ABSTRACT
Introduction The use of computers by estimators has grown steadily since the early 1980s when stand-alone computers were introduced to the desks of estimators. It has been diffi cult
to measure the improvements that computers have brought to estimating performance. This is probably because the benefi ts come from additional facilities that manual systems cannot provide. For example, quantities or rates can quickly be changed at any time with a computer system. Summaries can be produced by using sort codes representing elements or sub-contract packages.
