Automated Estimate of Quantities

[john.uhden]

Does anyone know of such software for AutoCAD?  I am thinking of one that will create construction callouts from a database where the user just adds the quantity or extracts the value from the drawing objects and then creates a table with all the items and their quantities.  Even better would be to provide a table for each sheet as well as one master table.  Plus, if the database contains unit prices, then everything is exported to a spread sheet where the costs are calculated and totaled.

If not, then I will create it myself.

[Ranjit_Singh]

Civil3D allows you to do quantity takeoffs from surfaces, export tables and summarize it all. Same with pipe networks and structures. As long as you have a pay item associated with each of those entities you can also report cost. You can output report in csv format from toolbox in prospector.

[john.uhden]

Thanks, Ranjit.  This will be in the context of C3D.  But it involves everything... curbing, striping, pavement, sidewalks. storm, sanitary, topsoil, fertilizing and seeding, signs, etc.  If I have to write it myself, maybe I can harness some of the C3D methods.  Is the API available as it was in LDT?  It wasn't available in C3D 2008.

[Ranjit_Singh]

I am on Civil 3d 2015 and the functionality is all already loaded. I assume you are on 2014 and it should be available by default. Look under QTO Manager under Analyze tab. Civil 3D will allow modeling aecc objects that have some 3d functionality (surfaces, pipes, manholes etc.). But if you need something for planar objects, striping for instance, you do not need to "model" anything with civil 3D aecc objects; you just lay it all out with native autoCAD entities (line, plines etc.), and then assign a pay item code to those entities. This will allow you to run quantity and cost estimate.

[john.uhden]

Yay!  Thanks for that info.  Where I am working (catch that? WORKING) they have 3 c3D2010 and just 1 C3D2014.  I wonder if it's worth the upgrade.

[wkmvrij]

A long time ago I made a system called PowerBOM. It was in the days where 3D design was not yet common practice. A draftsperson could define parts numbers in a balloon, upon which action the part was inserted in a database, with all kinds of details, partly lookup and partly written by the draftsperson Typical work was on oil and gas installations. 

The BOM could than be published from the company database, and treated by all sorts of departments for their own purposes, procurement, planning and the like.

 I have the remnants of that project still in my possession, such as routines to communicate with Oracle, MySQL, MSACCESS, DCL interfaces to define description lines etc etc.

... then I will create it myself. You sound like me 🙂

[john.uhden]

I don't intend to be as ambitious as all that.  I actually wrote one years ago with take-off and such, but it is old.  My current thinking is to attach objects by object type and layer to construction items, but maybe I would be better off attaching xdata to objects.  That would enable ssget filtering to improve performance.  Of course the idea includes populating a spread sheet with all the arithmetic complete.  And of course a table in the drawing.  Maybe even one for each sheet between match lines.  The primary purpose is for road projects.  I just spent 2 days checking an engineer's estimate for construction plans using printed sheets, a scale, a calculator, and colored pens and highlighters.  Reminded me of creating and routing hydrographs by hand, ugh.  Those are things you should do only once in your life.

[kaushikcivil99]

Hey John. I was searching for ways to automate quantity estimation through ACAD and landed on this thread. I just wanted to check if anything was achieved since then. 

[Sea-Haven]

Quantity take off really needs to be custom made for each user as their needs are different. Often you may need more than one  quantity program. Eventually may be able to join all of them into one big program. DATAEXTRACTION is good but often lacks things like count of common items.

If you provide some details of what your trying to achieve, what objects, then some forum users here may be able to help, with some functions meeting your needs.

[john.uhden]

@wkmvrij ,

I don't intend to pursue it  any further.

I suggest seeing if C3D suits your needs, or continue where you left off with your own work.