Timberline Forum

All this month you can save on Sage Timberline Office and Sage Master Builder when buying additional uses or modules.

Buy one additional module or use and get 10% off!
Buy two additional modules or uses and get 15% off!
Buy three or more additional modules or uses and get 20% off!

Estimators – we didn’t forget about you on this deal! John Fredley’s Advanced Databases are ALSO included.

Don’t forget to use the promo code C-0325 for Sage Timberline Office and C-0326 for Sage Master Builder.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact either me, Myrna, or Daren at anytime!!

When it comes to Estimating, you can never have enough tricks and inside tips. With the current economic situation, Estimators are worth their weight in gold. We thought we would offer a few tips you might want to use with your Timberline Estimating Software.

These are some tips given to us by top-notch Timberline Estimating Consultant Barry Cassell. If you need more than a few tips – feel free to get in touch with Barry. He’s been known to build huge databases in a single day, help estimators do more with less and bring in double the business with the same amount of people. He’s also a really nice guy and pretty easy to talk to. You can find him here. You might even want to ask him about Timberline’s new Estimating Databases!

Barry Cassell/Ledgerwood Associates, Inc. Estimating Tips…
On the estimate spreadsheet: to review & modify pricing, labor & equipment productivity & hours, as well as unit costs, wbs assignments, item notes, crew & rate table assignments. It provides excellent “one-stop shopping” for any changes to an item, (except its Takeoff quantity & Takeoff unit)

Use the Detail Window…

Risk Management…
Labor is the biggest risk in any estimate. Design a Spreadsheet Layout that inccludes :

• “Labor Productivity”, “Labor Productivity Unit/Unit” , “Labor Quantity”, “Labor Quantity Unit”, in 4 successive columns, side by side.
• With this Layout, changing Productivity changes Labor Quantity, and vice versa. It’s an extremely intuitive “what-if” exercise to fine-tune Labor in the estimate.

Barry Cassell

When it comes to Estimating, you can never have enough tricks and inside tips. With the current economic situation, Estimators are worth their weight in gold. We thought we would offer a few tips you might want to use with your Timberline Estimating Software.

These are some tips given to us by top-notch Timberline Estimating Consultant Barry Cassell. If you need more than a few tips – feel free to get in touch with Barry. He’s been known to build huge databases in a single day, help estimators do more with less and bring in double the business with the same amount of people. He’s also a really nice guy and pretty easy to talk to. You can find him here. You might even want to ask him about Timberline’s new Estimating Databases!

Timberline Estimating Tips:

• Use File Tools to move, rename, copy, & paste estimating files. Using Windows Explorer will corrupt Timberline data files. However it is perfectly safe to copy, move or rename entire FOLDERS, using Windows Explorer.

• Don’t even go into any of the folders named “PVData” There’s nothing useful you can do in a PVData folder, but you can do major damage. Do yourself a favor and steer clear.

• Workstation Configuration (in the “Edit/Options” menu):
     o Ensure that the following boxes are checked:
        Display Overline Totals when Expanded
        Display Grand Total Unit Price
        Display Grand Totals amounts
        Display Allocated Addon amounts
     o Display Fonts:
        Change the Font Color to RED for “Display Zero Dollar Items”

Hope this helps and as always please feel free to conctact Daren or me at anytime for help with your Timberline Estimating Software!!

Timberline just released new Advanced Assembly Databases that have current manufacturing prices and items.  These databases are comprehensive with 51000 items and 7400 formulas.   John Fredley of Advanced Assemblies Database Inc. spent 10 years creating these databases to fit a variety of estimating styles.

95% of the assemblies support both “man-hour,” and “unit-pricing,” estimating.  You can take off self-performed and sub-contract work.  It makes it easy to produce “quantity,” and well as “bill of materials.”  Included are Work Breakdown Codes (WBS) for every construction trade.

These databases have an incredible amount of knowledge built in.  If you need a good estimating system up and running fast, you should check it out. 

Here is the list of new Advanced Assembly Databases:  Composite includes all of the following individual databases:  Residential, Sitework, Concrete and Masonry and a Starter database.

It’s no secret that the construction unemployment rate is high, 20 % compared to the national rate of 8.5%.  Over the last year, 1.3 million construction workers have lost their jobs.  However, some experts are saying we should soon see a substantial drop in that all-too-high number.  The reason — the unprecedented  economic stimulus package unveiled in February.

On Friday, National Public Radio reported how the current economic conditions are affecting the Construction Industry.  With some of the bidding for stimulus projects set to start this month and Arizona slated to receive hundreds of million of dollars – there certainly will be some serious bidding wars going on.

CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America, Steve Sandherr told NPR, “We’re looking at April as kind of being a bellwether month. The weather’s improving in the northern states, the funding for the stimulus projects should be going out in April at a quicker pace and we’re optimistic that we’re going to see an uptick in construction employment this month.”

Another trend – many contractors who would normally stick to the private sector are now bidding on the public jobs being generated by the stimulus.  It turns out, bids are coming in lower than expected which could mean there will be more money available for added projects.

One way to ensure your bids are air tight is to use a power house tool like Timberline Estimating.  Timberline understands construction estimating has never been more important.  With newly updated databases it gives you the edge you need to outbid the next guy.  Every bid is vital so why take a chance?  It’s a minor investment compared to what there is to lose.

Don’t get me wrong.  No one has a Pollyanna view of the construction industry’s immediate future.  Certainly no one is getting carried away.  At best construction will see a moderate year but many believe that without the economic stimulus  it certainly would have been much worse. 

If you’d like to hear the NPR report click here. 

Joe the UPS Driver just dropped by the new Sage Timberline Estimating Databases (Version 9.6).  My database review will follow next week as soon as I check what the Timberline elves did over at headquarters. 

It looks like the package includes the new updated 2009 RS Means Estimating Database for Timberline Estimating, enhanced Commercial and Residential Knowledgebases and a Master Format 1995 to Master Format 2004 map. 

I know this is a very generic piece of information, but I promise a full review in plain terms that are easy to understand.  For now, lets celebrate long-anticipated enhancements to Sage Timberline Estimating Databases!