Exploring RIB CostX Software Basics & the Estimating Problems it Solves

Effective and accurate construction cost estimation is fundamental to a project’s success, as inaccurate estimates can lead to budget overruns, delays, and irreversible profitability issues.

Traditionally, the cost estimation process involved manual measurements and calculations. Unfortunately, this method is incompatible with the complexity, competitiveness, and fast-paced nature of today’s construction industry. That is where powerful tools like RIB CostX come into play.

Our state-of-the-art takeoff and estimating software can revolutionize your estimating process with the help of automation, BIM technology, real-time reporting, and several other intelligent functionalities. If you are new to RIB CostX software and want to know more about the features and options you have within the software or are interested in becoming a user, this blog post will tell you everything you need to know about this powerful platform.

Keep reading to learn more about the estimating challenges that CostX solves, its key features, subproducts, pricing information, and much more!

What is RIB CostX?

RIB CostX is takeoff and estimating software that helps save time and costs by increasing the efficiency and accuracy of estimates. CostX ensures unmatched profitability levels thanks to features like automation, 2D, 3D and BIM takeoff, revisions tracking, live reporting, and more.

RIB CostX is such a powerful solution because it helps standardize the estimating process, making it error-free. It can also adapt to fit the requirements of different geographies, industries, companies and project types. For example, you can create databases of rates for different regions or locations and apply them across your projects as needed.

The features provided by the software go beyond the estimating phase, expanding throughout the entire project lifecycle and helping companies achieve the expected levels of quality and profitability. Collaboration is at the heart of the platform. All relevant takeoff and estimating data can be easily accessed and shared, ensuring everyone is on the same page. A revisions tracking feature promotes the transparency of changes to help evaluate their impact.

Sustainability is one of the core values of RIB Software and has been integrated into CostX. A powerful carbon estimating feature allows users to assess the environmental impact of different decisions, helping to reduce the project’s carbon emissions from planning through construction, operation, maintenance, and end-of-life. 

What Estimating Problems & Challenges Does RIB CostX Solve?

Common cost estimating problems can be solved when using powerful software like RIB CostX. The advanced features provided by our platform remove the complexities of the process, making it way more efficient and successful. Some of the common challenges CostX solves include:

Speed & Accuracy

As mentioned above, traditional construction cost estimation methods rely on tedious, time-consuming manual tasks that are prone to error. RIB CostX eliminates the need for manual work by offering unmatched levels of accuracy and speed. Users can take off quantities from various design document formats, including scans, PDFs, CAD, and BIM files, and calculate areas, lengths, and counts with just a few clicks. Historical data from past estimates can also be the foundation for accuracy and speed.

Efficiency

RIB CostX is a true multi-user platform that allows almost unlimited team members to work simultaneously on large, complex estimates to increase efficiency, shorten delivery and, thereby, increase accuracy and the ability to make timely, informed decisions. The availability of network and cloud deployment options allows remote working, where necessary, further enhancing efficiency and sustainability.

Collaboration

With so many processes, people, and tools working simultaneously, efficient collaboration in construction projects has become fundamental for success. Unfortunately, as important as coordination and communication is, it is and has always been a challenge in the industry. In fact, it is one of the biggest reasons for rework. RIB CostX software alleviates this issue by boosting collaboration with its speed and accuracy in reporting the impacts of design changes. It keeps everyone in the loop about what was changed, allowing alternative scenarios to be tested and shared with other teams or the client. 

Design Changes

If you are a part of the construction industry, then you know that change is unavoidable. No matter how effectively you plan your timeline, budget, and resources, unexpected situations can happen. Manually updating estimates to reflect these changes is a challenge that can be solved with the help of software like CostX. Our platform live-links estimates to project designs, ensuring any changes are automatically reflected in the estimates. This greatly reduces the risk of errors or rework. Plus, the revisions tracking feature allows an audit trail of the different design changes to be maintained.

Profitability

When bidding for a project, contractors must accurately calculate the required resources, including materials, equipment, labor, and others. These calculations will allow them to price their bids correctly and ensure they profit from the job. Any mistakes when pricing their bids can lead to irredeemable financial losses, making manual estimating too risky. Additionally, manually estimating the cost of the project can take a long time, which, in a dynamic market, can also leave them outside of the bidding window.

Luckily, tools like CostX have been developed to help contractors and construction companies leave manual calculations in the past with automation, removing the uncertainty from the takeoff and estimating processes and allowing contractors to submit precise bids. But not just that, additional progress tracking and reporting features ensure any cost deviations or potential issues can be analyzed and solved to avoid issues with profitability down the line.

Reporting

Whether at the feasibility, pre-construction, tendering, or final account stage, clear, comprehensive, and informative reports are required to present the latest values, benchmarks, and comparisons to all stakeholders. RIB CostX has an in-built report writing functionality that allows highly customized and distinctive report outputs to be produced to suit each situation.

Why Choose RIB CostX Over Other Estimating Solutions? Key Features & Functionalities

The topics discussed above are just a few of the many estimating problems that can be solved using RIB CostX. To keep putting the value of the platform into perspective, below is a breakdown of the main features and functionalities the tool offers.

2D Measurement

A wide array of two-dimensional drawing formats are supported natively within the CostX software, with tools available to take maximum advantage of the varying levels of ‘intelligence’ inherent in each to facilitate faster, smarter, and more accurate takeoff.

BIM Support

Integrate BIM capability into your estimating process with CostX BIM functionality. Accurately estimate quantities and costs directly from a range of BIM files, including large data repositories, to help you reduce errors and improve quality while collaborating with other disciplines.

Live-linked Estimates

CostX offers live-link functionality across all aspects of the takeoff and estimating platform. This ensures quantities, costs, and carbon values are automatically updated when a design change occurs, helping you assess their impact to provide advice and prevent mistakes arising from outdated information.

Carbon Estimating

The best estimating software should go beyond the evaluation of costs for labor, materials, and equipment and should allow assessment of the environmental impact of those components. CostX offers robust carbon estimating capabilities that allow you to estimate the environmental impact of different designs, materials, and construction choices, ensuring your projects are as sustainable as possible.

Subcontractor Comparison

Build a database of quotes to ensure you pick specialized contractors for your projects at the best price. This will help you save time during bidding, as you can easily compare subcontractors. It is important to note that this feature is not available in the USA now.

Customized Reporting

This feature allows you to accurately communicate information to the client and other team members in a bespoke, visually appealing format. This level of data accessibility and investigation enables you to spot issues and fix them to ensure everything runs as expected. You can choose from standardized templates or generate customized reports for specific requirements.

Revisions Tracking

This feature enables users to seamlessly update quantities and costs based on the latest design changes. An audit trail tracks changes and communicates their impact on budget, timeline, and carbon emissions to the client and other relevant stakeholders.

Rate Libraries

With this function, you can create various databases for materials, plants, labor, and equipment costs or carbon rates across different regions. The databases can be used across multiple projects, estimating costs much faster. Rates can be easily updated and reflected in your estimates.

Assemblies

Libraries of common assemblies can be created and made available for use in any estimate across the system. Each assembly can contain virtually unlimited components, each of which can be linked to variables that allow for adaptability from one project to the next.

Zones

This function allows you to divide complex projects into smaller zones to give a granular view that helps analyze, estimate, and present the project’s resources and requirements more accurately and seamlessly.

RIB CostX Subproducts

The above features help construction estimators, quantity surveyors, contractors, and other professionals ensure error-free estimates. Additional subproducts offer a competitive advantage to boost profitability and quality while staying environmentally conscious.

CostX BIM

Our leading BIM cost estimating software covers all BIM bases. The platform allows you to visualize and take off quantities from various BIM files, including DWF, DWFx, IFC, RVT, SKT, and more, taking advantage of the embedded intelligence of each format. Advanced viewing tools like customized filters make it easier to navigate through the model and find the answer to crucial strategic questions. User-defined properties ensure you’ve got all the information you need in one place to avoid errors or omissions, saving you time and increasing efficiency.

The software also supports 5D BIM by allowing you to live-link user-defined rate libraries to the model, ensuring all relevant information can be accessed from one place. Adding this cost data layer to the model ensures all design changes are automatically reflected in your quantities and costs, avoiding costly errors and rework.

CostX Carbon

CostX also functions as carbon estimating software, offering powerful features to mitigate the project’s short—and long-term environmental implications. Our partnership with EC3 ensures all users have access to a database of verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which allows users to calculate the embodied carbon of different building components, helping them make environmentally conscious decisions.

Powered by 6D BIM, CostX also offers the option to generate interactive, customizable reports to track your projects’ carbon emissions. You can compare as-built totals with your initial estimates to adapt where needed, helping you achieve your sustainability goals.

CostX Cloud

Last but not least, our software has multiple deployment options, one being in the cloud. This option allows you to access the software from any web-enabled device regardless of location, boosting collaboration, accessibility, and efficiency.

Additionally, deploying CostX in a cloud environment means you can forget about lengthy software updates; you’ll always have the latest version available without effort. Plus, the cloud infrastructure is flexible and scalable, meaning it can grow as your business grows. Advanced levels of security and automated data backups are additional benefits.

RIB CostX Pricing Options

RIB CostX pricing will depend on the needs and size of the company. For starters, you can purchase a standalone license, which means the software is installed on a single PC for use by a single user. Alternatively, you can buy a network license, which means the software can be installed on multiple PCs with a central database installed on a server. Additional pricing options include:

RIB CostX Complete: This version offers all the features mentioned in the blog, including 2D and 3D takeoff, reporting, subcontractor comparison, carbon estimating, auto-revisioning, and more. It is perfect for companies that want the full CostX experience.

RIB CostX Core: This version offers most of the powerful features of the complete version, excluding BIM support and auto-revisions. However, it still offers unmatched accuracy and speed in the estimating process. 

RIB CostX Quantify: As its name suggests, the Quantify package is tailored for contractors, quantity surveyors, or estimators who want to use only the quantity takeoff capabilities of the software. It includes features for 2D and 3D takeoff and auto-revisioning.

Final Thoughts

As you learned throughout this post, RIB CostX is a powerful and innovative cost estimation software that adds unmatched levels of accuracy, speed, and quality to your estimating process. The powerful features in the software ensure contractors can generate seamless and precise bids that will result in high levels of profitability.

RIB CostX supports the estimating process from the initial stages of the project all the way through the end, updating your data as soon as anything changes, helping maintain quality and success. Additional features for carbon estimating and BIM support ensure you can go that extra mile, giving you a huge competitive advantage.

If you are curious about all the benefits our powerful estimating and takeoff platform offers, get your free demo for RIB CostX today!