How To Upload a Digital Construction Blueprint

 To upload your digital files simply browse to your files or drag and drop the items onto the page. You can upload many digital file formats such as PDF, Jpeg, PNG and many more. When done select the Continue Button. Once your files are uploaded you will be able to start your takeoff. To see the status of the files uploaded, simply select the status button at the top. To learn more. Visit www.squaretakeoff.com

Importance Of Industry Trade Shows

Whether you’re an architect, a project manager, or a general contractor, business-to-business trade shows and conferences are one of the best resources available to you. With events all year round and in cities across the U.S. there are any number of shows suitable to your business and needs.

Exhibitors incur a great expense because there is great value in getting in front of their customers. However, there is also a great value in a being an attendee. Trade shows are the main stage where suppliers and customers come together to discuss the future of your business. They are among the best resources for discovering, sourcing, and comparing new products and services, and have become a key element in the purchasing process.

As an attendee, YOU are the reason exhibitors are there. With sometimes hundreds of companies exhibiting and vying for your attention, you control how you navigate your way through the myriad of products and services. Trade shows can also help develop greater confidence in your purchasing power.  Specifications can sometimes be a challenge, trade shows offer the opportunity to test drive many of the products and services that you need for your business so that you become more comfortable with investments. They also include seminars, panels, and workshops in their calendar of events. These are great tools for really honing in on a specific topics or services that are relevant and may lead you to new ways of thinking about your business.

As with any business, relationships are an important factor to building and growing and there is no better platform for networking than a trade show. You can rub elbows with suppliers to learn about what’s hot and what’s not, see what your competition is up to, become acquainted with new companies that can offer something you didn’t know you needed, meet colleagues and/or potential new customers, and just connect personally with others in your industry.

Lastly, trade shows can be a lot of fun. There will be a lot of energy buzzing around you as well as chances to cut loose and mingle with business associates. As you end your day walking the exhibition floor, you can look forward to attending dinner parties and use that time to strike up long and meaningful conversations without the hustle and the bustle of the show itself.

What I’ve covered so far is just the tip of the trade show iceberg. Much of your success will come with experience as an attendee as you become more familiar with the benefits of trade shows and how they apply to you. Of course you must consider the cost and time of attending these shows (ie: time away from the office, airfare, accommodations, food, and registration fees), but my goal here isn’t to discourage you but rather to share with you why attending these shows is worth your time and effort!

How to Start a New Project

To get started, simply select the Create New Project Button within the Bid Management section of Square Takeoff.

Once selected a menu will appear.

Within this menu you can enter and select multiple values

Such as the Company that the takeoff will be completed for. This can either be your company or a company you may be completing work for. To add new companies simple select System Tables and then Company Master to add additional companies to you system.

Next you will select the User that will be completing the project

You can now enter the project name you would like to use for this project.

Next you can Rate this Project based on the importance of the project.

Once you have selected a rating for the project you can now select the status of the project.

For Example you can select New when creating a new project and then select Bid Submitted once you have submitted the bid.

Throughout the different phases of the project you will be able to update the status as needed.

Next you will select a Project Bid Due Date and Project Start Date

Next you will enter the information for this project such as the Contact Name, Phone Number, Email and Address that the Project is located at.

In the next section you will enter the items that are required to complete the project.

Such as the Unit of Measure for Completing the Online Takeoff.

The color you would like to assign to the project.

The Total Estimated Value of the Entire Project and the Total Estimated Value of the Bid you are submitting.

Next select the currency value and lastly enter any notes that need to be included in the project.

Once completed select the Save Button to continue.

Next you will upload the digital blueprints you need for your project by selecting the project on the project calendar and then selecting the Green Start Takeoff button.

To learn more visit www.squaretakeoff.com

What is Construction Online Takeoff Software?

Completing a construction takeoff is not a new thing. Since before Roman time’s people have been calculating by hand a total area of a space or how long of distance they need so they can calculate how much material to build their structure. There have been many tools to calculate these items and all have been successful in the task, but thanks to technology, the latest and greatest tool to complete this process has, like past methods, once again helped to improve on the speed and accuracy it takes to complete a construction takeoff.

Just like the past, completing a construction takeoff requires you to use a blueprint but thanks to being digital you do not have to worry about all the cost associated with printing, and handling of paper. Most of today’s takeoff software allows you to work with many digital formats, such as, PDF, JPEG, TIFF and BMP files to name a few. Once you load your digital blueprint into the online takeoff™ software, you will need to set the scale of the plan. You just select a dimension line or know measurement and enter it into the software with a few simply clicks you are scaled and ready to do your online takeoff.

Some of the other benefits that come with taking advantage of today’s software it being able to stop at any point throughout your takeoff and pick up right where you left off. We all know that this has happened, you get very involved with your takeoff and suddenly the phone rings and you have to step away for a moment. Well in the past, you would have had to come back to your paper plan and yellow notepad and have to try to remember where you left off. Well not now, just remember if it is colored, it is measured. No more headache.

Another great benefit is simply being able to share you takeoff with others that might not be in your office. How many times in the past, when doing a takeoff by hand, would you need to share what was taken off with someone that was at the jobsite and not in the office? Normally this would cause you to have to pack up your plans and your trusty yellow notepads and head out to the jobsite. Not anymore, you can now instantly share the job to someone and they can view it from their laptop or mobile device in the field. This helps save on the gas you would have used to get there, but above all, it saves on time, and as we all know time is money.

If you have not tried one of today’s leading solutions for completing takeoffs, don’t worry it is not too late. There are many out there on the market today and each one has many different features to help you save that time and money on your next project. Some of those products such as Square Takeoff™, even offer a 14-day free trial. Square Takeoff also works on a Mac computer and any mobile device and offers along with its cutting edge web based online takeoff solution an easy to use bid management and project share solution, improving project collaboration between all phases of construction. 

So what is there to lose other than the headache of paper? Why not give it a try and visit www.squaretakeoff.com/sign-up today.