Creating a winning bid

Creating a bid for a demolition project includes estimating the cost of the labor to demolish the structure and the materials the firm needs to remove. To create an accurate demolition estimate, contractors must be careful with details for the job because any errors can affect the cost of the bid and the project’s success.

Knowing how to properly dismantle and dispose of construction materials is key to success.

Estimating software exists that helps create these highly detailed bids, which typically include information on the cost of removing materials and whether they are hazardous or not. Some materials can be recycled, like wood and paper, and concrete can be crushed and reused as an aggregate. Steel also can be cut up and hauled away or reused. Other materials may have to go to a landfill that accepts construction debris.

Many contractors use Excel spreadsheets to estimate demolition work, but it is easy to make big mistakes in calculations and estimating that could cause a firm to lose money on the project. By using dedicated bid software rather than Excel, companies can share the estimate with others who can review it for accuracy.

Demolition estimating software can help contractors of all sizes increase bidding accuracy, save time, go paperless and minimize the possibility of costly mistakes.

The best demolition estimating software must include the ability to:

• capture the various types of activities that a company must correctly perform to complete the demolition out in the field;
  
• estimate the cost per cubic yard or load for breaking concrete, which must include how much it costs to remove the concrete or other materials from the job site;
  
• allow communication to both operations and field personnel to prove the completion of the required demolition work; and
  
• estimate the cost to remove hazardous materials, such as asbestos. These materials must be handled carefully, and documentation must be created explaining how they were handled and where they went after demolition.
  
  

  Additionally, the ability to import or locate past data can play an important role in demo estimating software. It can be beneficial for contractors to import information into the bid that is supplied by an owner or cost data from suppliers, vendors or subcontractors.

Photo courtesy of HCSS

Some software also populates bid items with cost data from a previous estimate similar to the work to be done. Firms can quickly create an estimate with great detail by pre-populating bids with previous data. With bid software, firms also should be able to review previous bids that they won or lost, determine why they lost or won the work and incorporate either the exact costs or better pricing so they will have a better chance to win the work. Contractors should be able to base new bids on vast amounts of information already in the system, so they don’t have to remember sales tax, production rates, build rates and more, allowing them to focus on the bigger picture and not minor details.

For quoting, good software includes a quote function where you take quotes from suppliers and subcontractors to easily keep track of cost data and transmit that information to operations for review. Software should enable firms to make last-minute changes if they receive cost data from a subcontractor lower than what’s in the initial estimate. By including costs from inside and outside the demolition firm, managers get an accurate cost of the work to be performed and can make more intelligent and strategic decisions based on that information.

Additional features that can set estimating software apart from others is the ability to:

• Include or integrate with takeoff software, which can estimate simple unit counts for demolition to measure complex areas and volumes. Suppose your estimating software does not include takeoff. In that case, you should be able to upload the information from a takeoff software solution to help you quickly assign costs, save time, minimize mistakes and increase accuracy.
  
• Break down work tasks to a granular level of detail without complicating the estimating procedure. Contractors should choose a solution allowing demolition estimators to break complex problems into solvable pieces that accurately reflect the costs.
  
• Integrate with accounting software. It can take managers two to three days to manually add budget information into an estimate. If demolition estimating software integrates with accounting, this takes less than one hour.  Companies should look for software that can integrate estimates with payroll to add and track accurate labor costs.
  
• Export data to scheduling software to create a project schedule.
  
• Track projects and run metrics and KPIs. Instead of this information sitting in a spreadsheet, multiple people should be able to access the information by connecting project tracking to the estimate. This is useful for getting big-picture data, such as how many projects are out for bid, how many projects have been won, how many projects have been lost and why.
  
• Include a bid pricing screen where firms see a complete overview of the bid and pricing and can make adjustments so that they produce the unit prices they want to produce. Managers also should be able to produce professional-looking proposals.
  
• Add markup and overhead in the bid summary. If managers can make changes in one place, the changes will show up in multiple locations without having to sort through various documents. For example, if you make a bid with one piece of machinery and find out it is unavailable and needs to be swapped out, the entire bid will have the new piece of equipment shown.
  

Mascaro Construction Co. uses HCSS HeavyBid on CSX J&L Tunnel

In the CSX J&L Tunnel Improvements project, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Mascaro Construction Co. had to carefully plan to remove an existing rail tunnel roof under live train traffic, raise the walls to meet specified clearances and replace the roof with precast panels. Mascaro engineered the demolition and replacement around a crane set on top of old and new roofs with trains running below.

This project increased the vertical clearance inside a 1,600-linear-foot section of a CSX railroad tunnel and included utility relocation, drainage improvements and removal of overhead structures near both tunnel portals. Mascaro performed grading, drainage, temporary shoring, demolition, water and sewer relocation and tunnel wall and roof construction, including all concrete, rebar, and steel installation.

Mascaro used HCSS HeavyBid to estimate the demolition project. The flexibility of HeavyBid was necessary because every item was atypical, whether it was demolition contractors working on site demolition projects that include the cutting and removal of massive concrete and steel structures for the improvement of infrastructure such as bridge structures, tunnels, and railroads or the contractors working on building demolition jobs that involve total or partial removal of structures.

The author is an estimating success manager at HCSS, where he has worked for five years. Previously, he worked for 30 years in the civil construction industry as a chief estimator at a civil construction and demolition company.