u/yizno

About me:

I have been in the trades for 18 years. I started as a Drafter and moved ultimately to my position of VDC/Estimating Manager at a big Division 22/23 Contractor.

Currently I manage 3 other BIM Modelers/Coordinators and 2 "Estimators" (take off guys, 1 mech pipe and plumbing, another Sheetmetal).

The estimators simply strip jobs via Accubid. They do takeoff and provide reports to the PMs. The PMs are "Sales engineers" who do the final bid and collect all the numbers from subs and vendors.

The struggle is that the 4 PMs are treated like sub contractors. There is no thought about each other when they are screaming for bids. Last year we did 160 take offs, and this year we are on track to break 200. Since they also PM they don't have the time to look at these reports and make VE choices. I am told that our numbers are too high but that's its also not my jobs team to be competitive. The estimators also do not have time, especially on the plumbing/mech pipe side, to check all the material costs. We have factors. I came from a company that would send PVF out to vendors and not carry the material costs from the program.

What are some common workflows to help be more efficient? Is two take off people understaffed for 4 PMs? Do you have vendors Quote PVF or do you manage a database to try to keep it as accurate as possible? Do you export multiple report types to look at certain data types or do you just have a catch all?

I appreciate all the feedback and advice.