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RSMeans Data Online Logo

Estimating software for the construction industry

RSMeans Data Online Reviews - Page 7

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303 reviews

Recommended

GB
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Guy B.

Construction, 1-10 employees

Used weekly for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

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Very handy

Reviewed 5 years ago

Very helpful

Pros

Helps me get a quote quick. Very close to cost on most projects if inputs are done right

Cons

Mostly east coast language. A little hard to find some costs

KO
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Kent O.

Accounting, 1-10 employees

Used weekly for 2+ years

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Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

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Comprehensive and separates material from labor cost

Reviewed 5 years ago

Reliable cost estimates in tax/accounting environment.

Pros

Provides Comprehensive data, and separates material from labor cost.

Cons

There could possibly be more cost models.

KS
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Keith S.

Civil Engineering, 51-200 employees

Used monthly for less than 6 months

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Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend8/10

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Covers mojority of cost estimating needs in an easy format

Reviewed 5 years ago

Overall we are happy to use RS Means online to perform quick, efficient cost estimates for our projects, and we have grown accustomed to making some overrides on unit costs where we know they differ from the local averages. The speed that this offers to estimate costs to get order-of-magnitude ideas of construction costs is well worth the cost of the subscription. Doing these by hand or with a printed RS Mean Book is slower and more costly to do, so we prefer the online format.

Pros

Pros: The ability to search pay items is quick and simple. The budget builder is easy to use and exports a nice format that we can use on our summary reports

Cons

Cons: Not all items we would hope to find are in the pay items, so we have to get creative with some of the item costs. Some of the costs seem to be orders of magnitude different that actual industry averages, so we over-write some of the costs that we find. The format for tracking the total cost of an item is complicated. Sometimes labor, equipment, consumables, goods, overhead and profit are broken out separately, and sometimes they are lumped together, so it is hard to have a consistent format when different items are displayed differently.

HT
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Howard T.

Government Administration, 1,001-5,000 employees

Used weekly for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend7/10

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Means Costworks Evaluation

Reviewed 5 years ago

Customer service is good.

Pros

Being able to assemble an itemized cost estimate on the computer.

Cons

The pricing structure for group use is excessive.

SP
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Shawn P.

Architecture & Planning, 201-500 employees

Used monthly for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend7/10

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The pros and cons of RSMeans Online

Reviewed 6 years ago

It has been a great tool to talk with clients in real-time about design options and their affect on the bottom line. In the past this has been an issue with alot of mistrust around it and being able to show validated third party costs has added credibility to costing work.

Pros

The best parts of this software is that availability to access it anywhere I am. Its been great to be able to show clients a third party cost and the relative effect of different scenarios in realtime.

Cons

It can run slow at times and its not intuitive to non-technical users.

AM
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Angel M.

Construction, 51-200 employees

Used weekly for 1-2 years

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Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

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Great tool for estimating.

Reviewed 3 years ago

We use it to reference data on all our bids. Will continue to use the service.

Pros

Very helpful when trying to price out projects. Usually its dead on.

Cons

We are do a lot of drywall finishing and Black Iron for ceiling support, and there are not much details for pricing labor.

MN
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Marissa N.

Construction, 1-10 employees

Used weekly for 6-12 months

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Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend9/10

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Overall a good product

Reviewed 5 years ago

Overall it brings value to me and our company so I will continue to use it just wish it was slightly more user friendly.

Pros

I like that I am able to price our jobs reasonably based on the recommendations from the program.

Cons

I wish you were able to add your favorites to your estimates, if you can do that I haven't figured out how. I also wish you could select if you want just labor instead of labor and materials. Then I have to click on each line item and figure it out myself.

DT
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David T.

Building Materials, 1-10 employees

Used weekly for 2+ years

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Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

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Great tool

Reviewed 5 years ago
Pros

Easy to use very accurate very deep data base

Cons

The annual fees are a little expensif but, in the end, worth it for us.

HU
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Haresh U.

Design, 1-10 employees

Used weekly for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend7/10

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Data

Reviewed 5 years ago

Great Experience

Pros

Have plenty of data and information for all disciplines.

Cons

Not covered all items and broken down to find them easily.

SG
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Stéphane G.

Construction, 11-50 employees

Used weekly for 6-12 months

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend9/10

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Base de données

Reviewed 3 years ago
Pros

Base de données complète permettant de se situer et d'estimer des coûts détaillés.

Cons

Une bonne calibration est nécessaire avant l'utilisation du produit. Vous devez vous assurer de suivre les coûts du marchés et les réalités de votre secteur et en faire l'ajustement le plus souvent possible.

Showing original review in French. See translation

Vendor response

Hello Stéphane - Thank you for taking the time to submit feedback of your experience with RSMeans Data Online.

RN
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Robert N.

Construction, 11-50 employees

Used weekly for 1-2 years

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Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

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Great Functionality

Reviewed 5 years ago
Pros

This software is easy to use and accessible via the internet so it makes it easy to work with.

Cons

This has a large amount of items that can be cumbersome to find. It would be helpful to have a favorites button to quickly access regularly used items.

TV
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Thomas V.

Construction, 1-10 employees

Used weekly for 6-12 months

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend8/10

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Easiest, fastest program

Reviewed 5 years ago

A benefit i obtained s the city regional based data.

Pros

I like the many options presented to develop a comprehensive estimate. Customer Service is the best I had encountered with any cost related company. The could based software is second to none.

Cons

There are really no cons that I encountered utilizing this software.

AE
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Akhilesh E.

Utilities, 11-50 employees

Used monthly for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

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Very Easy to use and Amazing Historical Index

Reviewed 5 years ago

I work on developing population level technical papers and their historical cost index is amazing to estimate the change of cost over the years.

Pros

It is so easy to use. Any first timer can easily figure this out. The industry trust this source and hence one does not need to worry about justifying.

Cons

I had a small hiccup in transitioning from one email account to other. However, the team was pretty responsive in resolving this

CI
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Carla I.

Architecture & Planning, self-employed

Used other for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend9/10

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Great Value

Reviewed 6 years ago
Pros

Ease of use. Current pricing. Great descriptions.

Cons

Nothing, quite honestly. I would love it to be a little more affordable.

AK
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Aubree K.

Construction, 1-10 employees

Used other for less than 6 months

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support

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Outdated Software & User-ability

Reviewed 6 years ago
Pros

Nothing. I have used the printed cost guide manuals in the past- the way the software was "pitched" thought it would be great but you can find better data on Angie's List, etc.

Cons

The new program said that it also includes "remodel/rehab" data not just new build. However, the amount of info you have to enter just to price cabinets for example, makes it too time consuming and worst part- it'a not accurate. Online data for free is more useful. Save yourself time and money and use online data and throw your logo onto a word doc to create a bid. I've also used the online chat feature for help and was only told to "go look on the website" etc- very disappointed. Buyer beware- very expensive and they must know their limitations because there are no refunds- so it's a literal trap.

TC
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Todd C.

Construction, 1,001-5,000 employees

Used monthly for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend7/10

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RSMEANS online!

Reviewed 7 years ago

Great tool for estimators, especially for commercial construction

Pros

This is very handy while in a bind estimating. We use this all the time to check our work, crazy estimates and shore up the numbers we need. Done with the book.

Cons

It actually could be a little more user friendly but I never loved the format of the book either. They basically mimicked it. I actually have needed to call ahotline for help and they answered my question right away.

SE
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Stephen E.

Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 1-10 employees

Used weekly for 1-2 years

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Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

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Great overall product!

Reviewed 5 years ago
Pros

RSMeans is an industry accepted tool for estimating project costs. Using RSMeans has increased the legitimacy of our project quotes.

Cons

There is a lot of information and can be difficult to navigate for beginners to the software.

kC
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kathleen C.

Construction, 5,001-10,000 employees

Used monthly for 2+ years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend9/10

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RSMeans Data for cost trends by locale

Reviewed 5 years ago

The data provided is very useful especially when creating a job estimate. If you are looking to get a large set of data over multiple geographies it can be difficult. Not sure if this customer segment has been considered.

Pros

I appreciate how granular the data gets and output is easy to understand.

Cons

First timers might struggle with how to create an estimate and update it over time. Price per square foot and reference charts would be good if more easily extracted (not PDF)

MK
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MICHAEL K.

Architecture & Planning, 1-10 employees

Used other for 1-2 years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend7/10

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Worth a Try

Reviewed 6 years ago

Other on-line packages may provide more detail. The Square Footage Estimator is limited, but it is nice having access to the tables and historical information so I can prepare reasonably accurate comps.

Pros

Access to documents and tables 24-7-365.

Cons

Limited construction systems available in square footage data.

NS
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Nathan S.

Facilities Services, 1,001-5,000 employees

Used weekly for 1-2 years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend5/10

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Cost is high for what you get.

Reviewed 5 years ago
Pros

It is easily accessible and you can build an estimate in the system.

Cons

There are a lot of missing items that I need pricing on. Also the reports are not near as helpful as they could be for a system like this.

JG
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Joel G.

Construction, 51-200 employees

Used weekly for 1-2 years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend10/10

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Excellent Up to date data

Reviewed 6 years ago

Easy to you and fairly straight forward.

Pros

It's great that the data is always current and easily accessible by our users on the road

Cons

would like if the SQFT building cost calculator was a little more detailed in it's cost.

HS
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Henry S.

Construction, 11-50 employees

Used weekly for 1-2 years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend8/10

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Great for finding projects but expensive

Reviewed 5 years ago

Looking for projects to bid and getting documents

Pros

It had many projects and it's easy to use. You can get bid documents and contact the owners.

Cons

It's very expensive especially if you are looking at jobs in multile states

SW
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Samantha W.

Design, 201-500 employees

Used other for 1-2 years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend9/10

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LDG Review

Reviewed 5 years ago
Pros

The fact that it is software and it keeps from having another book laying around.

Cons

Having to pay full price for a second license/user account. There should be a reduced rate for a company that wants to purchase more than one license/user account.

jd
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john-david c.

Design, 1-10 employees

Used monthly for less than 6 months

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend4/10

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Trouble after trouble

Reviewed 7 years ago

I think this will get worked out and be a good product in the end but be ready for a lengthy and confusing purchasing experience.

Pros

It has the best cost data available. No one else that I can find has nearly the level of information as RSMeans.

Cons

It is impossible to get the thing to work and I believe it is due to how piecemealed the company runs itself and parcels out info. You should be able to keep you cost data and not lose it after the year like the books. Figuring out what I was actually getting was confusing. The online trial program was full of errors, The check out sequence was full of delays and errors, after finally purchasing it actually deleted my account on its own and still is unfixed. Customer service isn't open to help on the weekend. I tried to order the paper book overnight but it was delayed. They keep them all stored in one location apparently in lieu of regional. Just a frustrating experience overall. their price framing is bad as it leads you to believe the product is one price but the actual price is 2.5x higher for something that will actually function for real estimating.

JL
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Jon L.

Architecture & Planning, 51-200 employees

Used monthly for 1-2 years

Review source

Overall Rating
  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Features
  • Customer support
  • Likelihood to recommend8/10

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Good product for online cost estimating

Reviewed 3 years ago

Online cost estimating has allowed me to save estimates, and come back to update them.

Pros

Ability to create estimates based on assemblies, components, or square footage, using up-to-date data

Cons

Lacking "help" functionality (or it's limited or difficult to find).

Vendor response

Hi Jon - Thanks for providing your feedback. The Online Help Center and Reference Items tab located in the account drop-down menu are great resources and have a lot of information. If you aren't able to find what you need there, please reach out to our customer support team.