Optimization Schedule for Estimators & Framers
Framing Material Optimization
Just about every quality framing plan I’ve seen tags the lengths of the headers, ceiling joists and rafters to the nearest 1′ increment. This is a great guide for both the estimator and the framer. If however, the estimator is quantifying all the 4′ members to be cut from a 2x6x12, and the framer is actually cutting these from a 2x6x8 or 2x6x16, then this will obviously result in a substantial takeoff error. This schedule is actually the back of my business card. It is also published on every page of my framing plans.
This schedule is based on the lowest common denominator for typical lumber lengths: 5’ members are estimated and cut from 10’ boards; 7’ members are estimated and cut from 14’ boards; and, 1’, 2’, 3’, 4’, 6’ members are estimated and cut from 12’ boards. All other tagged member lengths, such as 8’, 10’, 12’, 14’, 16’, 18’ etc. are estimated as their nominal length.
I believe that any communication tool that aligns the estimator with the tradesmen will result in a cleaner, more profitable project.
John, this is a great point. Is there any customization of the Vrez spreadsheet needed to align with this thinking?
Hello Nathan,
For VisionREZ users (my tool of choice for BIM), this cut schedule is built into the database right out of the box. The takeoff information on the “BOM” tab of the spreadsheet quantifies all framing members based on this schedule. Also, this is fully customizable to how you prefer to estimate. For example, if you want all short members to be cut from 14′ lengths, then you can easily set that up for all framing members in your database. The following link will is an image of the database. http://www.photoshop.com/accounts/619e0f47646b4b1ead00d32d1f052e28/px-assets/cf1d81ca8f604a35810a46e9de2ee5d8 To customize the cut-schedule, adjust the “Partial Length” values on the bottom/right screen of your database.
Happy Estimating – John
I’m glad you posted the example as our techies have filtered out hyperlinks in email. Is there any reason the 1′-0″ length is at the bottom? Again, thanks for the great example.
No real reason. It was probably entered last. These can be sorted by clicking the column headers.
I really like the idea of your blog…I know there are others like us needing the info. Autocad’s Augi is great for autocad stuff, but doesn’t come close to this type of detail. I added LVL members in the style manager for new size beams, but these are showing up in the bom failed. Do you have a specific process for newly created structural members and how to link them in the bom process?