Sigma Labs Blog
Get Deeper Insight Into The World Of EstimatingSigma Estimates and PlanSwift Takeoff – Effective strategy to win more bids in less time!
Construction cost estimators are busier than ever today. There is pressure to complete more estimates – faster, with precision while ensuring a good profit margin and Contractors and Subcontractors around the globe are realizing value to be gleaned by equipping their professional estimators with the right tools and a seamless ... read more
How to speed up estimating with market prices?
The quality of your estimates depends largely on the quality of your cost data. Because you don’t have much time to create an accurate estimate, an up-to-date database of prices is an extremely valuable resource to have. It’s incredibly important to consider what kind of pricing you’re using, which varies depending on whether you’re an ... read more
How open APIs are impacting the Construction Industry?
APIs are incredibly powerful tools that enable anyone to extend, improve, and integrate existing software in ways that the developer might not have even imagined. If software developers don’t provide an API, end users have to wait for official first-party support for any new features. By providing extensibility for others to leverage, it ... read more
Are You Keeping Up with The Digitization in The Construction industry?
The North American construction industry is booming with no signs of slowing down. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Commercial Construction Index, about 93 percent of contractors (general & subs) expect to see equal or higher profit margins in 2019. Despite the boom, the construction industry is facing two major ... read more
Unlocking Value in Construction: The Estimator Holds The Key
Build better, build faster, reduce risk – and whatever you do – don’t make mistakes. Margins don’t allow for bad planning, lack of experience and minor brain hemorrhages leading to left-out parts of a project. Sounds like the construction industry you work in? Yeah, we know, but then… isn’t it about time to have a little less talk, and a lot ... read more
Bill Carey’s Five Best Reasons for Estimators to use Sigma
Bill Carey’s Five Best Reasons for Estimators to use Sigma 1. No spreadsheet formulas to break It can happen to anybody who opens a spreadsheet file — one stray keystroke breaks the entire estimate. Suddenly, the calculations don’t work anymore, and you lose hours you don’t have tracking down the problem. Sure, you can do ... read more
Why Everyone is so Bullish about 5D BIM
Why Everyone is so Bullish about 5D BIM… 5D BIM (five-dimensional building information modeling) has been lauded in the construction industry for years. In fact, McKinsey has pointed to 5D BIM as one of the next key trends to transform the construction industry ... read more
How Subcontractors Can Choose Suitable Projects & Improve Margins
The topics that we’ve been talking about in the past few blog posts (design, development, communication, common language, and transparency) don’t just apply to general contractors —they are also very relevant to subcontractors. Whether you’re a carpenter contractor who only bids on framing and trim or a piping contractor that specializes in ... read more
Tips for Using Technology to Simplify Conceptual Estimating & Historical Data
Capturing historical data is hugely important, but unfortunately, not enough builders actually do it. Since conceptual estimates are often based on design development drawings or even just verbal descriptions, your historical data can be the basis for the budget estimate. Fortunately, Sigma estimating software has the ability to reduce the ... read more
Improving Collaboration Between GC’s Trades, Owners, & Designers
Communication is one of the primary ongoing challenges when collaborating across teams and project stakeholders like designers, trades, owners, and general contractors. Consider what would happen if you were bidding a job where the owner asked for the price of a curtain wall. As the owner describes how the end result is going to look, you ... read more
How to Deal More Effectively With Change Orders & Design Changes
Change orders are one of the most dreaded things that an estimator has to deal with in a project. They could occur when the owner simply changes their mind—someone might decide they want a metal roof instead of the asphalt shingle roof that had originally been chosen, for instance. Changes might also occur when a conflict arises between ... read more
Learn tips and tricks to improve your estimating efforts
Meet our Head of support in the US – Learn tips and tricks to improve your estimating efforts. Before becoming the head of support for Sigma Estimates in North America Bill Carey has been estimating for about 30 years, with projects ranging from half million dollars to over $200 million. He was named ASA estimator of the year, and founded ... read more
