Need some help figuring out those Parts and Assemblies? Or just need a brush up on some takeoff and estimating skills? PlanSwift breaks down how to use Parts and Assemblies in this step by step guide made especially for our customers benefit. The first step is to do your takeoff and complete your measurements.
After you have done your takeoffs and gotten your measurements, the next step is to estimate your costs and the price you charge to your customer. Creating an Estimate in PlanSwift is a powerful and easy way to supercharge your estimating process.
Once you have completed your takeoffs, you can quickly estimate your costs using Parts and Assemblies.
You can create your estimate from the Estimating tab, which displays every takeoff and information about it. To access Parts and Assemblies, use the templates pane on the right side of the application. Click the dropdown at the top and select Parts and Assemblies.
Parts:
PlanSwift provides a full database with every license of preset parts and assemblies to choose from. They are organized by part type, and then by trade. When you have found the applicable part, left click and hold the part and then drag it to the takeoff item you want to apply it to.
PlanSwift will then bring up a window to allow you change the variables of the part. This helps you accurately calculate your material quantities and costs. For this example, we’ve chosen to apply a drywall part to a linear takeoff. This allows us to change the parameters for Wall Height, Number of Wall Sides, Sheet Width and Height. Once you have your desired variables, click Okay and PlanSwift will calculate out your materials and costs. Click the plus button next to the takeoff item if you do not see your costs.
Assemblies:
Assemblies work in much the same way. Assemblies are basically a group of parts that can be applied all at once. There are only a few example assemblies provided by PlanSwift, because we leave it up to you to create your own, as every company does things differently. We will cover creating your own assemblies in another video.
Click the plus icon next to the assembly to see which parts are included in it. To apply the assembly, click and drag it to the desired takeoff item.
PlanSwift will then bring up a window to allow you to change the variables of all parts at the same time. Change the desired variables and click Okay. PlanSwift will calculate out your materials and costs. Click the plus button next to the assembly if you do not see your costs.
That’s the most basic way of using parts and assemblies in PlanSwift, but there is a much easier way to create an estimate using Takeoff Assemblies. You can learn more about that in our video here:
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