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| October 2007 |
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'07 Site Prep Supplement
By Equipment World Staff
Published here:http://www.equipmentworld.com/apps/news/articleeqw.asp?id=63677
“Just think what weight a cut/fill map along with a pay request would carry. No longer will the percentage of work completed to date be a mystery, for you or the owner.”
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For more than seven years, the use of data has expanded from takeoff to site data, and back to the office again. No longer is the information generated used for one scope of a project. You can now transfer this data across various departments of your company, improving your production and bottom line.
Here’s how this data flow works on a site prep job:
- Data provided by the engineer is used to perform the takeoff.
- An inventory is taken for clearing and grubbing bidding.
- The contractor takes a topo map of the site for quantity verification.
- After award, a site model is prepared for use in the field.
- Progress topo maps are made for production analysis and billing requests.
- Points are collected in order to prepare as-builts for presentation to the owner.
And here’s how the process works:
Before doing anything, you need software. We’re often asked what type of software to buy. Here are the factors one needs to consider:
- Make sure the salesman uses one of your CAD files in his software presentation. This accomplishes two things. You can see what it really takes to do the work, and the sales person will be compelled to show you more features than would be shown in a canned presentation.
- Ask for three references in your area that are currently using the software. Call them and ask them what they think of it, and most importantly, what their frustrations are.
- Find out the cost of ownership after the initial purchase. Some vendors charge a king’s ransom every time a new release comes out, others don’t charge at all. Some vendors roll support and upgrades into an annual maintenance fee, so you need to verify these costs.
- No matter what software you buy, go to the factory training, and sign up for optional phone support if necessary. And stick with your brand of software. Too many people see features in another software they want and will go ahead and buy it. But in most cases you’ll save money and aggravation by becoming proficient with the software you have. All brands of takeoff software will do what you need if you learn how to use the features.
Takeoffs: There is a good chance you can get electronic files from the engineer to perform a takeoff. Import this into your takeoff software and produce reports and submit a bid. Your numbers will be more accurate than a manual takeoff, or surfaces digitized from paper plans.
It is critical that you take a topo of the existing ground before starting work. Bid the job to plan quantities, and verify the numbers after you take a topo.
Maybe the site requires clearing before a topo can be performed. How do you estimate clear and grub and make it a lump sum price? In addition to experience, you can reduce the guessing by setting up a grid on a dense job site, or taking a clearing inventory in lighter areas.
With the surface area known, it is easier to estimate density and average brush or tree height to estimate the volume of clearing material. While this is not exact, it’s much better than a wild guess.
After you have taken the topo of the site, compare the dirt quantities. If the numbers are not in your favor, now is the time to negotiate, not half way through the job.
Data: I have always said if you are using your takeoff surface for data, you are doing too good of a takeoff. Now that you have won the job, it’s time to open the file again, clean up the surface and get it ready to go in the field. The job may not need a lot of work, like a parking lot, or the job may need to be built on file all over again. Many highways are taken off from cross sections, but need to be built from plan, profiles and templates.
There has been some confusion as to who should build data. It’s the contractor’s responsibility to build the job correctly; therefore they can use whatever means they feel appropriate to build data. The use of GPS on a jobsite does not eliminate the need for traditional engineering and survey; it merely is another powerful tool for use on the jobsite. Share the data you build with the surveyors and engineers. The goal here is to make the job gets built right the first time, not point fingers for an incorrect elevation.
At this point there is a disconnect in the industry. Most people think the data for the job is used for machine control and grade checking. This is true, but there is a lot more one can do with digital information:
- Sharing your data. If everyone is truly on the same page, there will be no surprises. Offer the data to all parties involved. The engineers and surveyors will want to see what changes you propose to make the job work better. Make sure your offer of data comes with the request they check it over for you. There can never have too many eyes on a project, especially before any dirt is moved. The developer may want to have a 3D model built for a the sales office or a presentation.
- Progress payments. Just think what weight a cut/fill map along with a pay request would carry. No longer will the percentage of work completed to date be a mystery, for you or the owner.
- Job costing. There is no greater tool than job costing to judge the health and profitability of a project. The problem is the cost details are often available too late to turn things around. Try this idea on your next job: Take a topo on Friday afternoon or Monday morning, then compare it to the topo from the last week. With labor and material costs provided by accounting, the actual cost per yard is in your hands on Monday, not a week later. With that kind of information at hand, the job will not get out of control.
- As builts. After job completion, it will help everyone involved if the contractor, in collaboration with the surveyor, presents a good set of as-builts to the owner. During the job process, it takes very little time to shoot some points of features that will soon be covered and compacted. These details along with the points the surveyor is required to shoot, will provide a detailed map of the project. This is a big help in the event of future excavation.
Can you do without technology on the jobsite and in the office? Maybe, but not for long. The price of hardware is coming down. Our experience shows that the equipment will pay for itself in fuel savings alone. When you factor in the savings of labor, machine wear, improved production, and profitability, the digital job makes a lot of sense. EW
– Marco Cecala, Take-Off Professionals
Take-Off Professionals specialize in construction data preparation and have worked in the industry for 15 years. For more information, visit www.takeoffpros.com.
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