Item coding is crucial for creating fast and accurate estimates in residential construction. By assigning a unique code to each material, labor task, and subcontract allowance, you can avoid missed costs and ensure consistent margins. With CountBricks, item coding becomes an AI-driven process that captures spoken items and links them to live pricing, ensuring reliable estimates and professional proposals.
Item coding prevents duplicate or forgotten items, accelerates workflows, supports data-driven project reviews, simplifies change orders, and creates audit trails for warranty or legal claims.
CountBricks enhances item coding with real-time voice capture, AI-powered mapping, and live price feeds. This ensures that your estimates are always current and accurate.
1. Open a new project in the CountBricks dashboard.
2. Tap the microphone and describe the work.
3. The AI matches your description to an internal code and references the correct supplier price.
4. Quantity, unit cost, and labor hours appear instantly in your estimate.
5. Review, adjust markup if required, and save.
Start with a pre-built template or import your own spreadsheet. Keep codes short, use intuitive prefixes, attach default waste factors, and store supplier information with each code.
Adopt the CSI MasterFormat, review unused codes quarterly, and color-code high-risk items for visibility.
Item coding ensures that every phase of the project communicates with the same database, from takeoffs to invoices, providing real-time cost-to-complete forecasts.
Visit CountBricks.com to schedule a live demo and see how item coding can transform your estimating process.
Riverside Custom Homes transitioned from a chaotic spreadsheet system to CountBricks item coding, resulting in faster estimate turnaround, reduced cost variance, and improved profit margins.
Standardize your codes, train your team, review monthly, and automate updates to ensure accurate and efficient estimating.
If you've experienced inconsistencies in your estimates, it's time to move to code-driven estimating. Book your personalized onboarding at CountBricks.com and safeguard your next residential build.
