McCormick Feature Article
-- As Seen In The May/June issue of IEC Insights
(official magazine of the Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc.)
CAD + Estimating Should Be Routine
Not every contractor routinely applies electrical estimating software and CAD systems to perform CAD-assisted estimating. Those that aren’t are leaving bushels of money on the table.
By Richard Manrod
Electrical contractors who can obtain computer-aided design (CAD) drawings of their jobs can routinely gain a big edge on competitors, thanks to the interface between today’s electrical estimate software and CAD systems.
This edge is something contractors can give themselves even if they are not involved in design-build or design-assist jobs!
We are talking here about automating your estimating process, thanks to the interface between CAD (from AutoDesk) and your estimating software (whether from McCormick or another company). While our company was a pioneer with our CAD Estimating system, others offer similar products.
Essentially, we’re talking here about a direct link between your electrical estimating software and CAD drawings. This means you have direct access to all items and assemblies – and you can take advantage of the familiar take-off interface of your estimating software.
Additionally, with an interface between CAD and your estimating software, you gain at least three advantages:
1. By “telling” the estimating system what symbols mean on the CAD drawings, you obtain (from the computer) accurate counts of every item in the job. That enables a contractor to eliminate the worry – and the reality – of counting errors.
2. Omissions can be deadly in a typical electrical construction job. If you do not “tell” the system what a specific CAD symbol means, you’ll get a list of omissions after the job is run. This will prevent you and/or your estimators from overlooking a generator, transformer, or special items.
3. By automating the estimate in these and other ways, the estimator creates more time to look at the job as a whole – to figure out ways some of the work might be done more creatively.
In an era in which everything in electrical construction must be done at breakneck speed, carving out a bit of time for an estimator to think has enormous value. Counting and checking for item omissions is something a machine can do; finding ways to electrically build a job smarter is where an estimator (and his/her company) can add value for the customer.
There’s more
Your electrical estimating interface with CAD can do a lot more for you.
a. Lengths will be measured accurately (with the accuracy of the CAD system with which they were drawn). On many AutoCAD-created drawings, home runs are drawn with an arrow and a note designated a panel. Thus, there’s no object to measure. In McCormick’s CAD Estimating, there is a “home run feature” that does the measuring for you.
b. You can use the CAD takeoff after the estimating stage. One example: Block out a portion of the project and do a take-off using the CAD/estimating software or interface. This will provide an accurate material list and labor for that piece of the project – helping you make sure the right materials are delivered in a timely manner.
c. Field drawings can be drawn using different CAD “layers” (and colors). This enables your company to designate systems, alternates, change orders, and more, and differentiate between them.
d. Problems occur for estimators when they return to a project from which they’ve had to walk away – for minutes (on a break or phone call) or days. The interface between your estimating software and CAD should “remember” where you left off. This gets the estimator back to work, quickly.
e. Datacom outlets are (usually) home runs back to the telephone cabinet or data rack. Estimators can find themselves devoting many hours taking off the lengths for such installations. With the “home run feature” in McCormick’s system (as an example), a great deal of time can be saved.
f. You can even use CAD plus your estimating software as a job management tool. Areas of the project can be marked (boxed) as they are completed. You can then match the labor used in completing that piece of the job against what was estimated/budgeted.
g. There are other advantages “embedded” in using CAD. This is not a new technology! One example: All AutoCAD drawings are provided with real-world dimensions. By using CAD drawings, you will eliminate the troubling (and potentially very expensive) scale errors that sometimes pop up in electrical construction.
Other notes
This may be obvious, but it doesn’t necessarily “go without saying:” Contractors who work on design-build jobs will find life more rewarding if they are able to use CAD, and interface their electrical estimating systems with constantly changing digital drawings. Such contractors will be able to accept streams of new drawings, perform take-offs, and provide prices quickly and easily.
At first, contractors and estimators have to invest a little time in a CAD/software interface. You have to “tell” the software what the symbols in the CAD drawing mean. This is an up-front investment of time; obviously, after a first group of jobs, the bulk of such work is done. You might find yourself “telling” the software about only a handful of special symbols for jobs on down the line.
Additionally, you can create links between one layer of the CAD drawing and multiple items (or assemblies). Essentially, you can create an assembly “on the fly.”
Adapting to CAD use
Our company’s customers (electrical contractors, including many IEC members) have educated our company on CAD use. Stories we’ve heard include:
- One contractor gained an edge by providing CAD as-built drawings to customers after job completion. The as-builts were not required, but they certainly positioned the contractor head-and-shoulders above his competition.
- Another contractor sent CAD drawings instead of project managers to job sites. Estimates were performed, of course, but instructions to site foremen were embedded in the CAD drawings.
We’re seeing more interest in our CAD Estimating product these days, no doubt a result of the marketplace’s increased demands on electrical contractors. At our 2006 User’s Conference (the 24th annual event for McCormick Systems), we had more interest, including post-event purchases of the product, then we’ve had since CAD estimated was introduced in 1999.
Richard Manrod owned an electrical contracting company in Illinois for 35 years. He now works as a trainer for McCormick Systems, an IEC National Platinum Industry Partner. McCormick Systems provides software used for electrical estimating and project management, as well as automated building systems work. Visit them at www.mccormicksys.com.
Sidebar that printed with the above article --
Why You’ll Gain By Creating As-Built Drawings Up Front
If you plan to provide as-built drawings after the project is completed. Do them ahead of time – before construction starts. Yes, this sounds counter-intuitive – or, maybe, just plain crazy.
But maybe you’d be crazy like a fox!
Hand those as-built drawings to your field crews. That gives them precise field drawings that match your estimate. They can use the as-builts to take off pieces of the job (using CAD + your estimating software in the field), to develop an accurate material list.
Additionally, the as-built drawings can be used to assist in job management – in developing labor budgets, and in getting a more-accurate handle on labor consumption as the job progresses. |
