How NCD Electrical (NI) Ltd secures more work by using Countfire
Electrical
We recently caught up with Ryan Beck, Electrical Estimator at NCD Electrical, to find out how Countfire has streamlined their estimating workflow and the difference this has made in helping them secure and complete projects. Here’s what we found out:
About NCD Electrical (NI) Ltd
NCD Electrical (NI) Ltd provides specialist design and installation of electrical, smoke ventilation and integrated solutions. They have dedicated project and site managers and quality assurance testing teams, whilst also working with a number of sub-contractors.
Their particular area of expertise is in commercial and high-rise residential space, but they also work on data centres, and large-scale office and education fit-outs.
The challenges of traditional takeoffs
NCD Electrical previously used the traditional takeoff method; printing off drawings and doing manual highlighting which could take up a great deal of time. Ryan notes they “had massive amounts of paperwork, and would need to deal with revisions which often became quite complicated, especially when everything is paper-based.”
In Ryan’s previous job, he trialled various estimating software platforms and this was when he became familiar with Countfire; “I found it to be the most accurate and user-friendly, so I suggested we trial it at NCD Electrical. As a cloud-based digital system it would alleviate many of the issues we were encountering.”
Securing work and the advantages of Countfire
NCD Electrical initially turned down a 10-block student accommodation project in York because of concerns with time constraints.
Ryan says they were approached again and “because of Countfire, we managed to turn the entire tender package around in about a week and secure the work. This would normally have taken me the better part of a month to complete.”
“Countfire enables estimators to copy selections between different blocks, disciplines and buildings. There is a lot of ‘rinse and repeat’ in terms of room and building types, so being able to do multipliers easily within Countfire and export them into an Excel spreadsheet makes it so much quicker.”
Not only does Countfire make the estimating process more streamlined, but another key advantage is having everything digital, accessible, and traceable. As Ryan explains, “this enables our business to be future-proof, and allows us to look back and see the logic behind every decision.”
NCD Electrical also finds Countfire beneficial in terms of saving space. “As everything is stored digitally in the cloud, we don’t have stacks of papers filling our office and we even save on printing costs.”
Closing thoughts from Ryan
“We often get asked how we turn around our estimates so fast which sparks the conversation about Countfire - it’s become quite a well-known name among M&E contractors.”
“There are plenty of tricks you can do with the software, such as demarcations and multipliers, so my advice to anyone thinking of using Countfire would be to take the time to learn it and fully understand its true capability. But don’t take my word for it; trial it and see for yourself!”
If you want to see how Countfire can speed up your estimates and help you secure more work, sign up for a free, no obligation trial today.
