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EstimatorXpress 2024 and PlansXpress 2024 have arrived – and the timing is perfect. Our job is to provide software that reflects the kind of work our users are taking on. Renovations, retrofitting, house multiple occupancy (HMOs) are significantly on the rise. And we’re making sure builders are equipped with 100% accurate estimates. Whether you’re installing fire doors, fire alarms or escape ladders, we have costs for both the materials and the labour. The same goes for demolition, tile removal, retrofitting insulation…

Other calculators of note? Flitch beam, windpost and radon sump system. Then there’s the new-look materials, labour and plant report. The Universal Windows in PlansXpress. Your customers are going to love it.

In EstimatorXpress we’re going to look at Universal Windows, plus the new estimating calculators, the updated calculators and the new-look quotation, plus Universal Windows in PlansXpress and the 12 new drawable items.

So let’s get into the detail.

EstimatorXpress 2024

Where do we begin? In no order of priority, here we go.

Universal Windows

Why ‘universal’? It’s our way of saying infinite choice. Because that’s what you get with the new window library the team have introduced. It’s amazing. All kinds and any size of windows whether replacement or brand new, including PVCu, Aluminium, Softwood and Hardwood.

We’re not only talking about metric sizing either. You’ll know that pre-1965 properties were built with imperial bricks. It can make replacing windows trickier; particularly when it comes to pricing them. But that’s not a problem if you’re using the latest edition of EstimatorXpress. Whatever the aperture, the software can handle it – it’s ready for those awkward imperial sized openings. (Of course, the same precision is there for metric brick extensions and new builds). And it doesn’t matter how the windows open or how they fold in, the software can handle them.

I’ve included an image further down the page of the Window Configurator in PlansXpress 2024, which is effectively the same as the one in EstimatorXpress 2024. It gives you a sense of the options available to you. Basically, costing windows has become ridiculously easy.

New renovation and retrofit estimating calculators

EstimatorXpress already has a huge library of calculators, we must be into the 700s now. And we’re always adding more. A lot of calculator suggestions come from users, which we encourage. The HBXL Estimating Service use the software to produce their estimates. And naturally, they too give the developers valuable feedback. The new renovation and retrofit calculators are the product of those discussions.

20 new estimating calculators:

• Flitch Beam
• Window (to New Wall)
• Window to Existing Wall
• Fire Protection Consumables
• Fire Alarm System
• Radon Sump System
• Windpost
• Complete Room Removal of Wall Tiles
• Complete Room Wall Tiling
• Retrofit Timber Floor Insulation
• Fire Door FD60
• Fire Door FD60 to Existing Wall
• Retrofit Loft Insulation
• Brickwork Repair
• Floor Demolition
• Joinery Demolition
• Roof Demolition
• Double Fire Door FD60
• Double Fire Door FD60 to Existing Wall
• Removal of Floor Screed.

And here are just three screen shots to whet your appetite.

16 existing estimating calculators – updated and improved:

• Drain Runs
• Sundry Plant
• Suspended Floor
• Suspended Timber Ground Floor
• Universal Suspended Floor
• Universal Suspended Timber Ground Floor
• Fire Door
• Fire Door to Existing Wall
• Beam & Block floor
• Beam and Block Floor for Extensions
• Universal Beam and Block Floor
• Double Fire Door
• Double Fire Door to Existing Wall
• Floor Screed to Extensions
• Floor Screed to Existing slab
• Floor Screed.

And there’s more:

• New library of provisional sums, to allow you to save common provisional sums that you may use from job to job
• Ability to order your own estimating calculators within the ‘My Estimating Calculators’ dropdown on the ribbon toolbar
• Option to upload the new ‘Schedule of Works’ quote document to BuildProjex, to share it with your customer, or other stakeholders in the project
• 5 new ‘Roof Tiling’ mini-specs – for different sized slates or to omit roof tiling altogether
• Additional plastering mini-specs within the wall estimating calculators.

New look quotation

The customer quotation has been completely restyled and it looks great. You have different styles of the report to choose from.

PlansXpress 2024

Whether you’re drawing from scratch or tracing an existing drawing to amend or cost in EstimatorXpress, you’ll benefit from the PlansXpress 2024 update.

Universal Windows

The windows I mentioned earlier, are all available in PlansXpress 2024. And as promised here’s a glimpse of what the window configurator looks like with the new additions. You can now draw any size in endless styles of openings including Aluminium, PVCu, Softwood and Hardwood, which appear beautifully in elevation and 3D! And can then be priced up in EstimatorXpress 2024.

And in line with the renovation and retrofit work completed in EstimatorXpress we now have new drawable items in PlansXpress 2024.

12 new drawable items

• Flitch Beam
• Window (to New Wall)
• Window to Existing Wall
• Fire Protection Consumables
• Fire Alarm System
• Windpost
• Retrofit Timber Floor Insulation
• Fire Door FD60
• Fire Door FD60 to Existing Wall
• Double Fire Door FD60
• Double Fire Door FD60 to Existing Wall
• Removal of Floor Screed.

What next?

Haven’t got these software tools yet? Try them for free. You can buy or subscribe to EstimatorXpress 2024 here and PlansXpress 2024 here. If you have the software and your Support & Updates is up-to-date then just download the updates via the user zone. If you need to renew or upgrade in order to receive these updates (and all previous ones) call the Customer Success Team on 0117 916 7892 or make your payment online.