Countfire Software

Pros

It takes a bit of playing around with to get used to but any question I had was answered within minutes through the CountFire team chat, I find the automatic link with DropBox and CountFire very useful with all the counts done automatically through an excel quantities spreadsheet.

Cons

It doesn't pick up symbols that are the same but at a different angle, so a few extra counts must be done to count all the symbols

Pros

I like the fact we can increase our productivity with both speed and accuracy without the expense of employing an additional estimator.

Pros

Anytime you have a question, the Countfire team is just a click or call away. The team is very helpful and will dive right in to your project.

Pros

Accurate pin point reviews of drawings and measuring along with demaracations covers all bases. Very detailed and produces great information to give to the customer

Cons

Takes a bit to get your head around at first but not an issue and is expected. Eased through initial process by good staff team

makes counting 500% faster

Pros

Symbol recognition is powerful and easy to use.
Collating is made easier to extract when using Excel for other job aspects.

Cons

Not entirely compatible with drawings created from certain CAD or drawing software. The ability to manually count rectifies this but not entirely.

Accurate and backed up take-offs in a detailed excel report but can be slower than would like to get it all taken-off, checked, demarcated and corrections made.

Pros

Great online support, automatic symbol recognition, good checks, and reports. No installation, being able to operate from any computer via the browser.

Cons

Can be slow to load drawings particularly switching between drawings.
Can be slow to process drawings.
Needs a drawing revision function, to update/switch between drawing revisions and identify/compare changes easily.
Dependent on drawings being developed correctly to suit the needs of the software which can be difficult when dealing with consultants.

Pros

Countfire makes doing takeoffs extremely easy and the amount of time it saves leaves more time to do other things that need doing.

Cons

not enough colours in the palette, When you measure & ask for itemised it measures every click not just start to finish giving far to many reults

Pros

The software is a good alternative to the usual means of working with large plans, as it saves a lot of time and space/printing materials

Cons

One of the cons is the requirement of the chrome browser, since the additional software isn't supported by the IT Department.

Fast tracking estimates

Pros

The level of accuracy and ability to populate all take offs into a spreadsheet format.
the software is very easy to use even if you don't have great Computer skills

Cons

occasionally things can be a little slow if drawings files are large.
if you don't have a great internet connection access can be difficult at times if working remotely from Home / Office PC

Fast and accurate take-offs

Pros

Accurate & flexible and once you get used to using the shortcut keys it is very quick. Being able to turn off the background is a great help and the edit tool is really useful. The customer service widget is a great help if you get stuck and Countfire are quick to respond to any issues.

Cons

It would be really useful to be able to add 'drops' or 'rises' when doing a length measurement; at the moment I only count drops as 'points' which I then add up once the project has been possessed.

Not having to waste time producing hand markups

Pros

I have better things to do than manually markup drawings, It's probably shortened the process by about 75-80%. I've found other uses for its capabilities, so it's, even more, cost effective than just its use of tender bids.

Cons

Having to pay.

Pros

The ability to drag, drop and created elements save days of manual counting on paper.
the software can be used anywhere you have internet connection

Cons

an internet connection is required and a large amount of storage for dropbox also

Pros

The speed to be able to create a take-off which would've potentially taken many hours by hand. This software is saving the company so many man hours already.

Cons

Due to the way we use countfire we don't just use it for symbol counts. We use this for the measurement of luminaire leads. Sometimes the drawings can become a little busy and tricky to follow. So maybe the option to turn certain layers drawn in countfire off would help.

Pros

Completes take off on all matching symbols on all the drawings downloaded. Good support from the team.

Cons

A problem when the symbols have numerous elements to them. Not having the accessories taken off when doing a containment take-off, having to go back and take them off as a point once completed the run.

quicker quotation and counting

Pros

1) in general it is simple to use and give a quick access to count and item selection.
2) Very good the split selection

Cons

1)I would add description/comment in the drawings.
2)I would have more "Color selection" if it possible, as sometimes we've got a large number of selection to do (like Grey, Brown, etc...).
3)When we need to count "a point" there is a "circular selection" , could be nice have also a different other selection like a "triangle" or "rectangle". This could be very helpful.

Pros

I was very pleased with how quick the customer support team are to deal with and help with any issues.

A lot of time saved, also able to seperate out certain parts of drawings like landlords and tenants

Pros

So quick and simple to use and great spreadsheet produced to view quantities. Saves a lots of time over manual take offs.

Cons

Not down to the software, but due to some consultants poor drawings some drawings take a lot longer to take off.

saves time

Pros

it saves a lot of time rather than manually counting the items. it tally's up all the drawing at the one time and its very easy to use.

Cons

that when you select an item it pick up others as well. and sometimes you may have to go over some drawing to see if it missed out any of the symbols

Two weeks into our trial period and I cant believe we did not buy this years ago. This software takes all the labour out of manual counting and presents the result in Excel format ready to integrate into any pricing document.
You always get the feeling the lads are there in the background watching you because if any issues arrive they are on the messenger straight away to talk you through it.

Pros

No more printing plans, automated counting and the manual measuring.
Easy to use.

Advice to Others

A handy program to convert pdf pricing documents to excel would leave Countfire as a one stop shop for all takeoff needs.

I tested it in a very complex proyect that probably in the normal way (printing the drawings and counting manually) it could take more than a week, but using countfire it took only 1 hour and a half. Save time, save money and most important give accurate information.

Pros

The time you spend in a hole proyect is a Time saver

Cons

at this point everything is fine

Advice to Others

not at this moment