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In the Magazine

’07 Site Prep Supplement

October 04, 2007 |

For more than seven years, the use of data has expanded from takeoff to site data, and back to the office again. No longer is the information generated used for one scope of a project. You can now transfer this data across various departments of your company, improving your production and bottom line.

Here’s how this data flow works on a site prep job:

Data provided by the engineer is used to perform the takeoff.
An inventory is taken for clearing and grubbing bidding.
The contractor takes a topo map of the site for quantity verification.
After award, a site model is prepared for use in the field.
Progress topo maps are made for production analysis and billing requests.
Points are collected in order to prepare as-builts for presentation to the owner.

And here’s how the process works:
Before doing anything, you need software. We’re often asked what type of software to buy. Here are the factors one needs to consider:

Make sure the salesman uses one of your CAD files in his software presentation. This accomplishes two things. You can see what it really takes to do the work, and the sales person will be compelled to show you more features than would be shown in a canned presentation.
Ask for three references in your area that are currently using the software. Call them and ask them what they think of it, and most importantly, what their frustrations are.
Find out the cost of ownership after the initial purchase. Some vendors charge a king’s ransom every time a new release comes out, others don’t charge at all. Some vendors roll support and upgrades into an annual maintenance fee, so you need to verify these costs.
No matter what software you buy, go to the factory training, and sign up for optional phone support if necessary. And stick with your brand of software. Too many people see features in another software they want and will go ahead and buy it. But in most cases you’ll save money and aggravation by becoming proficient with the software you have. All brands of takeoff software will do what you need if you learn how to use the features.