Polypro Estimating - Contractor and Distributor Versions

PolyproTake-off

There are very few people out there that possess the knowledge needed to present an effective Polypro Piping Project Bid.  Polypro is a "smart" piping system that requires that certain decisions be made at the time of bidding to get to the right solution.

Though a good product that comes in sizes from 1/2" to 24" and competes against copper and steel directly it is still greatly misunderstood.  We can help you in a number of ways.  We designed a system that helps you make the right decisions and pick the correct parts and pieces to make this system's install go efficiently and in a way that the customer wil get a quality product every time!

Pipe, Valves and Fittings

We have designed a system that will help you with the correct decisions.  Polypro has considerations that other systems simply do not have like there are 5 different types of pipe, and in some cases fittings for 6" and larger.  These differences are critically considered as it relates to the system selection and the temperature and pressure considerations.

If you do not choose this correctly, your system will not function as designed and worse could prompt you to have an installation that may need to be replaced.

With that said, armed with a little bit of selection knowledge, you will find every system that you could select included in our program.  We also can give you an idea on how much it would cost to do the fabrication of this piping too.

Polypro has 90's, tees, adapters, reducers, piping, etc. just like other products.  Our system helps you determine how many couplings you need to include since they are generally more than a typical metal system.  We can also give you an idea of the number of hangers that you need to since they too are usually higher than a typical metals system.

Polypro Selections

Polypro has some unique things that we can help you with during the take-off.  As you open the take-off screen you will be asked to choose you take-off options.

You will be able to choose if you want the program to add couplings automatically, this is usually a good idea, you can also add a coupling for all 4" flange adapters, since they are also required unlike any other size.

You can choose the temperature range and the pressure range, and the program will check this against the system you have selected.  This is critical since if you choose the wrong type it could cause you troubles.

You can also choose the systems type like chilled water, domestic water, heating water, condenser water, etc. and armed with this information and the pressure and temperature as stated previous, this program will check your selection.

The flanges are "Vanstone type" so with every flange adapter you need to add a flange, there is an option selection that will do this for you, so that every time you add a flange adapter to the take-off it automatically adds a flanges ring too.

Polypro Teaching

We believe Polypro Piping is here to stay, and we also believe it will be a big part of our piping industry going forward otherwise would wouldn't have given it such as level of attention in our offerings.

We have currently underway a book, "Polypro Piping in Our Industry, What Do We Need To Know?", to be released in May that will walk you through handling proper costing of this system at the estimate level, and at the project management as well.

The strength of this system is knowing how to evaluate it properly so you can come up with  true cost, and then be able to manage it properly. 

Do you think you could do a good comparison to another system right now?  Do you think you could do an effective take-off either?  We are guessing not, but you're not alone, and the sooner you can the sooner you can make the offering of this system an option.

Once this book is complete, we will offer it here and we will have an associated training to go with it as well on all aspects of this system.

Mechanical Room Piping

Even though your instincts tell you that this system piping should be carbon steel, either butt weld of grooved, the growing trend is Polypro Piping.  Chilled water and condenser water systems are the low hanging fruit for this piping system and are well within the comfort zone of the system performance for this piping.

Our estimating system will help you every step of the way, and our classroom experience will walk you through everything you need to know to make it a successful project.  The other consideration is, if this piping is installed properly, you will edge a project out of your competition that hasn't made the step needed to consider this piping system properly.

Make this a priority before you are the one who is caught off guard!

Fabrication

For the last 30 years, the mechanical contracting industry has been actively pushing prefabrication to help save on labor and be considerably more effective and competitive.  This entails pipe detailing and allotting a portion of the project to the prefabrication effort.

Our system addresses all of these things within our program so you don't have to do it.  You certainly are the one making all the decisions and driving the choices in the program but in the final recap the splits are there and can be manipulated.

Another useful tool that we have to offer is the fabrication can be split into spools.  If you are quoting a spooled project, you can take-off per spool and get a report that quantifies each spool by labor hours, fabrication costs, general conditions, and final totals for each.

It is critical to do fabrication to be successful in this business.  You do not need to have the biggest and the best fabrication facility, but the pre-planning and efforts to streamline your installation and minimize your "on site" presence need to be a part of the equation in a manner that saves you money.  This is the number that we encourage with our system at bid time!

Tools and Equipment

Polypro piping is driven by the proper level of tooling for your fabrication and field installation methods.  Our program will give you estimates on equipment costs as you do your take off as best as we can with the information given.

Currently there are 4 tool manufacturers and there are several distribution and rep agency suppliers out there that sell this product helping with the tooling solutions.  This is a cost you wouldn't want to miss or get wrong.

Firstly, if you do not have the appropriate level of tooling it will seem to save you on rental or purchase cost but in reality it will cost in labor productivity costs.  On the other hand, you can't afford to have expensive tools sitting around not being used.

PolyPro's system requires socket weld tooling for 4" and down, and it requires butt weld tooling for 6" and up.  The socket weld tools can be bought pretty easily, and most like should be as well.

Butt weld tooling is much more expensive and can usually be rented and bought if you have a longer term need or want to invest in future projects.

Shutdowns

Especially in the Industrial Estimating arena for these types of projects, it is pretty much a given that you will be doing at least part of the project under what would be termed a shutdown.

So how do you quantify your inefficiencies?  What could happen to your project?  You may have to add manpower that has not been on the project.  You may have to work overtime not needed on the remainder of the job.  You will have inefficiencies and added safety costs that were not on your original estimate.

If you have to get people from out of town to work this shutdown, you might have to add perdiem costs too.  In most estimating systems, you don't get an opportunity to address these costs as easily as they are addressed with ours.

In our system, you can set the shutdown schedule, the number of men and the duration, and then you are able to address all these costs separately with our shutdown breakout.

This one item could cost you thousands of dollars if you do not get it right.  It is much more complicated than just adding the intended overtime differential and moving on.  Let us help you get it right every time!