ProEst Features

This is by far the easiest estimating program i have used thus far. Other pros include - Flexibility to edit almost everything; the large cache of report templates; the large database and pre-built assemblies; the built in digital takeoff; the bid day summary to use for sub-contractor bid tabulation

The preset costs are very generic (i.e. labor costs) - for large projects with heavy labor, this could throw off the labor estimate. In addition, the digital takeoff module, albeit very handy, is somewhat limited. It would be nice to have more flexibility to manually manipulate takeoffs, even after associating it with a digital takeoff. It would also be nice to be able to switch between different forms of measurement, right now you are only limited to the unit of measure determined by the line item for which you are taking off.

The software is easy to understand and it truly meets and exceeds all of our expectation when it came time to turn in a bid . We are a building and design firm, the range of the work we bid goes from electrical, plumbing, HVAC to complete turn key. We appreciate the fact ProEst is constantly improving its functionalities and overall performance.

The issues we had over the years are the same issues we get with other software in our systems, updates sometimes fix one program but conflicts with others. Happy to said the issues were not critical nor catastrophic in our daily use of the program nor cause major delays in our bidding process.

Our company is transitioning from self hosted, installed software to cloud SaaS products. This is one of the few estimation softwares that is completely cloud based. The ability to route estimations through workflows, maintain a shared cost database, and produce good looking reports from the system were all high points. Even the user interface was clean and uncluttered.

The software lacks KEY features that limit it's usability. Our core issue was the inability to copy takeoff or assembly information from one page of a drawing to another. 100% of multifamily developments have shared elements between levels of the building, and to recreate these from scratch every time instead of copying them from another page wiped out all the time savings of assemblies and workflows. There is NO other estimation/ takeoff tool that lacks this functionality. Additionally, there are no keyboard shortcuts (... in 2019). This is a significant slowdown when estimating large projects.

Ease of use Reporting Predefined database's to fit specific company needs Onscreen takeoff and estimating software in one Cloud or Desktop

No live tech support or chat support. Must submit a support ticket and wait for a call back. No way to change database and have it reflect on templates without updating templates individually Training is not free

Bid day function.

Steep, steep, steep learning curve.

The customer support is outstanding. Training was good.

It cannot share data bases. i.e. piping, electrical, and civil are separate files that must be added together outside the software. Add features to allow the exporting of database to other software, so it can be manipulated. Or add the tools to the software. I would like to add much of the existing excel files to the data base.

Very user friendly. Helps you make take-off easily.

Would like the reporting process to be more customizable to be able to implement on our companies document control.

The best part about the software is the depth at which you can estimate especially with all the factors that you can take into account, whether you are using existing ones or custom ones. That, coupled with the extensive cost database makes for a solid package of available information where you can track costs not only in terms of material, labor, equipment but according to divisions, assemblies, or even at a per room level. The software provides a good deal of flexibility in being able to create and customize the data to fit your work needs.

It was surprising that it wasn't as similar to excel as I expected. Although the layout is similar, manipulating columns,rows and data is different. Once you're familiarized with the tools and order of operations for the different tasks it becomes a very useful tool.

Ease of takeoffs and assemblies are plenty detailed RS Means cost data embedded in the program makes pricing/budget very easy Multiple ways to view information in reports Customer service

Install was a little tricky Missing a few assemblies I would like to have (minor issue) learning curve at the very beginning, but became very proficient after a few trial and error moments

There is absolutely nothing we liked about this product or company except the sales pitch and presentation.

If you are an mep contractor this is not the software for you. They say they have their on databases but after many request they could never provide them. They wanted us to build all databases from scratch which would require a full time person about 6 to 8 months due to the number of databases you would need. They don’t listen to the customer and we finally just uninstalled the software and broke off communication with them

Prompt customer support - unfortunately, there wasn't much they could do about the poor operation of the software

Constant glitches in the userface. This takeoff software is not at all a polished finished product. I'm sure the Project Management integration is great, but we only needed the takeoff software, and it's been a huge letdown. Takeoff layers & text arbitrarily fall behind each other, text size can be huge or tiny & you can't change it. If the scale is metric you are forced to use metric takeoff numbers - it's the little things that make you fiddle around & waste a lot of time. This product feels unfinished - not 40 yrs old. (using a PC by the way - don't blame it on me)

Excellent customer service. In the rare events when we have questions or issues, customer service usually returns calls within 1 hour.

Easy on screen take off. Unit prices are fairly reliable and based on RS Means data.

The larger Data Base makes takeoffs easy

Material Pricing, They can't set average cost due to the every changing market.

The software lets you link up with a payroll/scheduling software to give you an all-around control of your estimates directly on to your projects.

It is an activity database, you have to build your database first while you're doing your estimates, you'll reach full operational capability once you have a concise database of activities that will let you speed up the estimating process.

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