How Does BidScreen XL Make Hard Costs in Construction Easier to Estimate?

Estimating construction expenses can be complex, particularly when dealing with what are hard costs in construction. Hard costs are the tangible expenses of building, such as materials, labor, and equipment. Accurately calculating these costs is crucial for project budgeting and avoiding overspending. BidScreen XL by Vertigraph, Inc. is a cutting-edge Excel add-in that simplifies this process, letting contractors measure, document, and manage hard costs efficiently and accurately. With this tool, construction professionals can spend less time calculating and more time making informed decisions that impact project timelines and budgets.

Measure Directly From Original Drawings

BidScreen XL works inside Excel, allowing contractors to record measurements directly from PDF, DWG, DXF, and TIF files. There is no need for file conversions or multiple programs. Users can zoom, pan, and navigate drawings easily, ensuring every measurement reflects the original plan. By working directly from original files, estimators can capture accurate quantities for materials, labor, and other tangible costs without guesswork. This also reduces errors that often arise when transferring data between different platforms or software.

Calibrate and Scale Automatically

One of the biggest challenges in estimating hard costs is ensuring drawings are scaled correctly. BidScreen XL’s Auto Scale feature calibrates your drawings quickly. After setting the scale, every measurement, area, length, or volume, is precise. This ensures that calculations for items like paving, concrete, or roofing are correct from the start, reducing errors and saving time during budget preparation. The ability to measure cross sections accurately, even with varying vertical and horizontal scales, ensures that contractors can calculate excavation, cut-and-fill, and other volume-based costs with confidence.

Record and Track Every Measurement

BidScreen XL provides clear tools to track each measurement and record it into Excel cells. Every entry, whether a square footage of flooring or curb length, is logged with a visible red cell comment. Users can calculate perimeters and continuous lengths in separate cells. These features create an audit trail that clearly shows how every number was derived, which is essential when estimating hard costs in construction, what is a hard cost. Being able to review and verify each measurement in Excel helps contractors reduce discrepancies and ensures that every cost estimate is reliable.

Organize Multiple Drawings and Projects

Managing numerous plans for a single project can be overwhelming. BidScreen XL’s Drawing Manager organizes all drawings, annotates layers, and allows isolation of specific objects. Contractors can measure multiple pages or files at once, making it easy to handle large-scale projects. Editing takeoffs, moving points, or adjusting curves is simple, ensuring that every measurement is up-to-date and accurate. This structured organization reduces mistakes and allows teams to focus on project planning rather than sorting files.

Templates for Every Trade

The software includes ready-to-use templates for different construction trades, such as concrete, painting, roofing, and flooring. Estimators can apply custom colors, line styles, and symbols for clarity. This structured approach helps contractors quickly calculate hard costs and compare quantities across multiple trades without losing track of details. Using templates also standardizes the estimating process, making it faster to create proposals and bids while ensuring consistency across projects.

Simplify Team Collaboration

BidScreen XL allows files to be saved to any cloud drive, enabling seamless collaboration. Multiple team members can access and update measurements in real-time. This ensures that everyone works from the same data, reducing errors and improving efficiency, especially for projects with remote or dispersed teams. By providing a centralized system for takeoffs, contractors can monitor project progress, verify measurements, and maintain accountability across the team.

Save Time and Reduce Errors

By integrating takeoffs, measurements, and tracking directly into Excel, BidScreen XL reduces repetitive work and minimizes errors. Estimators no longer have to flip between programs, convert files, or recalculate totals manually. This efficiency ensures accurate calculation of construction hard costs, giving contractors confidence in their budgets and proposals. Being able to update a single measurement and see all dependent calculations adjust automatically saves both time and potential cost overruns.

Closing Note:

At Vertigraph, Inc., our goal was to simplify the estimation of hard costs for construction professionals. BidScreen XL gives our clients the ability to measure accurately, record efficiently, and manage multiple projects in one place. The software ensures that every calculation, annotation, and takeoff is precise, helping contractors save time, reduce mistakes, and make informed decisions on project budgets. Contractors using our tool gain confidence in their estimates and can manage projects efficiently, knowing that every hard cost is tracked accurately.

Take control of your construction estimates and reduce uncertainty. With BidScreen XL, hard costs become simple, accurate, and actionable.

FAQs:

1. What are hard costs in construction?

Hard costs are direct expenses like materials, labor, and equipment required to build a structure.

2. How does BidScreen XL simplify cost estimation?

It allows contractors to measure, record, and manage takeoffs directly in Excel for accuracy.

3. Which file types can BidScreen XL work with?

The software supports PDF, DWG, DXF, TIF, and both raster and vector files.

4. Can multiple team members use BidScreen XL simultaneously?

Yes, cloud storage enables real-time collaboration and ensures all team members work from the same data.

5. Does BidScreen XL help track project measurements?

Yes, it provides a clear audit trail with color-coded entries for areas, lengths, and volumes.