Alex, good evening.
This is at times a very, very expensive game, and a game where there is a lot promised but not fully delivered?
For clarity, I work in an Insurance claims / Subsidence engineer / Sometimes as a loss Adjuster, and have worked for several different firms in the insurance arena.
Books are OK but! dead slow, then you have to transfer the prices on to an Excel Spread sheet, not cost effective!
All insurers and Most Contractors have their own preferred digital excel based pricing tools that can be adjusted on a real time basis, One thing you could look into is that if you know the rates you want to cost up in whatever field of the business you are going into you if you are good with Excel make up your own estimating package by using the formulas in Excel to multiply the M2 area by the cost per M2 on any descriptive line, at the bottom of the page the accumulated costs in the total for that page is sent to a compilation page to produce the final cost on that page another formula can add VAT, Etc, Etc.
As I said it is not beyond the wit of man to undertake this action, OR? do you know someone who is competent with Excel to hand build the above for you? BUT you would be required to provide the cost per M2 for say plasterboard, Chipboard, Skim plaster, a mist coat and two full coats of Emulsion, Etc.
Even if you get the "Basics" of whatever area of the building industry you are going into you can build on this basic model.
As for what is available on the open market? there are loads, but a number of packages will require you to commit to a fee every time you use the package, such as Xactimate, an obviously American package BUT what it can do, up to and including 3D drawings of a room or rooms or house including the roof is astounding.
I have dealt with I suppose Dozens of differing cost build up Software packages over time, One thing they all have in common they become Corrupt very easily? even within the past week one of the packages I use for a Loss Adjuster has on two occasions in the one week crashed? bloody annoying if you have reached room 5 out of 6 and have to go back and start all over again,
One other way of getting a package is to look on the Net, see what is around and ask for a copy before you buy, the copy will self destruct after a period of time or a certain number of uses ? it is one way of taste and try prior to purchase?
There are several books out there but generally considered very "old hat" in that everyone in the market uses a digital platform, of one sort or another?
How about you ask around your contacts and [not that I approve or condone] blag a copy of some ones established cost build up software, or as above utilise Excel or employ someone who is proficient with Excel?
Ken
