of construction project. Downloadable free trials are available.
To arrange your material and labor assemblies on your takeoff, use the drag and drop functionality of this software. PlanSwift is the one that small businesses should use.
It’s simple to customize PlanSwift for you and your unique profession. Easily put together labor, supplies, waste, and materials that are frequently used. You can then drag those assemblies onto the takeoff items to quickly and accurately estimate your costs!
4. QS Plus
QS Plus or QS+ is the name of cost estimation software created for quantity surveyors and consulting construction estimators.
Professional estimators can produce comprehensive Bills of Quantities, Cost Plans (Estimations), Valuations, and the Final Account using this state-of-the-art software. By entering take-off quantities with the aid of this software in a practical and orderly manner, you can work more quickly and productively.
In order to keep track of ongoing work on-site and manage office paperwork, a quantity surveyor needs QS Plus four modules. The four modules of the program can be viewed as stages in the financial management of a construction project.
5. QE- Pro
The most important piece of software made specifically for quantity estimation and project planning is called QE- Pro. The program has a lot to offer academic institutions, working architects, quantity surveyors, civil engineers, and builders. Cost estimates can be produced using architectural model data. When a construction model is created, the program determines the quantities for various components.
To get an abstract cost estimate for the construction, just multiply values by the corresponding item rates from the rate analysis. Reports on resource usage are also produced by the software.
Conclusion
The best quantity surveying software also includes tools that enable you to precisely copy measurements from one drawing to another. For construction projects, they combine all survey and quantity data.