Construction Collaboration: PDF Secrets Part 1 – Estimating Takeoff June 17, 2011
Posted by carolhagen in BIM, CAD, Construction Industry - Software, Document Imaging, estimating.Tags: AEC, Autocad, Bluebeam, collaboration, construction, estimating, hagen-business-systems, PDF, Revit, takeoff
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Construction collaboration with PDFs has been utilized poorly. Even with the Microsoft Office 2010 release that gives you the ability to convert documents to PDF built-in, it’s lacking when it comes to collaboration for the AEC Industry. To help change that I’ll share some best practices and features that contractors, architects and estimators perhaps weren’t aware of. What PDFs do best is share documents in a format that everyone can access. Print to PDF gets the document out of that technical construction software package (AutoCAD, Revit, etc) and serves it up for every construction team member, without needing the same software. This will be a series of posts that will discuss construction collaboration using PDFs for Estimating Takeoffs, Converting Large Format and 3D Drawings, AutoCAD and Revit Integration, Drawing comparisons, Hyperlink referencing, Tablet PCs, and Sharepoint.
To be clear, not all these secrets are available in Standard PDF programs but are specifically designed for the AEC industry by Bluebeam, a PDF software firm which impressed me so much that I recently became an authorized reseller.
I understand that each person learns differently so you may want to download this tutorial Bluebeam Revu measurements takeoff or Watch this video (13 minutes) to see how the measurement tool in Bluebeam will give contractors the ability to perform takeoffs from PDF. This includes: Calibrate the drawing or set the scale, use measurement annotations for area, length, volume and counts, and perform further calculation with your takeoff data. The video shows the takeoff details and how to group items into sections (this could be CSI codes, tasks or areas). There’s also the ability to price and export the details to a spreadsheet. Realize this is just one secret to Bluebeam Revu and is built-in to every version Standard, CAD and eXtreme. You may also want to view a few more sample takeoffs like the one at the top.
If you can’t wait to see all the “Secrets” for the AEC Industry, you may want to watch this overview video “Which Revu is Right for You?” to to see how Bluebeam can make your team collaboration and productivity improve with large format drawings, Revit, AutoCAD, Bentley Systems BIM and more.
Construction Software Partly Cloud(y) May 28, 2010
Posted by carolhagen in construction accounting software, Construction Industry - Software, estimating, project management software.Tags: cloud computing, construction, estimating, software
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Cloud computing at its basic level is accessing applications and data solely via the internet. No extra hardware or software needed, just a web browser and internet connection from your PC, smartphone or iPad. If you don’t need to backup, load updates, have a server or need full-time IT staff to keep it going, why isn’t everything in the cloud already?
Cloud Computing Perceptions: Speed, Security and Trust
Bandwidth is similar to a highway. It’s the infrastructure that connects everyone. If you have two lanes and 100 cars merging from one ramp their’s a traffic jam. It slows everything at that location to a crawl. Get a T1 or T3 line and be there alone…it’s lightening fast and you never wait. Back in my college days it was time-sharing and modem speeds of 1200 baud. Now we want live video streaming and instant access. While the major metro areas have availability, there are challenges where contractors work…the edges of the grid as cities expand. So the rule is as our cell service is so goes our connectivity and speed. Travel to a more rural area and there are still few choices with the only “high” speed option is satellite. Now I live in the Phoenix metro area so for me I’m good with bandwidth.
Another issue with speed is the platform design of the application. There are many mature software systems that did not start on the Internet and their cloud offering is actually a patchwork. This occurs frequently to computer software. Today’s programming language is tomorrows legacy. Try rewriting a million lines of code so it is .NET Framework 3.5 and you’ll understand that longevity of application is not an advantage but a burden. Some firms offer web collaboration but they still sell and maintain their legacy systems installed on their customer’s servers. And every customer is indirectly paying to keep the non-cloud based systems maintained and supported.
Security is what’s the track record and how much have I been influenced by the “disaster” stories the news has reported. With cloud access can’t someone steal my password and access my information? If their servers fail how long has it been since their last backup? With critical systems like email in the cloud can I afford to be down when gmail is attacked and aren’t the cloud systems more open to attacks? My answer is it depends. Who is your cloud service with? Is it a Tier 1 site, SAS 70 compliant and continually providing co-location of your data?
If you are considering cloud computing there are plenty to pick from put choosing wisely may be looking at the specific area of specialty. Here are a few I see the construction industry embracing:
MyAccountingCloud – offering the full slate of all Intuit Quickbooks Solutions including Quickbooks for Contractors, without sacrificing any features. What’s intriguing is that they host Intuit products better that Intuit does and are based here in Phoenix.
HighRise and Salesforce - customer relationship management has been in the cloud extensively and Salesforce has been a marketing engine. HighRise is also a contender from 37Signals as they promote software that’s easy. Both solutions have their advantages, offer many 3rd party add-ons and have smartphone apps to keep you connected at all times.
Corecon – provides estimating and project management for the construction industry. Corecon has lead tracking, estimating, invitation to bid collaboration, buy-out, scheduling, project documentation, detailed job costing, dashboards and tight integration to Quickbooks and SAP Business One, Corecon’s not only something to consider but a solution that my firm offers.
SmartBidNet – for the mid-sized to large general contractor this is a robust bid invitation and bid management system. With a prequalification module, and integration to on-line takeoff and estimating systems, its a great add-on to your existing technology solutions.
After you’ve looked at these solutions we’d like you to comment on your findings so the construction industry can stay informed and we can continue to provide free information. Please bookmark our site so you can post a comment later or if you already have experience with these, post a comment now. I appreciate it!
My Week’s Dose of Education at Construction Association Meetings September 18, 2009
Posted by carolhagen in Construction Industry - Software, estimating.Tags: construction, employment law, estimating
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The Arizona Society of Professional Estimators and the American Subcontractors Association held a joint meeting in Phoenix entitled, “Building Technology into Estimates: Tech Features That Keep You Competitive”. James Benham of JBKnowledge did a fabulous job in engaging the audience and touched upon a variety of topics in the estimator’s toolkit, social networking and augmented reality. He showed applications that should at least be on your radar screen included Google Docs, Google Wave, SketchUp and using a BIM overlay on the job site. James talked about Facebook Groups being used to manage construction projects, EOS Advisor for seeing trends overtime and SmartBidNet to simplify Bid Management. I wonder if those in attendance have gone on-line to research these applications or if they’ve shared this information upstream yet?
What I learned there is while I am always looking at technology, the majority of contracting firms are unaware of the new applications, and gadgets that will shape how we will work and communicate. They depend on educational opportunities to inform them as most do not have the luxury of a Chief Information Officer.
The Construction Financial Management Association meeting with Julie Pace of Ballard Spahr LLP has become an annual event. Making it an interactive presentation, her Q&A was challenging and informative. Here are a few take-aways you may want to share with your HR department and controller:
- In Arizona, November 1st is the due date for sending unclaimed assets to the state including those unclaimed paychecks
- Every project that has received federal stimulus money will be audited. Be prepared.
- The Department of Labor requires start time & end time on timesheets
- Inappropriate conduct is defined as severe, pervasive and unwelcome.
- You can reprimand a salary exempt employee (like a superintendent) with unpaid time if you dock them one(1) or more full days unpaid time. No half days allowed.
Of course Julie touched upon FMLA, updated us on card check, what to have in your Employee Handbook or have as a written policy and many other topics like what to look for in a “He Said, She Said” situation. The most interesting item to me was the NLRB is clear in not allowing employers to prohibit employees from talking about raises. After all this information, I’ll see you at the water cooler.
