Latest News

EstimatorXpress 2017 allows builders to be able to keep on top of all material price increases and make sure any inflationary pressure on their profit margin is accounted for.

Staying on top of material price increases

Price increases can be a real hassle for workers in the construction industry. Continuously reviewing prices and calling up merchants. Or having to repeatedly convince clients that the cost of materials have in fact gone up again. Figures from one merchant alone last autumn showed increases in the prices for drainage of 8%, worktops of 5 % and 2 – 5 % on damp proof membranes.

This followed other increases where the cost of bricks were up by 13 %, concrete lintels up by 10 %, engineering bricks up a massive 30 % and blocks up 13 %.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics taken from October 2015 painted a similar picture with bricks costing 5.5 % more than a year ago and pre cast blocks and bricks up 4.9 %.

With EstimatorXpress builders can ease some this pressure by live updating prices over the internet using our exclusive ‘Price Tracker’. Builders can use the intelligent software to draw live prices from a range of builders’ merchants automatically, ensuring any changes in the market are reflected in the 100% accurate estimates.

No more ringing merchant’s, estimating with old prices or having to convince clients when builders can demonstrate how prices are automatically updated live.

Estimating with future prices and inflation

The Software also allows builders to accurately estimate for future projects. Users can estimate confidently knowing they have a quote that is representative of the prices at the time of build. This allows builders to line up work to follow current projects which is an essential to running a profitable building firm.

The latest building materials and components report

Supporting these figures, the latest material prices show increases from June 2016 to July 2016. In this month we can see a material price increases for all main categories of work with ‘New Housing’ rising 0.6%, ‘Other New Work’ 0.2%, ‘Repair & Maintenance’ 0.6% and the ‘All Work’ average rising 0.3%. Blocks, bricks, tiles and flagstones was one of the categories to experience the greatest year-on-year increase of 4.5%. Other significant rises were in electric water heaters 4.9% and pre-cast concrete products 3.7%.

How estimating software that accommodates market changes saves builders money

Not only does EstimatorXpress help builders protect their profit margin against material price increases through live updates over the internet but it also factors in wear & tear, wastage and inflation. All these aspects may initially seem like small things. But, they add up and it makes it a lot less painful when replacing an expensive power tool!

EstimatorXpress 2017 – even faster and easier to use

We have upgraded this latest edition to enable users to access estimates faster than ever before. And we expect it will slash further the time it takes to put quotes together.

Joanna Mulgrew, product development director at HBXL said: “Believe it or not we’ve made the best estimating software even better and faster. There’s a new navigation menu bar for even easier access and quick navigation between workbooks. The New Estimating Wizard remembers preferences and pre-populates to save users time estimating on subsequent estimates – very useful for companies that often have similar jobs! AND we’ve added yet another automated ability to further reduce the effort and typing required by builders with automatically named workbooks and worksheets, saving builders and developers even more time spent estimating.

Try it free today!

We are giving away 30 day free trials for anyone interested. All you have to do is fill in a quick 30 second form. Then one of our team will walk you through the rest. We’ll even helping you install and get started with a live 1-2-1 demo should you want it. Follow the link or give us a call on 0117 9167 898. We look forward to hearing from you!