We’ll cut the c**p! You’re busy. So we’ll get straight to the hard facts. HBXL software tools deliver what we promise: simple business management solutions for your building firm. Here’s the bottom line If you’re disappearing under quote requests, concerned about your health and safety obligations, fed up of chasing money and managing discrepancies –…More Info
Forget what you’ve ever known about estimating software for builders, forget any pre-conceptions about complexity and time-spent doing it…
History has just been rewritten. You see, we know there are times when you just want to be able to pull together an accurate quote LIGHTNING FAST.
The customer’s request is a standard extension but you don’t want to hazard a guess or give them a single A4 sheet. It doesn’t always win you the work. And if it does then it doesn’t always make you good money.
So how about a program that gives you an accurate quote for an extension (in detail – yes detail!) in FOUR MINUTES (and renovation work in less than four minutes)!?
Introducing QUICK QUOTE from HBXL, the producers of award-winning EstimatorXpress. A program that does what it says on the tin.
If you’re already sold then give the guys a call on 0117 916 7898 to have a chat, find out about any special introductory offers and to arrange a free test drive upon launch.
Or read on.
The speed and simplicity is no exaggeration - as this four-minute video prove.
Note at 4 minutes and 20 seconds in, the amazing quote you can provide your customer with – giving them as much or as little detail as you like.
And here's an even shorter video showing a 2-minute renovation!
All your typical jobs – standard new builds, extensions, garages and renovations – such as a double storey hip valley extension, apex house, double storey flat roof extension, single storey lean-to, apex gable roof single garage…
And if you have a particularly complex, one-off, non-standard project then you can use the conventional EstimatorXpress which allows you to put together an estimate from scratch – still drawing on the same clever calculators, making the whole job so much easier and accurate than any other type of estimating software.
We call it two-speed estimating.
You give the software the dimensions and your specification preferences and the software will do the rest. Your own personal quantity surveyor stuffed inside your computer!
Our in-house software developers in consultation with experienced builders and up-to-date intelligence, have created calculators that work out every aspect of a build project. For instance, how many bricks are required in any given size of wall, what other materials will be needed to build the wall and how much will be needed, who will build the wall and how long they will take.
Everything! It calculates the lot - your walls, floors, roof, finish, structural openings, doors, windows, internal cavity walls, plastering, decoration, wiring, plumbing, electrics, fitting out, drainage and services, external works, landscaping and subcontract quotations…
It will automatically work out wastage, inflation... the list goes on. You even get 80+ reports to help you every which way – from material lists for the merchant to schedules for the site manager.
The final figure from the QUICK QUOTE plug-in for EstimatorXpress consists of proven, accurate timescales, the latest material prices, the industry average rate for labour and so on, with nothing left out. The true cost.
It’s up to you of course what you do next. Will you reduce your price? Will you increase your margin?
In our experience, customers will actually pay more (or rather the accurate price) for a well presented quote that shows the reality in all its detail, and effectively implies that any lower cost might be the result of cutting corners or forgetting something important. Just saying…
We can point you in the direction of building firms who are proud of their prices and win the work on the strength of their accurate, professional-looking HBXL quotes. And have never looked back.
Well that’s for you to decide. But by our estimation (which we’re good at) if you produced just one quote a week, over a 12-month period your software purchase would cost you around £6 a quote plus however many minutes of your time. Of course, it would be even less if you quote more regularly. Surely it’s worth it to get the job off your desk quickly and in the hands of a customer, with a very real chance of winning the work? You could try out our ROI calculator here.
Then there’s the law of averages… the more you quote the better chance you have of winning the work.
You need to get behind the wheel and experience the speed, the power and quality. First we’ll lend you our very own ‘Stig’. And it goes like this…
So there you have it, the best thing we’ve invented since our take-off software… and that’s another story.
The Quick Quote plug-in is anticipated for launch in mid June.
Give the guys a call on 0117 916 7898 to have a chat, find out about any special introductory offers and to arrange your free test drive.
Introductory discount: Buy the Rapid Take Off Kit in June and get it for just £1,199 + VAT (normal price £1,499 + VAT) - saving £300!
Up against Seedrs and Codeplay, HBXL Building Software is shortlisted for the Tech Company of the Year 2017 category.
HBXL Building Software provide a range of software solutions to enable building firms to quickly produce professional, transparent and accurate quotations, building plans, health & safety documents and building contracts. Ultimately improving business bottom line through innovation, in an industry not known for embracing technology.
Joanna Mulgrew, Group Operations Director said: “Naturally we’re delighted to be shortlisted and be recognised for the innovations our development team have delivered to help small to medium sized building companies run their businesses. We’re a family run business and we see our customers as an extension of the family. Customer happiness is at the core of everything we do. Every client receives complimentary Remote Access Training and access to top rated telephone support delivered by “Our Support Super Heroes” team”.
The National Technology Awards, hosted by FStech Magazine, are the showcase for the leaders of technology. The National Technology Awards were created to allow the technology sector to shine, celebrating the pioneers of new technology and to help drive standards and encourage excellence.
The winners will be determined by an independent judging panel and announced at The National Technology Awards Gala and Dinner on 17 May 2017 at the Millennium Hotel London Mayfair.
About the Awards:
The National Technology Awards represent the pinnacle of best practice, a fantastic gala dinner, entertainment and the chance to network with the industry’s finest. Bringing our experience together we have created the arena for all technologies, where the very best can be judged.
Find out more: nationaltechnologyawards.co.uk
Follow National Technology Awards on twitter @NTechAwards #NationalTechnologyAwards
How well do you spend your working day? You know, in a lifetime you spend literally years sleeping, eating and queuing, months and months checking junk emails, sitting at traffic lights, brushing your teeth… So what about making the rest of your precious time really count.
Construction companies are typically fully on. And if you’re the boss you could easily be involved in estimation, delivering quotes, design, planning permission, approvals, health and safety, trips to the merchants… But if you feel like you’re consistently wasting time then take a look at what productive people do well and what undoubtedly contributes to the success of ambitious building firms!
“Time flies but the good news is you’re the pilot” as someone cleverly put it. If you could save even 30 minutes a day, think of the goals you could achieve with a bit more time? Maybe…
And if you only pick up on one point here, it’s a start. Busy isn’t always a good thing, it could be masking a few short-comings. It’s all about time management, whether you’re a house-builder, doing loft conversions, renovations or extensions.
And if we can offer any advice on using the right software tools to increase your productivity, such as HBXL’s EstimatorXpress 2017 for speedy estimating, take-offs and quoting, then give us a call on 0117 916 7898 or email sales@hbxl.co.uk - we’ve got the time if you have!
It’s very easy to write January off when the weather lets you down, customers too - and the odd subbie. It’s dark, wet and there’s no money around… But all is not lost, far from it – the quieter period presents a great opportunity to review your business and decide how to take it forward. So we’ve listed here 10 goals to construction success in 2017 to set you on your way.
Review your business direction - Starting with the biggie! What projects do you want and like to take on. Consider the 80/20 rule – could you concentrate on the 20 percent of the work that generates 80 percent of your revenue? And say no to the less profitable work? Do you want to diversify? What about Design & Build ? Walking is a good activity for clearing your mind and thinking afresh. Yes even builders can take an afternoon walk! Then break down your big ideas into daily, weekly or monthly actionable goals that you can measure. | |
Improve your bottom line - This usually involves 1) Raising your rates 2) Doing more work 3) Reducing your expenses. Look at the figures for last year and see how you could trim some overheads. Did your profit margins drop unnecessarily? Do you keep reducing your profit margin because of oversights? Find the leaks in your bucket. | |
Stop being busy and be more productive - Busy isn’t necessarily productive. ‘What’s the point of spending your days climbing a mountain, only to realise at the end of this new year, you’ve climbed the wrong one?’ (Quote courtesy of Robin Sharma, leadership expert). Do you enter the same data into multiple documents? Put systems in place that will streamline various processes. | |
Learn to delegate - Have a good long look at your role. Do you really have to do it all? Perhaps it’s time to stop being pulled in different directions and concentrate on the bigger issues. Make a list identifying the things that someone else could do. Estimating? Speaking to suppliers? Booking subbies? | |
Review your approach to health and safety - How confident are you that you have a handle on health and safety? Are your employees and the public properly protected? Do you know what the HSE expect from you – have you properly sussed out CDM 2015? How about putting some time in the diary to gen up on it, do an online health and safety course and get others onto it as well. | |
Review your customer service - Remember the customers pay the bills. If you want good reviews, if you want them to recommend you then make sure they stay happy. A single A4 sheet with your expectations of your employees and subbies will make sure everyone knows the policy. What about giving customers the opportunity to feedback at the end of a job – you could come up with a short questionnaire? At least make sure to ask them to give you a review. | |
Research cloud computing - If you’re not already using Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive or another cloud storage application, then consider the benefits they could bring you. Saving and accessing files such as estimates in the cloud are really easy, and using cloud over physical file storage can save money as well. And of course you can be anywhere and still access your files remotely. But possibly most important of all is backing up - a must if you don’t want to lose something important following a systems failure or malfunction. | |
Promote your business better - It needn’t be anything grand. What about updating your website (you have got one haven’t you?)? How out of date are the projects on there? What about a Facebook page? Perhaps it’s time for new livery for the vehicles, new polo shirts, some better signs? Sponsor a team or event. Whatever, put together a list, add some time frames and make them happen. And why not book in a bit of marketing training on this – some short courses are available to do from home or office. | |
Become a tiny little bit of a geek - You don’t have to know your Bytes from your RAM but technology really will help you work more effectively, which means faster computers and clever software. Make a point of keeping up with new and changing technology that would impact you directly. Don’t just think about power drills and the latest plasterboard. What IT could you invest in to make your business run more smoothly? | |
Commit to new learning - Your business has to stay safe and compliant. Put some remote online health and safety training on the calendar. And why not think about learning a new skill. Find out about software for designing your own extensions and loft conversions for instance. |
We hope our 10 goals to construction success in 2017 proves helpful. If you would like any more advice on streamlining your processes, tightening up on admin and improving your profit margins, give one of the team here at HBXL a call on 0117 916 7898. Our suite of software is aimed exclusively at the builder and developer and was founded by a builder who knows only too well about the pressures of running a successful business. Have a great 2017!
Want to make a higher profit by managing your construction company better? Follow our tips to improve your building company by making your projects work for you. Bringing estimation software on board to help your building firm can provide more benefit than just faster and more accurate estimating. Read on to find out about one of the many hidden advantages of investing in estimating software.
It’s written all over our website. EstimatorXpress will save you time, money and effort producing estimates and can guarantee 100% accuracy. But, EstimatorXpress is way more than just an award winning estimation program as it provides trades, builders and developers with a range of reports and charts to help them manage their projects once the job has been won (and EstimatorXpress users win up to 230% more business!).
Firstly, EstimatorXpress helps protect your profit through calculating likely wastage, inflation and wear and tear costs on your plant. It is often easy to forget to factor in the wear and tear of a shovel, wheelbarrow or perhaps the use of a tube of mastic lying in the van. All these items erode your profit if they aren’t accounted for properly, and EstimatorXpress calculates these for you automatically.
Secondly all the reports and charts EstimatorXpress produces directly (and instantly!) from your estimate are enough reason alone to invest in the software. It automatically produces over 80 plus helpful management reports automatically from your estimate data (no typing required!). These include detailed cost breakdowns so you can see where your money is going exactly, cutting lists, material schedules (Bill of quantities) and labour schedules and tonne more – check them out here. Not to mention profit forecasts, stage payment profiles and cashflow to keep you in the black on your jobs.
Thirdly a really important toolset for business-savvy builders is “My Projects”. ‘My Projects’ is a module found in EstimatorXpress Total Toolkit versions and above that can multiply the benefits of the reports outlined above by allowing trades, builders and developers to manage all their jobs with ease. By linking individual jobs together as a Workload Project you can see total cost reports, complete schedules of materials, build programmes, order schedules, cashflow and profit for your entire company’s workload as a whole. Plus you can see exactly how much money the company is proposed to make over the next X months. This can help you make informed business decisions about expansion, taking on staff, or purchasing new equipment such as a van. Watch the video to see My Projects in action.
As we mentioned above, My Projects allows you to take a combined view of all your projects together in order to enhance the overall management of workload, cashflow, materials, labour and more. Looking at all your work together, whether simultaneous jobs or back-to-back, allows for further time, effort and cost cutting advantages.
Use the detailed cost reports of your combined workload together with cashflow reports (instantly produced off the back of your estimates) to show the outflow of money from your business, which highlights when you’ll need to see stage payments from clients or finance/bank lending coming in.
If you’re looking for development finance the cost and cashflow reports in My Projects will help secure you finance. The software allows you to instantly produce a multi-unit/site cashflow combined with total detailed costs for the bank or lender showing exactly where the money is going.
Every building firm will find the Gantt chart of all the projects you have underway and forecast useful. See exactly where your jobs or projects are, how they overlap or gaps you have in workload. Plan your projects to perfection!
Use the labour schedules and Gantt chart together to know what labour you need and when. Avoid over-stretching your company and schedule your preferred subcontractors in advance.
Improve your bargaining power with builders merchants by supplying them with a more complete, forward view of your material requirements. That way you can increase discounts and avoid endless (expensive!) trips to the merchants. One trip to agree a good deal on the entire job with delivery to suit your build program.
What about a profit forecast based on all your projects? See how much money you’re making and from which projects – and do more of those!
There are over 80 reports in My Projects to help your business. The above is a shortlist of just 6. The potential money and time saving benefits of properly managing and analysing the way you work is what separates a good building firm from a great building firm.
Combine EstimatorXpress with ProjectXpert and you’ve got super-powers…
Trades who have many small projects on can benefit by being able to see their continuous workflow.
Small-scale builders can use My Projects to move seamlessly from one project to the next. This avoids costly gaps in workload.
Large-scale builders can use My Projects to manage multiple, simultaneous projects. This prevents companies over extending themselves financially or in terms of labour.
Developers can use My Projects to keep an eye on all work for an entire site or even multiple sites, being able to order materials in bulk, shift labour around for optimal efficiency and stay on top of cash flow.
All that is just one of the many hidden benefits of choosing EstimatorXpress as your estimating software. If you want to know any more about the My Projects module or anything else that EstimatorXpress can do, give us a call on 0117 9167898. We’d love to chat.
Do you ever feel like you’re wasting time? Even if you’re meeting your targets, do you wonder whether there is a better way? Thousands of building firms have found a way to spend less time estimating, win more work, stick to deadlines and budget and all with considerably less effort. How? By embracing a software solution. Read on to discover how HBXL’s Productivity Bundle could help your building firm improve construction productivity and return a higher profit.
All HBXL products are integrated for a complete end-to-end experience and designed with ease of use in mind. Start with plans and share the information across the range to produce everything you need to run a project from start to finish effectively. Let us take you through the steps.
One, draft an architect quality building plan effortlessly in PlansXpress using simple drag and drop tools. No CAD knowledge needed! (Or if you have been given plans from your client, simply scan and trace them to make alterations and capture essential construction information such as dimensions and specification).
Two, using these details imported directly into EstimatorXpress, the software does an almost instant take-off of the plan, producing a 100% accurate estimate of your build costs as well as many handy documents to help you run your project more efficiently and impress your customer. Including Gantt chart, schedules of works (JIT labour, plant and materials), cashflow forecasts, stage payments and a customer quote – all produced automatically off the back of your estimate. Just print!
Three, import your estimate into Health & Safety Xpert and it will use your job specifications to automatically generate all the required health and safety documents you need including Risk Assessments, Construction Phase Plans, site checklists and audits to ensure that you meet required HSE compliance including CDM 2015 and CHAS.
Four, import your estimate into ContractsXpert and it will use your estimate details to directly prepare a watertight customer building contract and ensure you meet Doorstep Selling regulations, as well as properly contracting with your subcontractors.
Five, use ProjectXpert to ensure you run the most productive construction project possible. Plus, manage multiple, simultaneous jobs and keep track of how your whole year is panning out at any point, not just at the end! If you’re thinking you don’t normally have more than one job at once, then you really need to try the software. You don’t know what you’re missing out on!
The Productivity Bundle has so many features that will help you run a more effective, efficient and ultimately profitable business that there is no way we could fit it all in this short article so give us a call on 0117 9167898 to see what it can do for your business.
At HBXL we are committed to regular development to make sure our users have the best and latest construction software on the market. Read on to find out what our latest construction software developments are and when you can get your hands on them…
To most, it will only feel like the beginning of the year but at HBXL we are already working on an update for our recent EstimatorXpress 2017 launch! The new improvements come from our Business Support Manager working in tandem with a long time user and supporter of HBXL, Lee Goodwin of Oakleafe Property Services. Lee focuses mostly on renovations and insurance work (at quite a scale of operation) so is the perfect building firm to work with on enhancements to this area of EstimatorXpress .
We think that listening to our users’ suggestions and ideas is an essential part of our development process and we are sure this plays a huge part in why our software is so well received by builders, developers and judging panels alike. Below I have outlined the first wave of improvements stemming from our work with Lee and there’s more to come!
These are all about calculating the costs of safeguarding the existing property whilst internal works take place. For example, zip walls and floor protection to prevent dust and dirt of the site and materials from damaging the existing property the builder is working in.
We have all new replacement floor covering workbooks including assorted new ceramic tile, porcelain tile and stone floor systems as well as engineered wood flooring and floating floors.
Following on from the success of the ribbon feature addition into EstimatorXpress and PlansXpress, we have added a new ribbon feature to ProjectXpert! This new feature allows for easier and faster navigation as well as the improved benefit of a similar user experience across the software range.
Coming soon to Health & Safety Xpert is a new record for Hand Arm Vibration exposure (HAVS). This addition is to work in collaboration with our recent Hand Arm Vibration Risk Assessment that was part of our latest health and safety software update. The new form helps builders and developers keep track of the time spent using hand held power tools to help them ensure that no staff exceed the daily limit as noted in the RA.
As usual all Health & Safety Xpert updates come with a general review of all the regulations to make sure all our builders are following the most recent requirements.
At HBXL we firmly believe that if you aren’t up to date then you’re behind. Whether this is in relation to software developments or staying on top of latest regulation changes, the costs of falling behind can be severe. Give us a call on 0117 9167892 to make sure you’re software is up to date.
EstimatorXpress 2017 Enterprise edition provides a range of essential collaboration tools for estimating departments. The powerful Manager & Collaborator feature set, synchronises company “settings” to ensure everyone in the team is using latest Price Books, Specifications, Quote templates, Custom Workbooks (Estimating calculators) and more…It also allows estimators to save their work to either Server or the Cloud from where other team members can locate an estimate and collaborate on it before saving it back to the same location.
EstimatorXpress 2017 Enterprise edition comes with smart Manager/Collaborator tools.
The “Manager” licence synchronises settings with the “Collaborator” licences to ensure all estimators are working with the same data:
“Collaborators” save their estimates to the Cloud or Server so that they are backed up and secure. Furthermore other team members can be invited to contribute to the estimate. Don’t worry, if an estimator has the file already open, another can’t open it, which avoids the unnecessary hassle of version control.
This easy accessibility to estimates, simplifies a managers difficulties with holidays and time off as jobs can easily be picked up by anyone in the team.
The primary computer; the “Manager” is £1,699+VAT for EstimatorXpress 2017 Enterprise edition.
For each of the “collaborators” you will need an EstimatorXpress 2017 Enterprise LIVE additional licence who will be working on different computers. These are priced £349+VAT each.
And finally there is a small monthly subscription fee of £9.99+VAT per user/per month.
Do call us to discuss your options on 0117 9167898 and we can best advise on the package you need.
Software features & types of work you can estimate | Enterprise Edition |
---|---|
£1,699+ LIVE Additional user licences @ £349 & £9.99+VAT per month | |
Extensions | • |
New Buildings | • |
Apartments & Flats | • |
Loft Conversions | • |
Renovations (internal & external) | • |
Maintenance & Alterations | • |
Groundworks (foundations, footings, slabs, paving, driveways) | • |
Walling (internal & external inc brick & block, timber frame, partition, stone, rendered) | • |
Roofing inc dormers and roof windows | • |
Windows & doors, (internal & external), Conservatories | • |
Structural openings | • |
Basic domestic electrics | • |
Plastering | • |
Painting & decorating | • |
Kitchens and bathrooms | • |
Basic Landscaping | • |
Subcontract Quotations | • |
Basic domestic plumbing & heating | • |
Advanced plumbing & heating | • |
New Build Basements & Retaining Walls | • |
Office Refits | • |
Shop Fitting | • |
SIPS & ICF Walls | • |
Creates professional quotes, covering letters and t&c’s | • |
Automatic production of 80+ professional reports (cost reports & tasklists, materials order schedules, cashflow and profit analysis) | • |
Live material price link to Jewson, Travis Perkins, Graham, Keyline, TradePoint and more | • |
Job Management, Gantt charts and labour schedules | • |
Variations and amendments tools | • |
Import & export into and out of MS Excel and Word | • |
My Projects to combine& manage multiple jobs | • |
PowerPack Advanced tool to create own EstimatorXpress estimating calculators | • |
Stage Payments Generation Tool | • |
Invoice Generation Tools | • |
Manager/Collaborator Toolset | • |
If you want to know more about how the server/cloud connection and manager collaboration features can help your business give us a call on 0117 9167898 and we can talk you through the advantages specific to you and your company.
Store, share and locate all your estimate files easily and securely in the Cloud or Server. All the advantages of working on your estimates offline on your desktop, combined with the benefits of multi-device, multi-location and collaboration features of cloud estimation software. No version conflicts! Empower your business to get organised.
HBXL estimating software EstimatorXpress provides a range of powerful back-up and collaboration tools, which even the smallest of building firms will benefit from.
The latest update to EstimatorXpress 2017, includes tools to ensure estimates are always safe and secured to the back-up system of choice; either in the Cloud or Server. Combine this with the brand new EstimatorXpress 2017 LIVE additional licence and the real power is unleashed!
Smaller building companies will appreciate being able to save to Cloud from one device, and then continue working on a second device (which is running an EstimatorXpress LIVE additional licence) before saving back to Cloud.
Medium sized building companies will profit from the ability to save estimates to either their Server or Cloud from where other team members can locate an estimate and collaborate on it.
And for larger firms with bigger estimating teams, we’re proud to introduce the all new EstimatorXpress Enterprise edition and its powerful Manager & Collaborator feature set, which synchronises the company “settings” to ensure everyone in the team is using latest Price Books, Specifications, Quote templates, Custom Workbooks (Estimating calculators) and more…
Now you have the power. All versions of EstimatorXpress 2017 onwards can now save your estimates to a Cloud Drive of your choice (such as Dropbox, Google Drive or One Drive).
Well now you can! All versions of EstimatorXpress 2017 onwards can now save estimates to a server.
Totally doable! Once saved to cloud or USB drive, if you’re running EstimatorXpress 2017 LIVE additional licence on a secondary device you can access your estimate, continue working on it and save it back to the same location without the hassle.
Now possible – thanks to some nifty work by our development team. Once estimates are saved to the Cloud Drive or Server, if your colleague is running EstimatorXpress 2017 LIVE additional licence on their machine, they can access the estimate, continue working on it, then save it back to the same location ready for you to review it. And don’t worry, if either of you have the file already open, you can’t both open it, which avoids the unnecessary hassle of version control.
Our developers have got this nailed too! Enter EstimatorXpress 2017 Enterprise edition with smart Manager/Collaborator tools. To make management of your whole team even easier, you can now synchronise settings between different versions of EstimatorXpress. Ensure everyone is working with the same:
Every member of the team (“the Collaborators”) will be in synch with the “Manager” licence. Combine this with the ability to save estimates to the Cloud or Server, and EstimatorXpress 2017 LIVE licences for each estimator, and the result is uniform service across the business with the team able to work more efficiently through smart collaboration. This simplifies a managers difficulties with holidays and time off as jobs can easily be picked up by anyone in the team.
Whether you want to back-up securely, simply carry on working on a job on a different device or invite others within your business to contribute to putting quotes together you’ll see that EstimatorXpress 2017 really is the best connected software on the market.
If you want to know more about how the server / cloud connection and manager collaboration features can help your business give us a call on 0117 9167898 and we can talk you through the advantages specific to you and your company.