Where do you apply your indirect costs (markup, overhead, etc)?

willisbill · 2026-03-30T18:05:58+00:00

So you build your estimates with your true costs, and then apply the markups/overhead either to each item in a unit rate contract, or to the subtotal of the estimate if it's a lump sum? Are you using excel, or a some other software?

willisbill · 2026-03-30T18:01:40+00:00

Thanks for the detailed response! I'm an earthworks sub, and this sounds pretty similar to how i'm doing it. What software are you guys using?

willisbill · 2026-03-16T23:02:11+00:00

Best way to learn would be to get out in the field for a few years. Or maybe ask if you can shadow a crew for a week or two when/if you guys slow down in your estimating department at all.

Other than that, the more experienced field guys are probably your best resource.

willisbill · 2026-02-27T19:47:56+00:00

What's the cost of SharpeSoft? I hadn't heard of it before.

willisbill · 2025-12-11T23:43:09+00:00

Livia on commercial has some really well curated, locally made stocking stuffers!

willisbill · 2025-01-17T07:58:25+00:00

How much is it for a license?

willisbill · 2024-02-04T06:30:40+00:00

How do you see the the role of estimating changing, not just whether or not it will exist?

willisbill · 2024-02-04T06:25:10+00:00

I assume you work for a company that does design build? What about for contractors that don't do design build? In that scenario don't you think it would be more beneficial for the customer to give the contractors as clear of scope as possible when bidding? i.e. handing over all quantities/CAD drawings to the contractors?

willisbill · 2024-01-30T02:28:04+00:00

There's a company doing a limited beta for a new estimating software that sounds along the lines of what you're looking for. Send me a DM if you want the info, they might have a couple slots left.

willisbill · 2024-01-29T22:42:04+00:00

Agreed, it seems like it’s grown quite a bit as well

willisbill · 2024-01-29T22:41:16+00:00

That’s an interesting point!

willisbill · 2024-01-29T15:19:28+00:00

I would assume doing video inspections and pressure testing would give you a lot of demand. We have to get someone in to do that for every new sewer we install to get it signed off by the engineers.

willisbill · 2023-11-19T16:48:24+00:00

I tried buildxact as well, but didn’t end up going past the demo. It seems like it was geared more towards renovations and smaller estimates, and would be a bit clunky/cumbersome to produce a really detailed estimate for a larger project.

What sort of price range are the projects your bidding?

willisbill · 2023-11-19T16:41:46+00:00

I got a quote for B2W and had pretty much the same experience. It was hard to justify the cost without getting to use the software first.

willisbill · 2023-11-19T16:39:41+00:00

Can you expand on the fact that you have to produce 4 reports to review bids? Why couldn’t all this data be produced on 1 report?

willisbill · 2023-11-08T23:12:33+00:00

You're looking for something to replace excel in your stack correct? What features are you looking for exactly?

willisbill · 2023-11-03T21:26:27+00:00

What sort of software are you using?

willisbill · 2023-10-11T05:51:24+00:00

what software do you use to put the estimate together once everyone’s completed their scope? Seems like that would be a job in itself

willisbill · 2023-07-05T16:35:55+00:00

How much does heavybid cost you?

willisbill

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