HBXL Estimating Service or Build Aviator: who gives my building firm more options?
Will you be Team Build Aviator or Team HBXL Estimating Service? Choosing the best construction estimating software for your building firm is hard enough, but deciding on an estimating service takes the decision-making to another level. Why? Well you’re putting your business, your reputation, your trust, your money… in the hands of another company. To a large extent, what happens next is out of your control.
All the same, estimating services are very popular because it means you can spend time doing something else other than estimating. And assuming you’re dealing with professionals and the latest prices - you can look forward to an accurate estimate and quotation. Many businesses outsource their estimating entirely, others when there’s a tricky job to do, or simply not enough hours in the day.
But will the estimators do a good job? How accurate will it be? Have they understood every last detail of the project? The list goes on…
Only you will know when you’ve found the right service for you, and to be honest, that will probably only be when you’ve given them a job to price. In this instance, the proof really is in the pudding.
So let’s have a look at two well known estimating services based in the UK with UK estimators, and see who gives you more options, services and support.
Build Aviator
Build Aviator was launched in 2017 and is part of the Saint Gobain Group. The French multinational corporation manufactures construction products and owns builders merchants Jewson, Gibbs & Dandy and JP Corey. Build Aviator was born out of Easy Price Pro, the estimating software company that Saint Gobain acquired. EPP no longer trades and its software products are no longer available or supported. The estimating service is available both online and in-store.
HBXL Estimating Service
The service, launched back in 2012, is the sister company of HBXL Building Software, a progressive family-owned business and the UK’s leading provider of construction software for residential projects. It continues to win awards in line with its significant software development activity. This in turn means that the estimators in the sister service are always using the very latest version of EstimatorXpress, the flagship estimating software. The service is online only.
What documents will you receive?
As a minimum from any estimating service you should expect a dedicated estimator assigned to your project. And you should receive a fully costed estimate, including all materials and quantities required, material prices based on the latest material rates, the labour required, plant requirements, plus a quotation for your client. Both Build Aviator and the HBXL Estimating Service provide that.
Beyond this it is harder to see what Build Aviator provide other than a Schedule of Works. The HBXL Estimating Service on the other hand, make it clear that they provide:
detailed cost reports by Build Phase and by Resource Type
detailed schedules (materials/labour/plant) by Build Phase and by Resource Type
suggested Build Programme (Gantt chart)
an editable MS Word file of the quotation
schedule of estimate assumptions so it’s clear what and what hasn’t been included in your estimate.
Software compatible
Users of HBXL Building Software also have the advantage of being able to drop their estimate file produced by the estimating service into their EstimatorXpress software to tweak and update over time. With the Easy Price Pro software no longer being developed, that’s not an option for Build Aviator customers.
How much do they charge for their Estimating Service?
We can’t do a like-for-like comparison here. Build Aviator don’t reveal their prices on their website. HBXL Estimating Service on the other hand list prices starting at £249+VAT for a 25m2 extension and a new build up to 100m2 costing £299+VAT (assuming building regulation drawings are supplied). HBXL also offer a 20% discount on the first job.
Speed of turnaround
HBXL Estimating Service is not as fast as Build Aviator when it comes to producing estimates. Build Aviator charge a higher fee to turn projects around in 24 hours, and also boast 48-hour turnarounds.
HBXL are upfront about not matching those tight deadlines. In their view it’s not realistic for them to produce estimates this fast and maintain the highest levels of accuracy. It may also be down to the fact that the same HBXL estimator sees a job through from start to finish, and this can slow things down. Interestingly, HBXL don’t apologise for this - they regard a dedicated estimator as an advantage. Possibly more importantly, HBXL claim to hit 100% of their delivery deadlines.
‘Light touch’ benchmark estimates can be produced at speed by HBXL but obviously they don’t provide the detail that is really required.
What are my options on material pricing?
Not surprisingly since Build Aviator is owned by Saint Gobain, the materials quoted in each estimate are limited to Jewson, Gibbs & Dandy or JP Corey products, depending on which of the merchants you visit.
Whereas HBXL Estimating Service isn’t tied to any one particular builders merchant for its pricing. The prices are pulled from monthly sweeps of builders merchant catalogues across the UK to give builders a price that are highly representative of the market. If there’s a particular product that the customer wants to include in the quote, it can be easily accommodated.
Additional services
Both Build Aviator and HBXL offer plans drawing. However only HBXL offers to produce your project’s health and safety documents and contract documents.
Decide on your priorities
If you want an estimate produced quickly and you’re happy to have Saint Gobain prices in your quotation, even if you’re not only using their builders merchants - Build Aviator could be for you. They have the support of a large corporation, although since the software being used is no longer on the market, we don’t expect Saint Gobain is committed to a software development programme.
Alternatively, if the values of an independent estimating service matters to you, then HBXL Estimating Service could be a good fit. They may not be part of a multinational organisation, but the commitment of each estimator to establish a full understanding of the project goes a long way with its loyal customer base.
The EstimatorXpress estimating software the estimators use has hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on it every year, with 100% accurate estimating calculators at its core.
So do your research and check out the websites, read reviews and importantly understand the software behind the name.