[David Cutler]

Great topic @troy-degroot !

A few of our Superintendents and Foreman use our marked up takeoff sets for reference, but I don’t think they are using them for progress tracking.

Our Project Manager definitely uses the takeoff sheets to understand the project/see how we developed the quantities, but again, I’m not sure how he is using them for tracking – if at all.

The slickest system I’ve seen is @Vince ‘s “50 Shades of Black” method. Perhaps he can recap that for us here – I’m curious to see if he has refined/developed it further…

@jwafflecanyoncontracting-net had asked about this topic back in January of 2025. I wonder what he has come up with?

[Troy DeGroot]

I always tell my students, as estimators, they are actually data collectors; it benefits everyone if you can pass the baton to the next person downstream rather than have them learn everything again, or worse yet, miss it.

[Vince]

I never went any further with the 50 Shades @DavidCutler but this one may be worth a revisit at some point – I’m sure it can be improved upon.

[Vince]

@troy-degroot all of my workflows have something built in for collecting data for use at valuation time.

For drainage, I use a “Location” column to allocate markups to plots or groups of plots. The lasso tool gets used for the allocation part. Once the csv gets imported into my spreadsheet using Power Query then all of the measures are allocated on the plot by plot basis – formulas then automatically create my payment breakdowns.

For foundations, I use Spaces to allocate the works to housetypes. In my spreadsheet I enter the details on a plot by plot basis and then reference the Space name. I do things this way as, in the spreadsheet, I add other details such as finished floor level, top of concrete, bottom of concrete, void depth, etc.. This way I can very quickly see the cost implications of if I added more masonry but less concrete, etc.. Once again, Power Query and formulas automatically create material schedules as well as payment breakdowns.

For my brickwork & scaffolding workflow, I use Spaces combined with a custom column called “Lift” and some Text Boxes. The custom column is used to allocate details such as 1st Lift, 2nd Lift, First Floor, Superstructure, Top Out, etc.. The Text Boxes are used for the Plot Numbers that the measures within that Space will apply to. This way, I end up with plot by plot measures that are accurately broken down into the correct lifts. Formulas and a bit of Power Query then automatically create my payment breakdowns.

There are a few other inbuilt things which make things easier as well, including additional details for the markups e.g. my foundations workflow has a markup called “Oversite 1” and it is just a simple area measurement. In the spreadsheet there is a table of oversite details. Oversite 1 will have further details such as 75mm Fibre Reinforced Screed, 150mm Insulation, DPM, 150mm Insulated Beam & Block Floor. On hitting refresh in Excel, Power Query then creates all of the new material items and applies the measure from the Oversite 1 markup.

From my point of view, all of the data is collected at day 1 when the initial measures are completed – there really shouldn’t be anything further to do to create all the data that you need to track progress and complete accurate valuations.

[Troy DeGroot]

This is great; it’s a huge advantage when an estimator has constructability knowledge. I like how you use the “Location” column when you have, I assume, utilities and things that don’t fit completely inside a “Space”. And the “Lift” column is great for many reasons, I would assume. I built a very similar idea with a lumber yard where we used layers for basement and first cap, main floor and second cap, third floor and roof. This way they could print a material list and deliver level by level as they needed it in the field rather than the entire package at once. Here in Minnesota, when they drop the entire package, there’s a good chance the roof trusses will be under 3 feet of snow by the time they need them.