Development of spreadsheet based quantity take-off and cost estimation application
Önder Halis Bettemir · Journal of Construction Engineering Management & Innovation · 2018
Quantity take-off and cost estimation are the most time consuming and costly work items of the project planning phase.A structure consists of significantly many components, and quantities of all of these work items have to be computed as well as necessary workmanship and materials should be determined.If quantity take-off is computed incorrectly, then cost will also be estimated erroneously.Therefore, computation of quantity take-off correctly has vital importance.Each constructed structure is unique, for this reason quantity take-off has to be prepared for every structure.In this study, a spreadsheet application is developed for the computation of quantity take-off with minimum human intervention and endeavor.Positions of the load bearing sections and architectural elements are defined by nodes and dimensions of these elements are identified by entering related information to data cells.Topologies of the structural and architectural elements are formed to determine the neighborhood and intersections.Voids are computed and subtracted to obtain exact quantities.Necessary materials and workmanships are determined by using database and cost is estimated by using unit prices of these items.Quantity take-off and cost is computed fast and accurately with minimized data input.Consequently, design offices can avoid purchasing expensive quantity take-off software by utilizing this approach.