I am not familiar with the programs you mentioned, but here is my 2 cents. What you choose should be a good match for your business – how detailed you like to be, how much control you want over the method and assumptions used by your bidding program. In our case, we use 2 programs. The first --for new construction – is based number of “openings” in the plan. You just count the number of lights, plugs, switches, etc. and it uses a set of factors to estimate man hours and materials. Based on that, it computes an estimated cost for the job. You then can apply a profit target and you have your bid. Nothing wrong with that approach for small to mid size tract homes, but you need to be confident that the factors it uses to estimate labor and materials are realistic for your operation. It usually does not work well for custom homes since there are usually a lot of changes and add on extras. The second program we use if for Service and Remodel jobs. Here you look at the job and estimate how much labor and specific materials you will use for each part of the job. The program then calculates the estimate based on the prices of materials used and labor rates you need to charge to make a profit.
Hope this helps… VinceR
