INEIGHT ESTIMATE
ESTIMATING FOR CONSTRUCTABILITY: 3 FOUNDATIONAL PRACTICES
BUILD ESTIMATING DATA YOU CAN RELY ON
Innovative constructability isn’t only about whether something can be built, but can it be built efficiently and profitably, within defined deadlines and budget parameters, while still driving a culture of safety.
By building a library of estimating data over time—and continually feeding actuals data back into the system—organizations create an invaluable data asset that sets them up for success with innovative approaches to constructability.
The two keys to this practice are:
1. Having data in a consistent format
2. Making it easily accessible across the organization
The time savings achieved by following this practice is significant, and it frees up opportunity for innovation. One industry study found that construction professionals spend an average of 5.5 hours a week just searching for documents.[3]
With a centralized library, estimators avoid wasting time combing through email chains or searching for old spreadsheets to find valuable data from previous estimates and completed projects.
Beyond the time savings, regularly feeding actual project data back into a centralized, cloud-based repository creates a powerful, ongoing feedback loop that creates a more precise and accurate estimating environment.
As mentioned earlier, when re-using project elements that worked well in the past builds confidence and saves time on validation. The insights gained from a centralized data asset can help quickly pull efficient building practices into estimates, which is especially important when focusing on constructability.
[3] FMI Corporation, Construction Disconnected: Rethinking the management of project data and mobile collaboration to reduce costs and improve schedules, 2018.
With a centralized library, estimators avoid wasting time combing through email chains or searching for old spreadsheets to find valuable data from previous estimates and completed projects.
Construction professionals average 5 1/2 hours a week searching for documents
PAST DATA, FUTURE CONFIDENCE
InEight strongly supports this valuable practice of building a reliable data asset. With InEight Estimate, every estimate and as-built actual feeds back into a knowledge library in a consistent format, enabling quick validation against historical data, and the ability to easily analyze unit costs and productivity over time. Learn more about how it works.
“
We make better project decisions because we're working from the most accurate and up-to-date information from InEight Estimate.
- Jim Blois President, Blois Construction
The insights gained from a centralized data asset can help quickly pull efficient building practices into estimates, which is especially important when focusing on constructability
FOR ACCURATE ESTIMATES, BENCHMARK
Innovative constructability can take many forms, but it often relies on the same basic components of construction, no matter how out-of-the-box the overall approach may be. For example: There are only so many ways to pour a foundation or to grade a site.
At that component level, the industry makes incremental improvements over time, but there aren’t volatile swings in cost information. So, to create an accurate estimate, estimators look at what materials, labor, and equipment cost today vs. two or 10 years ago. How much have they escalated?
Going back and looking at those commodity curves over time allows more accurate predictions of what an innovative construction project is going to cost—especially if it’s going to take several years and the estimate must include the escalation risk.
InEight also empowers estimators to precisely analyze previous projects by geography, type of work, and other parameters, so it’s not a blended average of all projects, it’s highly specific to the work at hand—resulting in more accurate estimates up front even for innovative proposals.
Learn more about the role of benchmarks in estimating in this InEight webinar.
UNLEASH THE POWER OF “WHAT IF?”
Estimators do their most powerful when they’re asking “What if…?”
- What if we tried a different approach?
- What if we swapped out equipment?
- What if we added another team?
- What if we built key elements offsite first?
- What if we changed the path of construction
By following the practices outlined in this e-book, estimators unlock the time and confidence needed for creative constructability. Estimators will be able to ask What if? more often—secure in the knowledge that creative answers will pay off.
ABOUT INEIGHT
InEight is a leader in construction project controls software, empowering over 850 companies taking on challenging projects in industries including construction and engineering; transportation infrastructure; mining; water; power and renewables; and oil, gas and chemical. Uniquely suited to capital construction and other complex work, our integrated, modular software manages projects worth over $1 trillion globally, taking control of project information management, costs, schedules, contracts, and construction operations, and delivering insights with advanced analytics and AI. InEight's solutions adapt and scale to meet the dynamic needs of modern construction, driving operational excellence and successful project outcomes. For more information, follow InEight on LinkedIn or visit InEight.com. © 2025 InEight, Inc. All Rights Reserved