First off, once an estimator, always an estimator. The mindset, challenges, and problem-solving skills stick with you. But now, I’ve shifted gears—I’m an estimator for Ediphi, helping clients leverage our solution to improve their preconstruction workflows. Over the years, I’ve had hands-on experience with nearly every estimating solution available. While many promise to solve your biggest pain points, none of them truly check all the boxes. Here are the two most problematic (and painful) challenges I faced as an estimator—and how Ediphi turns these frustrations into opportunities:
Imagine this: you’ve just wrapped up a DD estimate for an owner, carefully pricing everything based on the latest documents. You’re feeling good about hitting a major milestone, only to get a call that changes everything. “We’ve decided to remove Unit 5A and replace it with Type 6 units. Oh, and swap out the LVT finishes for carpet tile.” It’s a small change in the grand scheme of the project, but for you, the estimator, it’s a fire drill.
Now you’re forced to pause whatever else you’re working on—because, of course, you’re managing multiple projects at different stages—and dive back into that estimate. You retrace your steps, redo takeoffs, and hunt for the specific quantities buried in the details. The structured rhythm of milestone reviews is disrupted by these out-of-sync owner changes, often coming in randomly, without warning. It’s like flying a plane mid-route, only to have the owner ask you to redesign the wings and change the fuselage on the spot. And while you’re trying to accommodate these requests, your attention is pulled in a dozen directions, making the mental gymnastics of context-switching even more draining. For an estimator, this isn’t just frustrating—it’s the daily reality of balancing speed with agility in an unpredictable environment.
Ediphi transforms these last-minute changes into opportunities to build stronger client relationships. With its modular approach to the estimating workflow—leveraging predefined scopes like Units and Rooms—you can quickly adjust parametric data and refactor the entire estimate with ease. For example, changing flooring finishes in a lobby from polished concrete to terrazzo recalibrates the associated costs in seconds. This speed and flexibility not only satisfy the owner’s immediate needs but also position you as a proactive partner, offering solutions that ensure preconstruction progresses. By addressing changes with such agility, Ediphi helps you delight clients, secure their trust, and advance to construction faster.
Every estimator knows the sinking feeling of needing accurate cost data—right now—only to realize you don’t have a reliable way to track historical costs internally. In those moments, you’re left scrambling, relying on subcontractors or vendors to provide inputs. But they’re swamped with their own priorities, leaving you with vague promises like, “We might be able to get something to you in time.” Desperate for answers, you dig through old projects, chasing down bid documents or asking colleagues what they carried for a similar cost. It’s a frustrating, time-consuming process that leaves you second-guessing your numbers and wishing for a better system to lean on.
Ediphi solves this challenge with a modern, cloud-based Unit Price Catalog that stores all your line items, showing where they were most recently used, by whom, and at what cost—adjusted for regional differences. With Ediphi, you can examine a single line item across multiple years, reviewing associated costs and quantities in order to gain context on the pricing so that you can confidently choose which unit cost to carry. This allows you to spot outliers where quantities were unusually high and costs deviated. Beyond individual line items, Ediphi also maintains detailed project data, enabling you to reference historical costs at the project level, organized by Use Group (sometimes called asset class). This comprehensive approach puts powerful data at your fingertips, making it easier to estimate with confidence and precision.
All of these are just some of the reasons why I wish I had Ediphi when I was an estimator. It’s not just about solving the challenges of today—it’s about building a smarter, more efficient future for preconstruction. With tools designed to streamline workflows, adapt to change, and empower estimators, Ediphi is redefining what’s possible in estimating. Whether you’re navigating last-minute scope changes, chasing down historical data, or juggling multiple projects, Ediphi is here to help you work faster, smarter, and with greater confidence.
