RSMeans Data Online Reviews

Unfortunately it is hard to like much about the software. Many of the assemblies are inaccurate. I am still waiting for a response from the technical service department for a "ticket" that the sales rep put in 5 months ago about inaccurate calculations.

The customer service is almost non existent. Emails and the website advertise that their is customer service available until 10 PM. After speaking with a very unpleasant gentlemen, named Kireee, that responded to me by saying "oh my god, reeeally", I discovered he didn't know how to do anything more than sign on to the program. He was the same individual that promised I would get a call back from the training department 8 hours earlier, because he doesn't know anything about construction, only how to log on to the program. He had no idea how to even start an estimate. When he offered to sign on to my computer screen, the software program he used was too outdated for my computer which gets updated regularly. Needless to say, no one from the company ever contacted me. When I called back to speak to a different customer service rep, another "at home" person, named Athena, answered with a hostile attitude. Her only response was to also have someone call back.

The access to all the trades and the ability to match items to specifications has been a great help. also being able to retrieve old proposals and have them update quickly

I also have the JOC software from RS Means which no one at RS Means seams to understand and they have tied my passwords to the same account but if I am locked out of one I can not get in the other one.
Then all the tech know how to fix this is delete all your cookies. these are place markers for other programs and be cause of the failed IT side of this it makes it hard to accept it as a leader.

Ability to line item choose from all RS Means disciplines we subscribe to. Ability to customize our output reports. RS Means have the majority of the systems that we need to provide accurate budgetary estimates.

I administer our RS Means account, but I very, very seldom use it myself. As the account admin, I am forced to be one of the user accounts; therefore, I have to allow staff to log on with my e-mail and password to use the online cost estimating. We have determined that we do not need more than two simultaneous accounts and our preference would be to assign the licenses to who needs them, when they need them. I can do that with the non-admin license, but not with the one assigned to me. I’d prefer not to have staff logging on as me (administrator).

RS Means is extremely helpful in creating conceptual Budgets. It offers me an array of building models to start with and a comprehensive library of assemblies to add, subtract, or change the model to fit the particular building that I am estimating. The end result is a quick and accurate conceptual budget, with a detailed summary of the estimates assumptions.

My set sum estimating on projects is also enhanced by allowing me to search RS Means data to compliment our in-house historical data. This virtually eliminates planning bias when pricing items within a project that we do not have historical data for.

I had a little trouble getting knowledgeable feed back from the rep that called for the renewal. I probably should have contacted customer support with my question but I received the renewal call before I had a chance to. The rep was very nice on the phone.

The data is updated regularly and is relevant to the local area

One has to consider the estimate given by the software for reasonableness. Sometimes their numbers are obviously not correct. For the work done most often this is not the case. For some less common work efforts, their data is questionable.
The way they name the tasks is sometimes arcane. it seems like people are organizing the data that have not done the work before. Maybe they could use pointers to give something multiple entry points for different ways of saying it. They seem to have "maintenance" relatively often on the weekends, making it hard to use at that time.

The outline style breakdown helps with finding what you are looking for in a timely manner

The search function is tough to get the wording just right to find what you are looking for

ability to find items, ability to find items

The Purchased Means Database does not work with our PROEST SOFTWARE:
- Does not update Quarterly
- Inconsistent cost results
- Does not allow for Union vs Non-Union pricing
- Assemblies are not easily modified, and Units are almost never Industry Standard Units for Assembly

It is very important for us to estimate our projects. RSMeans give us what we are looking for

It should be more resources of YouTube to learn the software for new users

It is so much easier than the books! You can search but need to narrow it down for speed.

I can't search as fast as I would like and can't customize the export into Excel to match my contract spreadsheet. Also exports into Excel that have certain symbols, do not work

The fact that it is reactive to current costs and I know that the cost I am seeing online is reflective of the current pricing world. I love the assemblies tab and wish that it would grow. I really appreciate the search feature. I like that fact that it is digital and saves me from hauling a book or books around and I believe that most of the time it saves me time versus looking it up in the book.

The search feature is too rigid often only searching one area when there can be multiple terms for the same item. I would love to see the assembly section grow. There are many other tasks that would be an incredible time savings if they were in the assembly section. I would like to see more explanation of what all is included in a line item. explain the processes more thoroughly that help decide one category v another.

Large database and still able to enter customized line items that fit our needs.

Even though the database is large there are lacking items for residential remodeling. Some areas are robust whereas others have very few and require more leg work creating line items.

The software is user friendly and gives a good foundation for cost estimating.

Sometimes I find the cost estimate to be rather low compared to actual bids.

Rs means has a good database with a timely update with the latest prices.

Rs Means is not best with the user friendly

The content is fairly comprehensive and helps me get a better idea what costs may be for certain tasks or items. It also gives me the ability to see what the costs are through the different regions of the country. That is helpful because we service clients nationwide.

Sometimes I find it clumsy to navigate around. Also it never fits on my screen. I always have to scroll to the right. At times when I'm searching for an item I may have difficulty finding it. Even simple things.
The reports are flat out terrible .

Easy to search for the data
Many tips available to do the cost estimate (e.g. how to do the quantity take off regarding foundation, spread footing)

RS Means sale various versions - Heavy Construction, Concrete & Masonry, MEP, Commercial renovation Cost. I have all of them and found out only a few added data-base specific to the title, not much worth to pay for.

Abbreviation dictionary: It has most of the abbreviation but does not cover all. I have to google from time to time.

Useful line items, and ability to price out how much it installation is.

- Limited in terms of what items you can find and price out. We use this software to price out energy conservation measures and some technologies are just not listed which is a limits how useful it can be on a project to project basis.
- Sometimes pricing is not realistic for metropolitan areas. Worked on a project in San Francisco and spoke to someone local that said that the prices were nowhere near what RS Means was saying, they were much higher.
- need to create every time i want to put together and export pricing for something small. Sometimes I get small requests for pricing and instead of being able to put a couple of items together, export it and send it out, i have to create a project and then put it together to export.

the 2019 on line service brings up 2nd, 3rd, 4th level data a lot quicker than in the past. I use the production info and modify for projects and the materials costs are extremely helpful. searching from the search bar is quick.

upon opening the divisions are open. when working on a laptop it is harder to close the section. it would be good to have a setup button to determine whether we want that open or not.