EstimatorXpress Frequently Asked Questions

Estimating with EstimatorXpress is more complete and more accurate than manual estimating and can be completed in 25% of the time compared to pen and paper methods. This translates into additional time for other important tasks such as more time with the family, more time to better organize and manage your company, or time to estimate additional jobs and win more business.

Watch how to fully estimate a roof in just 5 minutes

Out of the box your EstimatorXpress comes with over 1000 materials, labour, plant, subcontract and sundry prices as your 'starter' price list. At HBXL we believe that all estimating software should give you access to real time live material prices. This will save office time, and gain assurance that you have current material prices 24/7 when you need them. We offer 2 solutions to keep your materials rates up to date. 1) Price Tracker™ - a generic national price list of average rates which goes a long way to giving you an accurate estimate, but better still 2) link your EstimatorXpress to a merchant account through our unique technology to ensure 100% accuracy. Current partners include Builders Express, Screwfix, Electricfix, Plumbfix, TradePoint, Travis Perkins, Jewson, Keyline and Grahams, which costs just £25 ex VAT p.a. per merchant. You can of course manually add your own suppliers rates should you want to as well but you will need to update these yourself. You get the best of all worlds!

The following applies to EstimatorXpress Lite edition, EstimatorXpress Total Toolkit edition, EstimatorXpress Ultimate pack and EstimatorXpress Self Build editions:

Out of the box EstimatorXpress Lite, Total Toolkit, the Ultimate pack and Self Build editions are designed to estimate for extensions, new build (houses and apartments), internal and external renovation work, groundworks, basic plumbing, electrics, roofing, landscaping, alterations, refurbishments, labour only quotes, loft conversions, dormers, decorating, plastering and much, much more.

The EstimatorXpress Ultimate pack provides you with the tools to customise EstimatorXpress for any type of building work using the PowerPack Advanced. With this tool you can create your own estimating calculators once and save them to your estimating templates to estimate any job, any size! The Ultimate pack also comes complete with free training as well as bonus packs for estimating office and shop refits, basements and retaining walls.

The following applies to EstimatorXpress Plumbing & Heating Trade edition:

Out of the box EstimatorXpress Plumbing & Heating Trade edition is designed to estimate for all plumbing and heating works including complete bathrooms, kitchens, boilers, radiators, underfloor heating and all different types of pipework. EstimatorXpress Plumbing & Heating Trade edition is suitable for both residential and commercial jobs and also has basic calculators for small demolition, wall tiling and plaster patching, plus much more...

The following applies to EstimatorXpress Roofing Trade edition:

EstimatorXpress Roofing edition has been tailored for Roofing Contractors to estimate all types of roof construction and roof renovation works including gable walls and dormers. By combining different calculators it can cope with even the most complex roof shapes. From tile roofs to slate roofs, pitched or flat, the software allows for every component in the estimate to ensure nothing is missed.

The following applies to EstimatorXpress Plastering & Decorating Trade edition:

 Compare all editions in full by downloading the EstimatorXpress Technical Specification (PDF)

EstimatorXpress does thousands of mathematical calculations, such as complex roof geometry, in a fraction of a second. It never makes an error, it never gets tired or careless, and it never forgets the information that is stored. Estimating software for builders will reduce your time spent estimating because you no longer need to use your own brain to price for labour, material, plant or subcontractors.

Once the take-off for the estimate is complete and the dimensions have been entered into EstimatorXpress, a report of all the materials required for the job can be printed and broken down by build phase. This list can be exported into Microsoft Excel or printed so you can submit it to your suppliers in order to get them to give you competitive prices and fixed delivery dates. As a result you'll be able to manage the flow of materials to the site a lot better and reduce the storage requirements for material and waste.

Take a look at the EstimatorXpress Material Schedule report

EstimatorXpress gives you the power to project manage every job more effectively using the in-built Bar Chart Planner, which provides a build program. You'll be able to manage your men efficiently and ensure that there are no wasted labour costs using the Labour Time Schedules in EstimatorXpress and improve your labour planning. Materials will also be on site when needed and idle labour time will be reduced.

Take a look at the Bar Chart Planner

Overhead will be decreased because of reduced estimating costs and project management costs. You'll also improve/increase cash flow, reduce the cost of wasted materials and prevent any downtime due to labour issues.

Plus, if you're paying to use a QS or an estimating service you'll be saving money on every job.

Read testimonials from EstimatorXpress Users about their own cost savings

Users of EstimatorXpress have won the 'Best IT Return on Investment' award for the past 3 years in the IT Showcase Awards at Interbuild, proving that your software investment can help you to grow your business by estimating more jobs and making more profit on each job.

The saving in estimating time as a result of using EstimatorXpress means you can estimate multiple jobs in the time that it takes to cost up one job manually.

Read about all our award winners

A computer estimate provides you with increased confidence and security that your estimated price is correct, and you'll be confident of a professional quote every time. This all adds up to improved competitiveness with increased profit margins.

In today's world, it's highly unlikely that you can be competitive if you estimate without a computer. The question is not can you afford a computer, but, can you afford not to use a computer to assist in your estimates. To determine the revenue required in sales to cover the purchase of EstimatorXpress, use the following formula:

Revenue required to cover EstimatorXpress purchase = EstimatorXpress cost / Gross Profit margin (%)

Example:

Let's assume the following: You employ 3 workers and you're thinking of purchasing EstimatorXpress Total Toolkit edition.

The total cost of the software is £848, and your gross profit is currently 30%.

Answer: Sales = £848 / 0.3 = £2,826

To pay for the software you only need to get £2,826 in additional sales over the life of the software!

No. At HBXL we assume that you have no computer experience and have designed all our software to be easy to learn and use. All you need to do is follow the commands on the screen to get the results you want. Every package comes shipped with a tutorial and user guide to get you started and use for reference.

For those that want it we do provide online and face-to-face training courses where you can get lots of hints, tips and shortcuts to make your estimating even faster still.

This depends on how quickly you can currently do a complete, accurate estimate. As you become more familiar with EstimatorXpress, less time is required and the more complicated or intricate the job, the more time you’ll save. As a general rule, you should be able to complete the estimate in 25% of the time it would take you to estimate the job manually resulting in a 75% reduction in your time estimating.

For example, an extension which might take you 2 hours to price up manually can be fully costed, scheduled and the quote prepared in less than 30 minutes.

Watch how to fully estimate a roof in just 5 minutes

EstimatorXpress has thousands of tested in-built estimating calculators (Workbooks as we call them here at HBXL) which are constantly checked and reviewed for accuracy. The software and your computer do not make mistakes when tired or overworked. They don't forget the calculations and dimensions used when distracted from the estimate for dinner or any other reason. They don't miss vital parts of calculations and will not make errors in overlooking VAT, materials, critical costs and/or profit. It will even calculate the wear and tear of your shovel!

Definitely! With more information available to you in the Report manager to check that you've covered everything you’ll find that your estimates are far more complete. You should also see the ability to improve your profit margins over time and improve your win rate.

Some customers tell us that EstimatorXpress estimates jobs in the same way that they do. For instance, when you price up a Brick & Block cavity wall, EstimatorXpress prompts you to also consider all of the following:

• Foundations

• Underground blockwork

• Below DPC brickwork

• DPCs

• Above ground blockwork

• Above ground brickwork

• Brick ties

• Cavity insulation

• Plastering

• Skirtings

• Decoration

• Plus all labour associated

You may currently estimate some of these elements separately but this is where EstimatorXpress will ensure you work through every element of the job and not miss anything out. It also makes estimating a lot faster because you change one dimension and EstimatorXpress will calculate other areas at the same time.

EstimatorXpress is also completely flexible, so it can adapt to your style of estimating – for instance if you price your windows at the same time as your walls normally then you can adapt the Brick & Block cavity wall estimator to always include an option to add the windows. And for anyone who needs that little bit of help to alter a calculator that’s when our Help Team come in handy with your HBXL Support & Updates subscription.

Take a look at the Brick & Block Cavity Wall workbook

Without question! You won't lose a job because of an error, nor will your quote be too low through error or omission. Getting more jobs, reducing estimating time and financing costs, and improved project management translate into a brighter profit picture. Plus with the Quote Wizard you can produce stunning visual quotes for your customers to win more business.

Take a look at a sample quote from EstimatorXpress

Size doesn't matter. We've got editions to suit every trade, every size of business as well as Easy Payment Options for anyone wanting to pay for their software over time. Any builder, Contractor, Plumber, Tradesman or Subcontractor who estimates, needs to have a computer and estimating software to increase business efficiency. Many small companies, where the owner or manager does the estimating, can use EstimatorXpress to free more time for administration, building, and project management. The professional appearance of a computerized estimate gives the impression of significant size and standing, and will help increase the percentage of successful estimates.

It depends on your experience with computers and estimating. Those that have lots of experience will be estimating in a matter of hours using the tutorial that comes shipped with the software. For those with less experience or who want to speed up their adoption of  EstimatorXpress may choose to go on a Group Training Workshop for £269 + VAT, sign up to online training for just £49 per session or have an ex-Builder and Estimator come to your home or office for a 1-2-1 full day of training.

Any advice and guidance website will tell you that you should get a good support package with your software including a manual and telephone assistance if required. For instance we grabbed this paragraph from another website:

“Even the most carefully designed software requires training, service, support and technical assistance. These requirements are even more important when the software is highly specialized, and requires special skills, experience, and background in the field for which the software was designed.”

EstimatorXpress comes with a HBXL Support & Updates package. This includes a printed manual, telephone backup, free internet tutorial videos and a user forum and Knowledge Base. We are confident that we are number one in the industry for the quality of our support, and we also provide training for anyone that wants it. And contrary to what other software companies may say, we offer training because we know that some people will need or want it – this does not mean the software is difficult!

If you are new to software, or would like the added comfort of a dedicated Account Manager, then you can upgrade to HBXL Support & Updates PLUS for a further £50. Not only will we install your software for you but you'll also benefit from all new Bonus pack releases during your support contract and access to our online chat support.

Find out more about HBXL Support & Updates for EstimatorXpress

Check out our EstimatorXpress Training Calendar online

EstimatorXpress reflects current building regulations and with your EstimatorXpress Support & Updates in place your software updates will include up-to-date building regulations. Plus if regulations change at any time before an update is available you can simply amend them and save to the software library to ensure you don't spend wasted time correcting the same dimension on each estimate.

Yes the Total Toolkit edition, Lite edition, Ultimate Pack, Small Works edition and all other Trade editions of EstimatorXpress are all lifetime licences which means once you purchase it, it’s yours forever to use on one machine. EstimatorXpress Self Build edition is an annual licence however and therefore needs to be renewed every 12 months.

In year one we request that all Users get a Support & Updates package included within your software purchase which is renewable annually if you choose. Your Support & Updates package gives you access to live material prices form our price Tracker database, telephone and Internet support and all software updates and upgrades. If you decide you're happy with your current version, don't use the telephone support and don't want the live pricing, software updates or upgrades then you can choose not to renew and continue to use your software.

The EstimatorXpress licence only entitles you to use the package on one computer and in accordance with the Licence terms. However we do massive discounts of 75% on the purchase of additional licences for your company if you require.

An extra User licence of EstimatorXpress costs just £199 + VAT for any edition.

Support & Updates for all editions of EstimatorXpress is free in year one of software ownership and covers you for 12 months worth of unlimited telephone, email technical support, live material price downloads and all software updates and upgrades.

Support and access to software updates and upgrades can only be provided with a valid Support & Updates subscription. On the expiry of your annual Support & Updates subscription, you can choose whether you want to renew for a further year. Should you renew, you will receive a further 12 months unlimited telephone and email technical support and all software upgrades for that period.

The cost of renewing Support & Updates for EstimatorXpress Lite edition, Total Toolkit edition and the Ultimate pack is currently £149 + VAT per annum.

For EstimatorXpress Small Works edition or any other EstimatorXpress Trade edition (including Plumbing & Heating, Roofing, Plastering & Decorating, Brick & Block or Groundworks) customers pay just £99 to renew their Support & Updates.

EstimatorXpress Self Build customers need to renew their licence as well as the Support & Updates which costs £349 inc VAT in total.

EstimatorXpress is available as part of our Software Rental Plan. You can build your own rental package by selecting any two (or more) HBXL software products from EstimatorXpress, PlansXpress, ContractsXpert and Health & Safety Xpert.

Currently we do not have any Rental Plans for any of our EstimatorXpress Trade editions as these have been brought to you at an affordable price. If you would like to bundle an EstimatorXpress Trade edition with one of our other packages, such as Health & Safety Xpert, then give us a call on 0845 1234 065 and we can send out a quote to you.

EstimatorXpress can run on a MAC but is not compatible with the Macintosh Operating System and therefore there are certain requirements that need to be met. 

Modern Mac’s which are based on Intel Core processors can run Microsoft Windows on them. This can be done using either Bootcamp or a virtual environment such as Parallels or Fusion2. You will need to have an installable Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP disk, and then a Microsoft Office disk (Windows compatible version) to load onto your installed copy of Windows. Once this has been done you can install EstimatorXpress onto your Windows installation.

Running EstimatorXpress in this environment is only recommended for advanced computer users and is not supported by HBXL in the event of errors caused by this environment.

For more advice you can email our Support Team at support@hbxl.co.uk or visit our MAC Advice pages

Yes, EstimatorXpress Lite, Total Toolkit, the Ultimate pack and the Self Build edition come complete with over 250 estimating calculators to cost up any size of domestic building work. From landscaping to new builds, renovations, extensions, maintenance, groundworks and more the one package will do it all!

If you solely do smaller jobs (ie. Alterations, Refurbishments, maintenace, insurance works and/or repairs) then EstimatorXpress Small Works edition is completely tailored for your line of work and will cover all manner of internal and external renovations.

The EstimatorXpress Trade editions (Roofing, Plastering & Decorating, Groundworks and Brick & Block) all contain some estimating calculators for renovation work applicable to the relevant Trade edition purchased.

EstimatorXpress Plumbing & Heating Trade edition is only suitable for plumbing and heating works but will estimate some essential renovation tasks such as removal of floorboards.

To find out how to estimate for your type of works specifically and which edition is right for you, why not get a demo to see it in action?

EstimatorXpress gives you the option to link to 10 different merchants:

• Builders Express
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts. Builders Express offers competitive pricing, experienced staff who can offer you advice, and a fast service.

• Screwfix
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts

• Electricfix
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts
  Live price link to Electricfix is subject to membership validation.
  
  
• Plumbfix
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts
  Live price link to Electricfix is subject to membership validation.
• TradePoint
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts
  Live price link to TradePoint is subject to membership validation.

• Jewson
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts

• Travis Perkins
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts

• Keyline
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts

• Builderwarehouse
  This new online merchant almost guarantees you cheaper building materials - and all
  top quality products too! With a national delivery network you'll benefit from cost
  savings on every job.

• Graham
  Link directly to your trade account including your own rates and discounts

Please note: merchant links are only available to merchant account holders. You must own a copy of EstimatorXpress to access these prices. Accounts with TradePoint, Plumbfix & Electricfix are subject to membership validation. Each merchant link costs £25+VAT per year and is renewable annually.

Just think - you'll never be stuck for a price ever again or waste time ringing round the merchants. Just click the download button in EstimatorXpress and you've got it

In 2007 we introduced a Loft and Timber Frame pack which expanded EstimatorXpress to fully estimate all loft, dormer and timber frame works. Today this comes as standard with EstimatorXpress Lite edition, Total Toolkit edition, the Ultimate pack and the Self Build edition, and has templates for allowing you to estimate both fabricated and pre-fabricated timber frame construction.

Timber frame and block construction is very popular in Scotland and we have consulted builders in Scotland to ensure the software caters for the slightly different methods of construction.

For instance, we often get asked if EstimatorXpress will estimate saarking board as standard and the answer is yes it does.

If you have any other specific questions about the types of work EstimatorXpress can work with then call our team on 0845 1234 065 or email sales@hbxl.co.uk. Alternatively, use the Live Chat function on our website to speak to us now.

For when those plans come back from the architect without any dimensions on them, the Scale-Link™ USB Scale Pen is the industry standard take-off tool for entering linear measurements from plans into EstimatorXpress.

Just roll the scale wheel along your walls or timbers, then click to instantly transfer the measurement into the building drawings within EstimatorXpress.

You can order a Scale Pen direct from HBXL for just £85 + VAT and feed your dimensions straight into the software.

Check out the EstimatorXpress Marketplace for all add-ons and extras

You can download a 7 day free trial of EstimatorXpress from our website. You will be able to use all parts of the software during your trial and ensure it's the right software for you.

Download the EstimatorXpress 7 day free trial

Yes. EstimatorXpress works with Windows 7 since it's launch. We released an EstimatorXpress v8.07 update on the 1st November 2009 which makes EstimatorXpress compatible for all existing Users and all new sales of EstimatorXpress will automatically get Windows 7 compliant software from day 1.

The EstimatorXpress Ultimate pack gives you unlimited power to create winning estimates and quotes for ALL types of building work. The pack includes the award-winning EstimatorXpress Total Toolkit edition along with estimating bonus packs, extra workbooks, the PowerPack Advanced to create your own calculators and you get the comfort of a free Group Training Workshop to get you up-to-speed in no time!

What's included?

• EstimatorXpress Total Toolkit edition

• Basements & Retaining Walls Bonus Pack

• Office & Shop Refits Bonus Pack

• Stage Payments Bonus Pack

• Renovations Bonus Pack

• EstimatorXpress PowerPack Advanced

• EstimatorXpress Group Training Workshop

• HBXL Support & Updates PLUS Upgrade

Get more information about the EstimatorXpress Ultimate pack

The EstimatorXpress PowerPack (£199 + VAT) puts unlimited estimating power at your fingertips and gives you the ability to create your own estimating calculators in spreadsheet format (or workbooks as we call them) from scratch. With the Power Pack you can customize EstimatorXpress to estimate anything at all! (For example you might want to create a Laminate Floor estimating calculator or your own Room Decoration calculator.)

The EstimatorXpress PowerPack Advanced is the tool used by our own in-house developers to create your estimating calculators and add images and dimension boxes and is included within the EstimatorXpress Ultimate pack, or available to purchase for £299 + VAT separately. Estimate any job, any size with this simple but effective tool.

Order the PowerPack or PowerPack Advanced from the HBXL Online Shop