Marek Brandstatter
2010-09-08, 03:24 PM
Wow it's been a while since I last posted on Augi :)
We are getting ready for a "limited beta release" of BIMHighway Estimator - a real-time cost estimating solution for Autodesk Revit.
I am looking for between 8 to 10 US firms who would be interested to trial our software. The requirements are:
Estimating of Revit BIM models is very important to you.
You have time to learn and explore new software.
You have a good understanding of the process of estimating buildings.
You are familiar with classification systems such as UniFormat & MasterFormat.
You have access to the Revit projects you wish to estimate.
You have reliable and reasonably fast internet access.
If you or your company are interested, please email me: marek at bimhighway dot com
More information and screenshots...
Provisional BIMHighway Estimator Website (http://www.bimhighway.com/)
BIMHighway Estimator User Guide (http://bimhighway.com/estimator/BIMHighway%20Estimator%20User%20Guide%20HTML/index.html)
Sample Estimate by Revit Category (http://www.digitalbuildingsolutions.com/estimator/category/Estimate_Category.pdf)
Sample Estimate by UniFormat (http://www.digitalbuildingsolutions.com/estimator/uniformat/Estimate_Uniformat.pdf)
BIMHighway Estimator - Key Features
BIMHighway Estimator is a powerful real-time cost estimating solution for Autodesk Revit®. Automated quantity takeoffs are as easy as clicking a button. Simply hit the 'Takeoff' button to view the project's latest estimate. It's as effortless as that. By automating the tedious task of quantifying and ensuring the estimate is always consistent with the design, BIMHighway Estimator frees the estimating team to focus on higher value tasks. Begin estimating much sooner in the design process and avoid the painful cost-cutting exercises that frequently plague many projects. BIMHighway Estimator’s fast, accurate quantity takeoffs, help you minimize risk, reduce delivery times and save costs down the line.
Cloud-Based Collaboration
Collaborating on cost estimates just got a whole lot easier. From anywhere around the globe, multiple members of the project team can simultaneously access estimates hosted on BIMHighway's web server. Whether you are the architect, estimator, contractor or owner - you can view a project's latest takeoff quantities, edit product costs, create construction assemblies and print estimate reports.
Estimate as a Standard Deliverable
Architects typically do not provide cost estimates on projects as part of their standard services, but the ability of BIMHighway Estimator to generate real-time estimates will change the nature of project deliverables for all participants.
Craftsman Costbooks
Search a selection of Craftsman costbooks for products and ingredients to add to your estimate. Craftsman costbooks are published for the United States market and cover labor and material costs for all the major construction trades and specialties.
Estimates Learn from Each Other
BIMHighway estimates can learn from each other. All cost data including construction assemblies and labor crews can be intelligently transferred between projects. This means as more projects are costed, each new project becomes progressively quicker and easier to cost. Furthermore the estimating of similarly styled projects can be accelerated to the point where it is fully automatic.
Revit Interoperability
BIMHighway estimates are able to interact directly with the Revit model, allowing the estimator to cross-check elements between the estimate and the model. For example, you can select items in the estimate and highlight their corresponding elements in the model. Alternately, you can hover your cursor over elements in the Revit model to dynamically inspect their takeoff quantities, costs and other estimate properties.
Design Options, Phases and Levels
BIMHighway Estimator supports Revit Design Options, Phases and Levels - enabling you to produce estimates that are filtered by these parameters.
Bi-directional Data Exchange
Naturally, all changes in the Revit model are automatically reflected in the estimate. Furthermore, any changes made to the estimate can also be transferred to the Revit Model.
Multiple Report Classifications
View your estimates classified in multiple formats, including UniFormat, MasterFormat, OmniClass, Keynote, Manufacturer and Alphabetical.
Construction Assemblies
In BIMHighway Estimator, products can be represented by complex multi-ingredient construction assemblies in order to provide detailed cost breakdowns. For example, a door assembly can consume a door, a lockset and hardware. A wall assembly can consume masonry, plaster and a finish.
Labor Crews
Determine a product's labor cost by assigning a labor crew and installation time to the product. A crew can comprise one or more craftsman, each of whom is assigned an hourly rate. Installation Time is the estimated time (in hours, minutes and seconds) that it would take a crew to install one unit of the product.
Export to Multiple File Formats
Share your estimate reports with non-BIMHighway users. Export to a variety of file formats including PDF, Excel, Word, RTF XML, HTML, TXT, CSV, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and TIFF.
Compare Bids from Contractors
With BIMHighway Estimator, you can invite bids from one or more contractors. Each contractor is able to produce a bid using the project's automatic takeoff quantities. At any time the bids can be compared in a tabulated report format.
Request Pricing from Suppliers
Request pricing and product information from one or more suppliers. At any stage, you can integrate a selected supplier's pricing into your estimate.
Easy-to-Use Interface
BIMHighway Estimator provides a full WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) environment to view and edit your estimates. This easy-to-use interface allows you to interact with an estimate exactly as it would appear printed.
Non-Model Cost Items
There are many items in an estimate that are not drawn in the BIM model. BIMHighway Estimator allows you to add mon-model cost items to your estimates.
Excel Price List Integration
BIMHighway Estimator can integrate directly with your company's Excel price lists, allowing you to add your own cost items to a BIMHighway estimate. This integration with Excel allows you to keep your existing Excel price lists and even update them further if you wish.
Markup/Margin
Markup/margin percentage can either be applied globally to the estimate or by individual product.
Add BIMHighway Products to your Website
BIMHighway products can be embedded in your website, enabling BIMHighway Estimator users who browse your website to incorporate your products into their estimates.
Here is a sample page from a BIMHighway Estimate of a Revit model (metric). Note the detailed wall assembly that is associated with "Basic Wall - Exterior - AStandard 115mm" family. The appearance of the report (columns, icons, indenting, currency, etc.) is completely configurable.
http://www.bimhighway.com/estimator/imgs/bidirect01.gif
If you have any estimating-based questions, technical or otherwise - fire away.
We are getting ready for a "limited beta release" of BIMHighway Estimator - a real-time cost estimating solution for Autodesk Revit.
I am looking for between 8 to 10 US firms who would be interested to trial our software. The requirements are:
Estimating of Revit BIM models is very important to you.
You have time to learn and explore new software.
You have a good understanding of the process of estimating buildings.
You are familiar with classification systems such as UniFormat & MasterFormat.
You have access to the Revit projects you wish to estimate.
You have reliable and reasonably fast internet access.
If you or your company are interested, please email me: marek at bimhighway dot com
More information and screenshots...
Provisional BIMHighway Estimator Website (http://www.bimhighway.com/)
BIMHighway Estimator User Guide (http://bimhighway.com/estimator/BIMHighway%20Estimator%20User%20Guide%20HTML/index.html)
Sample Estimate by Revit Category (http://www.digitalbuildingsolutions.com/estimator/category/Estimate_Category.pdf)
Sample Estimate by UniFormat (http://www.digitalbuildingsolutions.com/estimator/uniformat/Estimate_Uniformat.pdf)
BIMHighway Estimator - Key Features
BIMHighway Estimator is a powerful real-time cost estimating solution for Autodesk Revit®. Automated quantity takeoffs are as easy as clicking a button. Simply hit the 'Takeoff' button to view the project's latest estimate. It's as effortless as that. By automating the tedious task of quantifying and ensuring the estimate is always consistent with the design, BIMHighway Estimator frees the estimating team to focus on higher value tasks. Begin estimating much sooner in the design process and avoid the painful cost-cutting exercises that frequently plague many projects. BIMHighway Estimator’s fast, accurate quantity takeoffs, help you minimize risk, reduce delivery times and save costs down the line.
Cloud-Based Collaboration
Collaborating on cost estimates just got a whole lot easier. From anywhere around the globe, multiple members of the project team can simultaneously access estimates hosted on BIMHighway's web server. Whether you are the architect, estimator, contractor or owner - you can view a project's latest takeoff quantities, edit product costs, create construction assemblies and print estimate reports.
Estimate as a Standard Deliverable
Architects typically do not provide cost estimates on projects as part of their standard services, but the ability of BIMHighway Estimator to generate real-time estimates will change the nature of project deliverables for all participants.
Craftsman Costbooks
Search a selection of Craftsman costbooks for products and ingredients to add to your estimate. Craftsman costbooks are published for the United States market and cover labor and material costs for all the major construction trades and specialties.
Estimates Learn from Each Other
BIMHighway estimates can learn from each other. All cost data including construction assemblies and labor crews can be intelligently transferred between projects. This means as more projects are costed, each new project becomes progressively quicker and easier to cost. Furthermore the estimating of similarly styled projects can be accelerated to the point where it is fully automatic.
Revit Interoperability
BIMHighway estimates are able to interact directly with the Revit model, allowing the estimator to cross-check elements between the estimate and the model. For example, you can select items in the estimate and highlight their corresponding elements in the model. Alternately, you can hover your cursor over elements in the Revit model to dynamically inspect their takeoff quantities, costs and other estimate properties.
Design Options, Phases and Levels
BIMHighway Estimator supports Revit Design Options, Phases and Levels - enabling you to produce estimates that are filtered by these parameters.
Bi-directional Data Exchange
Naturally, all changes in the Revit model are automatically reflected in the estimate. Furthermore, any changes made to the estimate can also be transferred to the Revit Model.
Multiple Report Classifications
View your estimates classified in multiple formats, including UniFormat, MasterFormat, OmniClass, Keynote, Manufacturer and Alphabetical.
Construction Assemblies
In BIMHighway Estimator, products can be represented by complex multi-ingredient construction assemblies in order to provide detailed cost breakdowns. For example, a door assembly can consume a door, a lockset and hardware. A wall assembly can consume masonry, plaster and a finish.
Labor Crews
Determine a product's labor cost by assigning a labor crew and installation time to the product. A crew can comprise one or more craftsman, each of whom is assigned an hourly rate. Installation Time is the estimated time (in hours, minutes and seconds) that it would take a crew to install one unit of the product.
Export to Multiple File Formats
Share your estimate reports with non-BIMHighway users. Export to a variety of file formats including PDF, Excel, Word, RTF XML, HTML, TXT, CSV, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and TIFF.
Compare Bids from Contractors
With BIMHighway Estimator, you can invite bids from one or more contractors. Each contractor is able to produce a bid using the project's automatic takeoff quantities. At any time the bids can be compared in a tabulated report format.
Request Pricing from Suppliers
Request pricing and product information from one or more suppliers. At any stage, you can integrate a selected supplier's pricing into your estimate.
Easy-to-Use Interface
BIMHighway Estimator provides a full WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) environment to view and edit your estimates. This easy-to-use interface allows you to interact with an estimate exactly as it would appear printed.
Non-Model Cost Items
There are many items in an estimate that are not drawn in the BIM model. BIMHighway Estimator allows you to add mon-model cost items to your estimates.
Excel Price List Integration
BIMHighway Estimator can integrate directly with your company's Excel price lists, allowing you to add your own cost items to a BIMHighway estimate. This integration with Excel allows you to keep your existing Excel price lists and even update them further if you wish.
Markup/Margin
Markup/margin percentage can either be applied globally to the estimate or by individual product.
Add BIMHighway Products to your Website
BIMHighway products can be embedded in your website, enabling BIMHighway Estimator users who browse your website to incorporate your products into their estimates.
Here is a sample page from a BIMHighway Estimate of a Revit model (metric). Note the detailed wall assembly that is associated with "Basic Wall - Exterior - AStandard 115mm" family. The appearance of the report (columns, icons, indenting, currency, etc.) is completely configurable.
http://www.bimhighway.com/estimator/imgs/bidirect01.gif
If you have any estimating-based questions, technical or otherwise - fire away.