Job Order Contracting (JOC), and Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) are both forms of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). They are collaborative, transparent, performance-based construction delivery methods that significantly improve productivity vs. traditional design-bid-build. Procurement and project timelines are decreased, change orders are virtually non-existent, and longer term relationships exist between Owners, Contractors and...Continue Reading

Owners, Contractors and Subcontractors, 4Clicks is hosting an upcoming Regional Training Class in Las Vegas, and we’d like to invite you and your team to attend! This two day class is perfect for brand new e4Clicks Project Estimator users and those who could benefit from a refresher course. A great chance to sharpen your estimating...Continue Reading

Are you using “old” cost data? Exclusively enhanced 2012 RSMeans Electronic Cost Data is now available, integrated within e4Clicks Project Estimator, for your JOC, SABER, IDIQ, SATOC, MATOC, MACC, POCA, and BOA projects. Approximately 400,000 line items are available, complete with modified, detailed descriptions, references and specifications… all in electronic format and including advanced search...Continue Reading

“All-in-one” software solutions such as e4Clicks Project Estimator are key to improving productivity, transparency, accuracy and collaboration among Contractors, Owners and AE’s. While spreadsheets play an important role, having cost estimating (including visual estimating and QTO), project management, document management, contract management, and an RSMeans exclusively enhanced 400,000 line item database, all within a single...Continue Reading

Reminder to reserve your space before it’s too late! Great if you are new to using e4Clicks for JOC, SABER, IDIQ, SATOC and MATOC projects and RSMeans Cost Data, or simply need a refresher course. Join your fellow estimators, contractors, A/E’s, and contracting professionals for a hands-on and FUN two days of training. Our “teachers”...Continue Reading

Is a Maintenance and Repair under a JOC contract, and/or construction considered “Performance Based Service” or does it have its own category in terms of the FAR interpretation? Administering task orders on an IDIQ Job Order Contract for Maintenance and Repairs should always include appropriate legal review, and we are not qualified to offer, nor...Continue Reading

The 2012 e4Clicks subscriptions are ready to go! We are excited about the new features in release 2.610. Be sure to read the Readme and join our spotlight events during the next few months to see the great new features! Thanks for a great 2011 we wish everyone well in 2012.Continue Reading

When it is crunch time at year end….Would it be nice if you had a tool that could compare your Independent Government Estimate (IGE) to the Contractors estimate? All in one program…..no multi colored pens or pencils? Well if you didn’t already know it you do! Join me next Wednesday, January 11th, 3PM and I...Continue Reading

Masterformat, Uniformat, and reference cost databases such as RS Means Construction Cost Data are important “best practices” for enabling facility Owners, Contractors, AE’s, and oversight groups to achieve higher productivity, accuracy, and transparency for all construction, renovation, repair, and sustainability projects. – MasterFormat is a standard for construction unit price line items for commercial and...Continue Reading

View the recently held RSMeans WebCast on Efficient Project Delivery/JOC at https://us.reg.meeting-stream.com/RBI_111711  Facility repair and renovation projects often arrive suddenly and with tight completion timelines, leading to excessive cost and quality issues. Job Order Contracting (JOC) and SABER are proven construction project delivery method that help facility managers accomplish more with fewer resources— and reduce...Continue Reading

Visit the our new Cost Estimating and Project Management FORUM at 4clicks.com/forums and discuss a wide range of items: Visual Estimating, RSMeans Cost Data, UPBs, BIM, Contract Management, Project Management, JOC, SABER, IDIQs, MATOC, SATOC, MACC, Estimating… it’s up to you! This is an open site for Owners, Contractors, and AE’s to share information. Visit...Continue Reading

New Legislation Introduced Intended to Save Money, Improve Energy Usage in Federal Buildings The legislation addresses a number of ways to achieve high-performance buildings: life-cycle cost analysis, integrated design processes, building information modeling (BIM) and building commissioning. The legislation provisions would: •Use life-cycle cost analysis to assure that overall spending on design, construction and operations...Continue Reading

Please visit 4clicks.com/training and vote for a 2012 training location closer to you. New sites under consideration include: Atlanta, GA Anaheim, CA Charleston, CA Dallas, TX Orlando, FL Kansas City, MO Sacramento, CA San Diego, CA Salt Lake, UT St. Louis, MO Seattle, WA Tampa, FLContinue Reading

Construction Cost Estimating with Spreadsheet VS. Cost Calculators (CostWorks) VS. Cost Estimating and Project Management Software (e4Clicks Project Estimators): Which is right for you? Download our new “Blue Paper” today.Continue Reading

One: BIM, in conjunction with Cloud Technology enables efficient building life-cycle management Two: BIM embeds robust life-cycle management PROCESSES within technology to enable rapid implementation, scalability, transparency, collaboration and assure consistency. Three: The ‘I’ within BIM, INFORMATION, in terms of standardized definitions, data architectures, taxonomies, metrics, etc. is a core component of BIM. Four: BIM...Continue Reading

1. Buildings account for almost 40 percent of primary energy use in the United States, 12 percent of total water use, and 60 percent of all non-industrial waste. Indoor environmental quality of buildings affects the health, safety, and productivity of the people who occupy them. 2. The U.S. federal government has the opportunity, and the...Continue Reading

Are you taking advantage of all the great features in e4Clicks? Or, have you had any personnel changes? We settled on two (2) day training classes, and here’s a quick peek at our tentative 2012 schedule: 2012 TENTATIVE TRAINING DATES Introductory Atlanta, GA 15-16 February Introductory San Antonio, TX 18-19 April Advanced Las Vegas, NV...Continue Reading

Visual estimating can improve productivity, accuracy, and collaboration. eTakeoff ™ stands head and shoulders above all software others and includes the following exclusive features: Extensions – Extended Measurement Calculations Extensions allow user input and calculations to be added to individual measurements. For example, a “Wall Area” extension would allow the user to enter the wall...Continue Reading

As usual it wasn’t the presentations or booths that provided great insight, but rather discussions with key industry thought leaders. All concurred that BIM is NOT what the products currently being offered by Autodesk, Graphisoft, Bentley Systems, et al.  But rather BIM is primarily the INFORMATION required to better manage facilities throughout their lifecycle.  Thus...Continue Reading

Visit us, Booth # 205, at the Federal Project Delivery Symposium, SAME/DBIA, next week August 9th-11th.    See how our e4Clicks Project Estimator industry leading software program can help you.  Project Estimator integrates proven construction delivery processes (JOC, SABER, IDIQ, SATOC, MATOC, IPD, MACC, POCA, BOA ….) , with an exclusive 400,000 line item extension of...Continue Reading

e4Clicks Project Estimator users…  be sure to attended our Upcoming “Spotlight”! On August 4th at 3pm EST we will hold our second complementary webcast.  Each of our “Spotlight” series features a new software tip to allow you to produce accurate estimates even faster.  This Month’s Tip: Copy and Paste Estimates and Line Items Webinar Date:...Continue Reading

Aloha and congratulations to the J.M. Waller team for your outstanding recognition. http://www.jmwaller.com/about/awards.asp#2011HistoricalHawaii1Continue Reading

There are some that believe that the desire to utilize BIM is outpacing technology. This belief is ill-founded. The REAL issue is that many Owners, Contractors, AE’s, BPMs (business product manufactures), and oversight groups are being outpaced as they lack BIM PROCESSES. BIM is NOT 3-D rendering. Tools like Revit, ArchiCAD, … are only components...Continue Reading

Just in case you haven’t heard, we’ve just begun a new TRAINING service for all of our clients. Our no-charge “SPOTLIGHT: Project Estimator Tips”webcasts will focus a different aspect of our software each month. Our July 7th SPOTLIGHT is titled “Getting Ready for Fallout and Updating RSMeans Pricing and City Cost Index”. Register today at:...Continue Reading