Calibrating HyperEstimators

Step 3A-- Calibrating Prices in the HyperEstimators

The two HyperEstimator construction estimating software programs are only designed for ballpark "planning" estimates, so you shouldn't need to spend much time calibrating them.

NOTE-- We retired the MacNail and BidMagic estimating programs in 2000, and replaced them with Goldenseal construction estimating software. Goldenseal is an integrated program that also includes accounting, scheduling and contract writing. We keep these instructions online for our die-hard BidMagic and MacNail users! The calibration process for the Goldenseal estimating software, is similar to that for our older programs.

Many of the assumptions about a project made by Hyper Estimator and HyperRemodeler are "hidden", to save you time in the rough estimating process. Consider them to be "black boxes" that deliver a reasonably accurate price very quickly, without much need to understand how they work.

For more accuracy, or if you want to see exactly how each cost is arrived at, use the MacNail construction estimating software instead-- it's designed for much more accuracy, although it does take more work!

How accurate can you get?

Because of the shortcuts we take in calculations, you can only expect to hit consistently within about 10% on the overall contract price for medium-to-large projects, using HyperEstimator or Hyper Remodeler.

You may see larger variations on small or specialty projects, since they are more likely to be thrown off by some of the assumptions we make. For similar reasons, some individual line items may vary by as much as 50% even when the overall bid itself is sufficiently close for planning purposes.