Thousands of contractors across North America use FastEST, Inc.’s award-winning estimating software to help them bid more jobs, win more jobs, and improve their company’s bottom line. Below is a list of just a few of the countless ways that estimators, project managers, and many others use the FastDUCT® program for estimating HVAC and industrial ductwork and sheet metal.
Import of Digital Plans Directly into Programs: Nowadays, most projects up for bid are procured via digital plan files. With FastEST’s programs, users can easily import these plans for takeoff right on their computer screen, bypassing the cumbersome process of printing or checking out a set of plans to then do manual measurements and takeoff. Some customers have completely offset the cost of their estimating software, with the savings they’ve gained (both in time and money) in no longer having to print off plans solely for the estimating process.
Full Database Included with Program: FastDUCT®, along with FastEST’s other programs — FastPIPE® (for estimating
all types of piping from mechanical to plumbing to process piping and more), and FastWRAPTM (for estimating mechanical piping, ductwork, and industrial insulation) – all come fully loaded with a comprehensive database that includes material costs and labor hours for catalog items. Many competing software products require an additional third-party subscription for material pricing, or require cumbersome, upfront catalog setup, to add various materials to the program prior to using the system.
Copy/Paste of Plan Markups: With the on-screen takeoff process mentioned above, items like ductwork, fittings, dampers, equipment and so on can be easily highlighted and in doing so, also counted and added to a running takeoff list. These markups, as they’re called within the programs, also become easily manipulated, moved, and copied and pasted. This can come in handy if, for example, you have a classroom layout of ductwork that has been taken off. If the same classroom layout is repeated five times, a user can easily select, then copy and paste those markups, saving them the time of having to individually highlight those duct layouts over and over.
Quick and Easy Revised Calculations: Even after a full project has been taken off, an estimator can easily adjust the material specifications for an estimate and quickly re-run a revised report. If a user took of their original estimate with shop-fabricated lined rectangular ductwork, they can simply switch out their original spec for a revised spec that calculates purchased rectangular ductwork with duct wrap. In a few seconds, they’ll have an entirely revised estimate number at their fingertips.
Unmatched Customer Support: Though the FastEST collection of programs is designed to be reliable, accurate, and easy-to-use, they still back their software with some of the best customer support in the mechanical estimating software marketplace. Customer feedback supports this notion – some customer say it’s the best support they’ve ever received with any software they’ve ever used. If a customer gets stuck on something in the program, they can easily call the toll-free 800 number, and rarely will they not get a live person on the other end during normal office hours.
To find out more about FastEST and their line of estimating programs, visit their website at https://fastest-inc.com or give them a call at 800-828-7108.
