Material Lists

[Skip]

Hi All,
Using X5.
I am curious, to what extent, if any, are folks using the material list function of CA? We are a Design-Build firm with now three designers. I have kicked around the material list a little bit but haven't invested much time in it. I guess my question is - is it worth investing time learning it's capabilities or am I likely to discard it after learning of its limitations (if any)?

Thanks,
Skip.

[dshall]

Hi All,
Using X5.
I am curious, to what extent, if any, are folks using the material list function of CA? We are a Design-Build firm with now three designers. I have kicked around the material list a little bit but haven't invested much time in it. I guess my question is - is it worth investing time learning it's capabilities or am I likely to discard it after learning of its limitations (if any)?

Thanks,
Skip.

I don't get it yet, I do not think it works very well and I do not think it is user friendly, therefore I do not use it. There are others who would disagree.

Of course if your were able to figure it out, the accuracy will depend on some very good model builders. If you are even asking the question, I question how good your 3 designers are at creating a good model. Again, there are many users who would disagree with me.

[gteacher]

Skip:

If you get 10 responses here, you’ll probably get ten points of view. There are so many limitations and anomalies in the material list, that most people have given up and just ignore it. Just do a search and you’ll see a huge list of suggested improvements.

Your question comes up about every six months, with about the same conclusion that until Chief makes some “common sense” improvements, the material list isn’t worth wrestling with the limitations.

For myself, I use the material list in about every job I do, but I export the list and import into my own program to properly redefine, sort, organize and list the materials with additional info. Note that this cannot be accurately accomplished without itemizing the component lists in conjunction with the material lists.
Properly done, and with some considerable effort, I found that I can offer a reasonable cost and material list service to my builders using Chief.

IAE, the material list in Chief should be looked at, only as a starting point, not a final product.

[lbuttery]

even CA states in the manual that the ML is only as good as the model is

the more you use workarounds the more manual fussing needed

I think those that rely on it have found ways to manually fuss

I don't it is possible to use it without manual intervention

Lew

[MPDesign]

I think it does the basic materials correctly.
Studs, wall sheathing, subfloor, roofing, drywall, insulation, standard millwork(case & base, crown etc)
Some of the stud counts are weird sometimes with little blocks pieces being counted. I ignore that)
dont forget to add for waste and margins for bad materials.

[perryh]

I also just don't use it at all. It's to difficult to get an accurate list.