In the lovely South East corner of Queensland, Designers and Works personnel from Caboolture Shire Council are using Benchmark Estimating Software for their Civil Works estimating.

Caboolture Shire Council originally purchased 5 Benchmark licenses in 1998, and now have a staggering 15 people using the Benchmark system.

As Derek Yarrow from the Design Section states, Benchmark Estimating Software "… is quick and easy to use, gives us a standard format for estimates, provides good report formats for different purposes, and allows us to have more control over the rates we use in our estimates".

Within Caboolture Council, both the Design and Construction sections use Benchmark. "The Design Office predominantly produce estimates at the Unit Rate level. This estimate is then taken by the Construction Unit who prepare their own estimate in more detail, and at the Resource level", says Derek.

Caboolture Shire Council works on approximately 50-60 Civil projects each year, some of these involving 2-3 estimates per project, and ranging up to $800,000.

"We originally purchased Benchmark as it suited our needs best. Benchmark also reacted very quickly to modify the software for the things we required. Benchmark's support is very good, and we always get a response quickly", Derek goes on to say.

To read about the Shire of Caboolture visit their website