Assessing Industry Estimating Software Utilization Practices to Improve Construction Education

8 pages•Published: May 15, 2022

Abstract

Estimating is an essential part of any construction firm and a core subject in construction management education. Construction faculty should make every effort to align their courses with the needs of industry. A survey was completed by members of the American Society of Professional Estimators and the McWhorter School of Building Science Industry Advisory Council to determine what software was most prevalently utilized in industry for material quantification and cost estimating. A total of 186 practitioners responded to the survey. On-Screen Takeoff and Bluebeam were found to be the most commonly used software for material quantification and Microsoft Excel for cost estimating. Most respondents did not utilize BIM for material quantification but did consider that functionality as valuable when assessing new software. The results of the survey built on similar previous research both of industry and academic practices. Specific differences in the research findings are highlighted, and recommendations for construction faculty are provided. Future research should seek to understand software utilization by construction estimating faculty to compare with industry practices.

Keyphrases: construction education, estimating, software

In: Tom Leathem, Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud (editors). ASC2022. 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference, vol 3, pages 552-559.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/SdKP
	https://doi.org/10.29007/pp26

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2022:Assessing_Industry_Estimating_Software,
  author    = {Wesley Collins and Lauren Redden},
  title     = {Assessing Industry Estimating Software Utilization Practices to Improve Construction Education},
  booktitle = {ASC2022. 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference},
  editor    = {Tom Leathem and Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {3},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/SdKP},
  doi       = {10.29007/pp26},
  pages     = {552-559},
  year      = {2022}}

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