Estimating, Take-Off and Project Management software for UK plumbing contractors

EES Data provides both consistency and flexibility for plumbing contractors who value accuracy and reliability above all else. If you want a dependable solution to help you simplify your process – and ultimately make more money in doing so – then this is the family of software products for you. From end-to-end, you can use one interconnected system to get the job done.

The starting point for users of our plumbing Take-Off software is to open a drawing in the form of a PDF file (or an image – whatever the client has provided digitally). If you’ve ever used any kind of drawing software you’ll find it very easy to navigate around and use our on-screen take-off tools. If not, it’s extremely easy to pick up with a little practice.

When you follow the process of taking off on the digital drawing, you’ll have an auto-generated list of all the materials, components, quantities and measurements you’ll need to put together an estimate. This data doesn’t have to be copied across manually like you might be used to with a spreadsheet-based system. You can import it directly into our plumbing Estimating software which converts it into the correct format.

Your estimate is effectively sketched out already, so at the point you’ll only be selecting the specific ways you want the figures to be calculated. If you want to use standard labour rates these are already set up for your company and very quick to apply. If anything needs to be tailored to this specific job, then you can do so with a very high level of detail. Things like supplier discounts are also preset, so there’s barely any working out to be done.

Once all your costs are accounted for, you can choose from a selection of useful reports to export in the appropriate format and get everything ready to submit to the prospective client. Other reports are designed for internal use and information purposes – you’ll be able to show or hide whatever details you need to.

Finally, if you use our plumbing Project Management software to help you complete the process, you’ll have the ability to stay on top of your ongoing project costs in real time on a month-to-month basis. There will inevitably be changes when you start working on-site and things start to become real, but that doesn’t mean your estimate becomes useless. The exact same data you used to create the estimate can be adjusted through the system, allowing you to account for all changes in a professional way that makes communication and transparency much easier for everyone involved.

So what are the benefits of this complete, end-to-end solution? Well, just consider how many times you saved yourself from having to duplicate your work by doing it this way. Each time this happens you’re also cutting down your chance of making mistakes quite significantly, since human error is unavoidable every now and then. Already you can probably see why people who’ve been using EES Data for years are completely converted to a new, smarter way of working.

For plumbing and heating contractors, estimating is a vital part of the process when taking on any major project, but it isn’t easy. Using the right technology is a huge advantage, but even that still requires a lot of skill and expert knowledge to get it right. Even some users of dedicated plumbing estimating software still struggle to get the results they want.

In our experience, many specialists in the UK and around the world are still relying on outdated methods which are making the process much harder than it needs to be. Using handwritten calculations on paper to calculate cost and sell rates for your jobs comes with a lot of obvious problems; it’s slow, agonising and very likely to lead to human errors. Small errors at the beginning of the process tend to be a contractor’s worst enemy because they can quickly multiply and have serious cost implications.

Using software isn’t the solution in itself, because not all software is equally suited to the task at hand. Many contractors use Excel spreadsheets or similar programs to manage their discount lists, labour rates and so on, sometimes even using spreadsheets to create estimates for potential clients. This offers a slight improvement in consistency over handwritten notes, but the software doesn’t understand what you’re trying to do and therefore offers very little guidance or error checking.

Even using estimating software that isn’t properly tailored to plumbing and heating jobs can waste a lot of time and cause frustration. If you have any experience using a generic estimating software platform, we understand why you’re here considering an alternative.

That’s where EES Data is different. Our Windows- or cloud-based system covers the entire estimating process from the initial plumbing take-off all the way through to ongoing project management. Our flexible range of software solutions are perfect for plumbing and heating specialists who need real confidence when pricing, as our extensive database powers everything (plus you’ll get unlimited access to the support offered by our friendly and experienced team).