Freedom Bridge Consulting on why Countfire is essential for electrical estimators.
Electrical
We sat down with Rae Makepeace, Owner & Lead Consultant at Freedom Bridge Consulting, to hear how Countfire has transformed the way she works. From saving time to simplifying takeoffs, Rae believes Countfire is a must-have tool for every electrical estimator.
Transcript
My name is Rae, I'm the owner and lead consultant of Freedom Bridge Consulting, and I bridge the gap between estimating and business development. So, predominantly electrical, but mechanical as well. When I first started estimating it was very basic – we didn't even use Excel documents, it was like cost per point.
One manager showed me Countfire and I just thought this is an absolute game-changer.
So day to day it's really beneficial because I can download all the drawings on there straight away. I can separate it into all the different disciplines, so whether that's small power, containment, lighting, and then that helps in the process when you're doing the takeoff. Instead of just taking off each light fitting at a time, you can tell Countfire "This is a type A light fitting" and then you go on the next drawing, and it will take all of those off.
So with Countfire, there's features on there that you can use which you wouldn't be able to do on pen and paper. For example, when you're doing a measure, it's really accurate. Also, with the bends and the takeoffs, you can zoom in and you can see a lot more detail – you can pick up on things that you wouldn't on pen and paper.
It does spec checks as well, so a lot of estimators will get addendums where they revise the tender and there'll be new information in the specification and you can put both of the documents next to each other. It will check through all of the information and it will tell you what's changed.
It's really beneficial because I'm not spending loads of time printing, I'm not spending loads of money on printing, so the amount of time you save is amazing.
There's also a chat box in the corner and it's not AI – it's always someone there that you can speak to. In the past I've had certain people from Countfire email me and say "Hey, Rae, we've had something flag up. You've catalogued an item and it's a duplicate of something else. It's something completely different". They'll jump on a call with you. I think it's really, really good service.
Estimating isn't an easy job, it is a stressful job – so having Countfire just takes that stress away from you.
