Getting Started with WinEst
Using WEI Commercial with Assemblies Item Database

Sample Exercise

Professional Cost Estimating and Budgeting
Things you need to know about WinEst

Pull Down Menus & Toolbars

WinEst allows customization of your Toolbars.

Here is an example: If you prefer a large, easy to see selection of Icons, Select Preferences from the Tools menu. Now select the Toolbar option from the displayed list of preferences. In the upper right hand corner of this prompt, under Style, change Images to Large.

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Toolbar Small Images with Short Text

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Toolbar Large Images with Text

WinEst has pull down menus for each of the following - File, Edit, View, Filters, Tables, Tools, Database, Reports, Custom, Window and Help. When the mouse is clicked on one of these menu items, a list drops down with the available commands for that menu. Scan the menus to see the features available in the WinEst program.

Help

Help is always available. You can select Contents or Search for help commands from the Help menu or press the F1 key to view help. To close the Help system, click on the X in the upper right hand corner.

Maneuvering about the System

WinEst has three main views which enable you to follow a structured method of building and reviewing your estimates. You can move from view to view at any time by clicking one of the corresponding toolbar buttons (Takeoff, Sheet or Totals) or by making selections from the View menu.

Takeoff

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This view is for adding items to your estimate from the price book Database. From here you can:
1. Lookup items from the database

Perform takeoff calculations

Assign a locations or Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) to items

Analyze the Item takeoff audit trail

Enter unique, one time items

Add notes to items

Access the calculator or drawings programs

Assign Quantities to selected items

Perform assembly takeoff (Adding many related items to the estimate at the same time)

Sheet

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This view is for analyzing and modifying the estimate. The Sheet is a spreadsheet. From here you can:
10. Alter information for an item across the categories

Reprice the estimate based on current pricing

Apply Adjustment factors based on Location

Apply City Cost Indexes to adjust pricing by location

Change an item’s description and takeoff quantity

Filter and sort your estimate with pre-designed or custom designed filters & reports

Add Item specific Notes and Memos

Make adjustments to virtually any item specific piece of information, such as pricing and productivity rates

View the Estimate with Net or Gross (Cost or Billable) values

This spreadsheet can have the column widths altered and filtered to show the information most appropriate for examining the costs including summary information. Display columns can be alternately added, deleted or hidden by clicking the right mouse button while on the column heading row. The column heading row contains each column text description.

Totals

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This view is for summarizing costs and adding costs not covered elsewhere, such as markups. From here you can:
19. See a dollar amount and percentage summary of the categories of work

Apply Net or Gross percentage (markup and margin), per hour, lump sum, allocated lump sum, and markups

Add Step Bonds

Add Taxes

View the total net costs, markups, and total costs for the job

A Sample Exercise

WinEst is well suited for using in a wide variety of applications. In terms of determining estimated costs, concepts are the same whether you are a general contractor on a commercial building project, an IT director configuring a wide area network or a project manager designing a nationwide cellular network. Wherever projects are constructed with labor and materials, WinEst can assist in determining the project’s final cost. For the purposes of this sample, we will be using a General Construction Price Book to demonstrate WinEst’s features and functionality. If you are not a general contractor, try to visualize how the concepts presented in the sample can fit your unique estimating requirements. WinEst has a wide variety of Standard Industry Price Book Databases available. Contact you WinEst Sales representative for information on the Price Book best suited to your needs.

Before you begin, start a new estimate by selecting New from the File menu (the Demo versions of WinEst do not allow you to Save Files)

Use EstInfo button off the toolbar to add basic information about this project and the customer

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Estimate Information window, Project tab, enter relevant information here

Takeoff [pic]

Start the sample estimate by adding items. This is referred to as Item Takeoff
1. Change to the Takeoff View by clicking on the Takeoff icon or by selecting Item Takeoff from the View menu

2. Click the Add button on the toolbar [pic]

The database browser appears, displaying the contents of the current price book using a 3 level breakdown. The browser shows the 3 levels (Division, Major Section & Minor Section). These groupings allow for quicker access to items based on the section they belong to. For example all concrete related items are found under Division 3000 Concrete. As you highlight combinations of Divisions, Major and Minor Sections, corresponding items display below.

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To add an item to your estimate, highlight it and click the Add Item button, or double-click on the item itself. Items that have been selected display in the Takeoff Items list box at the bottom of the screen. The icons to the left of the items are visual indicators of the costs related to the item: Labor, Materials, Equipment, Subcontractor, Other & User.

|Item Cost Icons |
|Category |Icon |Description |
|Labor | |Person |
|Materials | |Bricks |
|Equipment | |Truck |
|Subcontractor | |Hard Hat |
|Other | |Money Stack |
|User | |Coin |

To move through the contents of the database, click on the Division, followed by the Major and Minor Sections.

Database Browser

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Database Browser showing the 16 Division, CSI MasterFormat

Clicking on the Radio Button for the Hier4Level (2004 MasterFormat) option within the By section will display items in the CSI’s (newer) 2004 MasterFormat structure. WinEst databases typically use this for the 2004 Master Format

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Database Browser using the 4 Level Breakdown

To add an item to the estimate

Select the item with the mouse cursor > Double-Click on the item or highlight it and then click the Add Item button

1. For this sample exercise, select the following takeoff items: Minor Section Item Description

2212 – Rough Grading Rough Grade – Ditches/Swales

2222 – Excavation - Swale Excavation – 245 Crew

To add the items listed above: a) Find the first item by Selecting:

2000 Sitework (Division)

2200 Earthwork (Major Section)

2212 Rough Grading (Minor Section)

b) Highlight the item description and while it is highlighted, Double-Click or click the Add Item button.

c) Find the second item by Selecting:

2000 Sitework (Division)

2220 Excavation (Major Section)

2222 Excavation – Swale (Minor Section)

Adding Individual Items from the Database Price Book

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2. Click Accept > Close button found in the lower right hand corner. This will accept your selections and return you to the item takeoff view where WinEst has added the items into the estimate spreadsheet.

Calculating Item Quantities (Takeoff)

Each item has a formula assigned to it in the price book database. This formula appears while items are being added to the estimate. Each Formula has a set of questions which are used to calculate an item quantity. These are called dimensional variables. The first item you selected in the database browser Rough Grade – Ditches/Swales is now ready for a takeoff quantity. The cursor (blinking) is ready for numerical input of dimensional variable. In this case, there are 2 questions to determine the item’s quantity: Area to Rough Grade and Production sqyd/day.

• Type 8000 for Area to Rough Grade

• Type 500 for Production sqyd/day

• Press the Enter key. The cursor automatically moves to the Add Qty button. Press the Enter Key again.

o Notice: The first item in the spreadsheet now has a value. All costs related to that item have also been calculated. The total current estimated cost displays on the status bar at the lower left hand side of the window.

• Press the Next button to quantify the next item

Item Takeoff Screen

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Note: You can click into the Variable cells Area to Grade and Production sqyd/day again to enter more quantities for the same item if you wish. You can also enter values directly into the spreadsheet. Regardless of how the quantity value is generated (by formula or entered directly) WinEst keeps an audit history of every change made to every item. You can see the items history log by double-clicking in the items quantity cell or by selecting Item History from the View Menu.

Enter a value for the Excavation – 245 Crew: • Type 16 for Number of Days

• Press the Enter key. The cursor automatically moves to the Add Qty button. Press the Enter Key again.

Adding Assemblies to the Estimate (Groups of Related Items)

With WinEst you can also perform assembly takeoff. Using this method of takeoff WinEst enables you to add groups of related items into the estimate together, while calculating their quantities from a common set of dimensional questions. From the Takeoff window:

1. Click the Add button [pic]

2. Select Assemblies from the List box at the top left hand side of the database browser and in the By box, select Hierarchy. Hierarchy Structure for Assemblies is 2 level – System and Group

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3. Highlight the 3000 Concrete System, then 3320 Concrete Flatwork Group. Assemblies belonging to this group are listed in the section below

4. Select Slab on Grade – (Area) w/Rebar, 03322r. You may need to scroll down the item listing to find the correct item, dependent on your screen resolution

5. Either Double-Click or select the Add Item button to add the assembly

6. Select Variable Choices by tabbing or clicking through the variables and select the options you’d like

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7. When this Assembly was created, some of its items where defined as Pick items. This enables you to select alternate items during item takeoff, dependent on project specifications. You will be presented with item lists for each Pick Item. Select the gravel item that you want by highlighting it and clicking the Pick button in the bottom right hand corner of the window, or by Double-Clicking on the item itself. If no gravel is desired you could click the Skip button. Use this same method to select item specification for all remaining Pick Items that are presented, or click Accept Remaining Picks to accept the defaults for all items in the assembly.

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8. When all choices have been made, select the Finish button.

9. Once the Assembly appears in the Takeoff Items box, you can click the Accept button in the bottom right hand corner. This will bring the assembly and all of its related items into the estimate spreadsheet.

10. Click the Close Button and the Assembly Takeoff Browser will disappear

11. Input the following values into the variable input boxes for the assembly:

Area of Slab 1000 sqft

Depth of Concrete 4 in

Depth of Base Course 2 in

Length of Edge Form 4 lnft

Length of Construction Joint 100 lnft

Length of Control Joint 300 lnft

Length of Special Forms 12 lnft

Spacing of SOG Rebar 12 in

Number of Dowel Bars 20 each

Length of Dowel bars 12 lnft

Length of Misc Bars 18 lnft

Quantifying an Assembly

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12. After pressing the Add Qty button, quantities will be calculated for the items that are part of the Slab on Grade assembly. More takeoff passes can be performed to accumulate quantities for the assembly.

Using the Estimate Sheet View for Analysis

Now that you have generated the takeoff quantities, you can analyze the results using the estimate sheet view.
1. Click the Sheet button on the toolbar [pic]

2. Select Filters > More Estimate Filters, highlight the All Item Details filter > OK. If you selected different items during the pick selections, then those items will be in the estimate instead of the ones listed in the exercise

Sheet View – More Filters prompt

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Sheet View showing the All Details filter

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3. You will also see buttons in the toolbar that are set to display filters. For example, the Labor button will display the ‘Labor Items Only’ filter and the Material button will display only those items that have material costs. The Division Details button is set to display the’ Division Details filter’. Scroll across the estimate sheet by clicking the scroll bar arrows on the bottom of the screen.

Sheet View showing the Division Details filter

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You can adjust the width of any column by moving the mouse cursor over the column heading edge. The cursor changes shape to a double-ended arrow when the mouse cursor is placed on a column border. You can then click and drag the column to a new width. Some of the default Estimate Sheet filters in WinEst are:

|Filter |Description |
|All Item Details |Shows all of the columns available |
|Bill of Materials by Location |Shows columns for a bill of materials, broken down by location |
|Equipment Items Only |Shows the columns associated with equipment costs |
|Item Takeoff View |Shows the same columns as displayed in the Item Takeoff view |
|Materials Details by Location |Shows the detailed columns for materials, broken down by location |
|Materials Quote Sheets by Location |Displays the materials columns by location, formatted for a quote sheet to send to suppliers |
|Subcontractor Items Only |Shows the columns associated with subcontractor costs |
|Division - Summary |Shows the total columns for each major division |
|Location – Summary |Shows the totals columns for each item, broken down by location |
|Major Section - Summary |Shows the totals columns associated with each major section |
|Unit Prices |Shows the columns associated with the unit prices for each item |

Making Changes in the Estimate Sheet View

This section describes how to change items in the Estimate Sheet view

Changing the Description Name

1. Click the Labor button and click in the cell containing the description for the Rough Grade – Ditches/Swales

2. Type Cut & Fill 100 yard Haul

3. Press Enter

Changing Information in the Sheet View

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The item now has the new description you gave it. Descriptions can be up to 256 characters long.
To undo a change in a cell, select the Undo function from the Edit menu or by selecting the [pic] button. Try this on the description field, and try it a second time to see that you can undo an undo.

Changing the Labor Productivity

1. Select the Labor Prod (labor productivity) cell for the Cut & Fill 100 yard Haul item

2. Type 34

3. Press Enter

Values in the Labor Unit Price and Labor Hours for that item change in relation to the productivity change. As other Labor columns change, you will want to review those results too. Changes to the Equipment categories follow the same pattern as the labor categories.

Column relationships in WinEst are predefined, and therefore cannot be tampered with or accidentally broken. A change made in one column will always make the appropriate changes in other columns. This serves to maintain the overall estimate’s cost integrity.

Changing the Column Contents

Experiment with changing values in the estimate sheet and see how those changes affect the other columns

Every job must be analyzed in accordance to the specific factors that affect costs: • Time of year • Labor market considerations • Current material prices • Specific subcontractor bids and so on

It’s expected that you’ll need to change a variety of the default values. The default values that appear in the estimate sheet are copies of values set in the database. Any changes you make on the estimate sheet do not affect the original values stored in the database unless you reprice the database from the current estimate by selecting Database > Manage Item Database > Update Item Prices > From Current Estimate

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Tip: You can modify the default values inserted by the database to whatever values you use the most.

Reviewing the Detailed Audit Trail

Every action taken during an estimating session is recorded into a detailed item history. The item history for any item of work in the estimate can be reviewed by Double-Clicking in the takeoff quantity cell for the item or by highlighting the item and selecting Item History option from the View menu.
View the detailed item history for an item:

1. Select the takeoff quantity cell for one of the items in your assembly. Double-Click while the cursor is positioned in the takeoff quantity cell, or select Item History from the View menu

Item History

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3. To close the history dialog box, select the Close button found in the lower right hand corner

Filters (from the Sheet View) [pic]

Filters allow you to view your estimate detail in a variety of different ways. By allowing you to condition, sort & subtotal information, you can focus on specific areas of concern.

Look at the effect the filters have on the estimate Sheet view by clicking on Filters > More Estimate Filters > Select a filter that you would like to display and then OK and you are now looking at that particular estimate filter. Column widths are adjustable. Try adjusting the width of the columns so that they fit on the screen. When you switch from one filter to another, the program saves the column widths and any other changes that you’ve made to the filter. The CSI, Sections and Divisions summary filters display a summary of the total costs of the work by CSI sections and/or divisions. These filters allow you to quickly view the distribution of costs across the entire project. You may find these filters easiest to read if you change the widths of the columns to fit in a single screen width.

Custom Filters

WinEst has the capability to create and customize the filters to display the estimate spreadsheet according to your criteria

You can edit the spreadsheet in the following manner:
24. Select which columns display

Select the order that the columns display

Display data columns as well as cost information

Select the sort order of the estimate sheet

Filter items to display only certain cost categories

Change the column header names to your preferred names

Format column specifics such as decimal points, currency symbol … etc

Display detailed or summary information

Inserting Columns on the Spreadsheet

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1. Data contained in any specific filter can be adjusted on the fly. To add an additional column, select the column heading to the right of where you want the new column to reside. Depress the right mouse button and click Insert Filter Column to view the column options

2. A list containing all available columns will display - select one by either Highlighting > OK or Double-Clicking

Note: Columns can also be removed and/or hidden by selecting the column, Right-Clicking and selecting Delete Column or Hide.

Edit Modify & Fill Down

Large portions of the estimate may be modified at once by selecting a column or a range in a column and choosing either the Modify from the Edit menu or Fill Down from the right click menu. The Modify command allows you to make percentage changes, value additions, or value replacements within the selection. The Fill Down command copies the contents of the first cell into all of the other selected cells.

1. Click the Labor filter button on the toolbar

2. Click on the top of the Labor Prod column, selecting and highlighting the entire column

3. From the Edit menu > Modify or Right-Click and Modify. The Modify Cells dialog box appears. Select the Add Percentage option from the Method dropdown menu, check on Don’t Modify Empty Cells box and type 10 in the Value box

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4. Click OK

Notice that all of the selected Labor Prod values have been increased by 10%. This function can be used to completely replace any existing value(s), adjust an amount by a percentage (positive or negative) and add (or subtract) an amount.

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Viewing Totals for the Estimate

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The Totals page view gives you an overall summary of your estimate and lets you add markups, bonds, and other expenses that don’t fall into the work item categories.

To move to the totals page, click the Totals page button on the toolbar. The totals page view appears.

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The Percent and Amount columns on the left side of the screen show the distribution of the job’s costs. On the right side, the Hours column shows the total hours required to complete the job for labor and for equipment as estimated. In the example above, the Totals page view displays the estimate’s net costs based on the contents of the estimate Sheet view, and cannot be changed here. To make any changes, switch back to the Takeoff or Sheet view and alter the values of the individual work items to change the totals.

Adding Markups

You can add markups to your project costs by either adding them as a percentage of the net cost or as a lump sum. To work with markups, click the Edit Markups button on the toolbar. The Net Markups spreadsheet dialog box appears.

Select the Net icon on the tool bar [pic]

Click the Add button. You can either select an existing markup or select the New button. At the top of the window you can give the markup a name and indicate the percentage amount for the markup. You can restrict the markup to be based on a range of CSI numbers or to a particular category (Labor, Materials, Equipment, Subs, Other or User). Once you have clicked on the OK button, the net markup will be saved, the Edit Estimate Net Markup dialog box will disappear and you will return to the Edit Estimate Net Markups spreadsheet dialog box. You can repeat this process to add, delete, and change net markups. You can also use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to reorder the net markups. Once you have completed adding your net markups, click OK and the name(s) of the markup(s) appear beneath the Net Costs row in the Totals page view. The value of the markup is automatically added to the Subtotal and Total Bid entries.

As an example, create a new markup named Overhead based on 12% of the net costs:
1. From the Totals page view, click the Net icon on the toolbar [pic]. The Edit Estimate Net Markups spreadsheet dialog box appears

2. Click Add > New to add a new markup to this estimate

3. In the Markup Name box, input Overhead

4. Adjust the Type list to show Percent. In the Markup Value box, type 12

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5. If no category (Labor, Material, Equipment, Subcontractor, Other or User) is selected in the Restrict Markup To section, the markup will calculate its total based on all cost categories.

6. Click OK

7. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to your Totals page view. WinEst will add the Overhead markup to the totals page and add 12% to the Subtotal and Total Bid prices. You can see that when a markup is created, it is placed on the totals page view in the appropriate location on the sheet.

Tip: You can Double-Click on the name of a markup to redisplay the Edit Markups dialog box for that particular markup.

Adding Bonds

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You can add bond costs to your estimate easily and quickly. Bond costs are based on a series of step calculations, using the subtotal value on the totals page as the project cost. Use the Edit Bonds dialog box to add up to 10 Bonds to each estimate.

As an example, create a new bond for guaranteeing performance

1. From the Totals page view, click the Bonds button on the toolbar. The Edit Estimate Bonds spreadsheet appears

2. Click on the Add button. The Edit Estimate Bond prompt appears

3. In the Bond Name box, type Step Bond

4. In the Bond Step Calculation grid, add the step calculations for the bond. Type the highest number in each percentage range in the Amount boxes, and the related percentages in the adjacent Percentage boxes. For this example, use the step calculations listed here:

Bond Dialog Box

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5. Click OK twice to exit the Step Bond screen. WinEst will add the new Bond beneath the Subtotal row on the Totals Page view, and adds the bond cost to the Total Bid value.

Totals Page

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Note: Like all Data Views in WinEst, the presentation of data on the totals page is customizable.

Viewing Reports with Print Preview

Now that you’ve completed the basic process involved in preparing an estimate in WinEst Pro Plus, you will want to evaluate the reporting process.

There are 3 types of reports in WinEst:
1. Pre-built reports found listed on the Reports menu

2. Standard filters and user created filters

3. Custom Reports pulling information from WinEst, available from Reports menu

Prebuilt and Filter report types use the Print Style options to custom headers, footers, font styles, page orientation, margins and printing options.

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The main difference is that the reports from the menu are prebuilt and complex and the filters are user definable and sort and arrange the estimate data according to your layouts. If you are evaluating the Free Trial Software (downloaded from our website) printing is disabled, but you will be able to print preview your reports. Custom Reports are found on the Report > Custom Reports menu. They use exterior products such as MS Word or Internet Explorer to print.

To Preview a Filter Report:

1. Click on the Estimate Sheet Button

2. Select the Division Details button

3. Select Print Preview from the File menu or select the Preview button

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You can zoom in on the picture by placing the cursor over the text portion of the preview and clicking. Also the various options to customize the report can be accessed via the Style button on the Print Preview toolbar.

To change the Print Page Setup options from the preview screen:

1. Select Style button from the preview mode

2. Make any changes desired to the report

4. Click OK to return to the print preview to review the changes

The Sample Exercise ends here

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The remaining portion of this document is informational and doesn’t require input

Virtual Takeoff

Taking Off Quantities from Electronic Plans

(This section is an example and not part of the sample exercise)

With the addition of the WinEst Virtual Takeoff module, you can takeoff quantities directly from electronic plans. The assembly example in this sample exercise required that you manually enter the area of the concrete slab in order to determine the total cubic yardage for concrete and the corresponding amount of required rebar. This approach would be complicated when working with irregular shaped slabs. The following example shows how this would be done using Virtual Takeoff to calculate the area.

WinEst Virtual Takeoff supports a wide variety of commercially available image formats:

.Dwg (AutoCAD R9 to 2008)
.Pdf (Adobe Format - support both vector and rastor graphics)
.Tif (Tagged Image Format)
.BMP (Bitmap)
.jpg (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
.png (Portable Network Graphics)
.gif (Graphic Interchange Format)
.pln (Dodge Plan)
.Cal (US Government Standard)
.mil
.cg4
.gp4
.rst
.dxf (AutoCAD)
.pxt
An Assembly would be added to the estimate in the same way as before.

Click the Add button on the Takeoff View [pic]

The Database Browser

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Once the desired Assembly has been selected into the Takeoff List box, it is added to the estimate by clicking the Accept and Close buttons

The Takeoff View

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As you can see, the first dimensional variable at the top of the Calculate Takeoff Quantity screen is Area of Slab. This variable is looking for the square feet in the assembly. In the Sample exercise just completed, you manually entered the Area of Slab. In this example we will get the Area of Slab from an electronic image of the drawing. To do this we first highlight the Assembly Header line and click the Digi button at the top of the screen

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Virtual Takeoff Drawing Setup

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When beginning an estimate, you are presented with this setup screen for the first image used. Here you define the drawing and layer name as well as the path to the Image from which you will be retrieving dimensional information. [pic]

Plan Sheet Navigational Thumbnail

By clicking on all of the corners in the selected slab or by clicking around irregular shapes, Virtual Takeoff calculates the area that the shape represents. Virtual Takeoff can also calculate item counts, lengths and perimeters.

Clicking the Add button, then closing the on-screen takeoff window, sends the resulting Takeoff Quantity to the Estimate Spread Sheet.

The Takeoff View

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Optional Digitizer Takeoff
(Getting Dimensional values from Paper Plans)

The Virtual Takeoff module includes the ability to use a digitizer board

Call for Information on the capabilities of the digitizer takeoff software option to WinEst:

32. Printing the takeoff graphics

How Takeoff Pro for Windows uses colors

Generation of a custom scale for a set of plans

Select count symbols for each takeoff

Recall perimeters from an area takeoff

Add items from the database without leaving the takeoff screen

For More Information

Thank you for taking the time to review WinEst Pro Plus, the construction estimating software for Windows. The features shown here are only some of the ones available in the complete product.

For more information about purchasing our best selling software
Please call 1-800-950-2374 or
Visit www.WinEst.com