Sigma Labs Blog
Get Deeper Insight Into The World Of EstimatingAre 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 challenges: 1. ... 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 […] 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 […] 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, […] 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 […] 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 […] read more
How to Optimize Takeoff
Items like markup, profit, overhead, and general conditions are all based on the quantity derived from takeoff. Therefore, takeoff is absolutely critical to get right, regardless of whether a contractor is self-performing or taking bids from subcontractors. Self-performing contractors usually calculate the costs in estimates using a production read more
