“Having something that helps weed through that flood of information to make sure I'm not screwing myself is really important.”
– Erin Batyreva
Problem: Thick specification books, slow manual estimates, and labor numbers that never match the real world.
Fix: Makeoff uploads plans and notes, points out cost-critical requirements, ties bills of material to live vendor catalogs, and suggests money-saving alternates in a few clicks.
Benefit: Fewer missed items, hours back on every bid, sharper prices thanks to built-in value-engineering tools and real-time material costs.
Best Fit: Complex, non–cookie-cutter commercial projects (hospitals, dialysis/plasma centers, warehouses, mixed-use TI), plus mid-size independents that bid frequently. Government work benefits immediately from spec reader.
A week before this demo, Erin asked herself: “Surely AI should be doing something for me by now.” Paige connected her with Makeoff, whose promise isn’t to reinvent ConEst, it’s to pull all your bid docs together and make sense of it. Makeoff’s differentiator: it “thinks” through materials and notes, ranking what matters by financial severity and generating VE alternates on command.
Erin has been on the front lines of estimating in every form: ConEst (“labor hours were high”), Accubid (“hand‑jammy, heavy setup”), Excel, even pencil & paper. The real killer? 300‑page spec books packed with hidden gotchas and submittal packets that demand every “screw, nut, and bolt.” Missing one buried requirement can completely erase profit.
Time is another tax. Erin color‑codes specs by hand, cross‑checks labor tables against reality, and re-runs VE ideas manually. Government work in particular “jacks commercial up to 11” with thousand-page spec books and certified payroll.
“Specs are designed to screw you on footnote three, subparagraph S.”
– Erin Batyreva
