Here is an overview of how four people in the local construction industry use their computers.

• Builders’ Design Group
   “I don’t know what we’d do without computers anymore,” said Karen Monaco, a partner at Builders’ Design Group of Bremerton. “I use AutoCAD 2000 to design homes, remodels and commercial buildings.”

Computer-assisted design (CAD) software gives users the ability to draw detailed layouts of building exteriors and interiors, virtually measuring the finished building. According to selected options, CAD translates the measurements into material and labor costs.

“I prefer for customers to work with a builder, so they don’t go over budget,” Monaco said. “I can show a customer plans within their budget — what horizontal laps or shakes will look like,” Monaco said. “I can show floor and foundation plans, cross sections and outside views. With AutoCAD, there’s no concern of ruining an original drawing. If I try an idea and don’t like it, I hit ‘undo.’”

Monaco works with Pro Design of Tracyton, which oversees structural calculations to meet earthquake codes. She works with Peninsula Truss Company of Belfair, which designs roof layouts. CAD programs are also available for duct, electrical, plumbing, sprinkler, door and railing designs.

• Cook Construction

“People expect a builder to have a website,” said Karla Cook, vice president of Cook Construction, home building company of Silverdale. “People work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. – the same as business hours.”

The Cook Construction website features a mortgage calculator, reflecting Cook’s interest in numbers. Her background is bookkeeping.

“People laugh at me,” said Cook. “I still have a typewriter and file hard copies of everything, in case the computer goes down.”

Although learning computer technology has not come easily, she praised the flexibility of construction accounting software. She has tracked labor and material costs of each home built. She has extracted specific information to control costs. For example, the amount spent on interest payments, which affect percentage of income. She has reviewed reports on a quarterly basis to see if costs can be tightened.

“I can monitor business a lot closer for waste factors or problem areas before it’s crucial,” Cook said. “Recovery time is quicker.”

E-mail has been quicker, too.

“Telephones are a big distraction,” Cook said. “I send schedules to subcontractors and confirm materials, supplies and installation dates by e-mail.

• Fairbank Construction Company, Inc.

“Microsoft Project is a good, critical-path scheduling tool which allows us to implement a lot of data and spread out costs and schedules to predict draws,” said Brian Dempsey, president of Fairbank Construction Company, Inc., a custom builder of Bainbridge. “Draws are monthly bills that are sent to customers.”

A recent project in Winslow is the Courtyards on Madison, a 30-unit condominium. Project managers e-mailed customers, keeping them abreast of construction progress.

“Typically, our customers are in different places of the world,” Dempsey said. “Email increases credibility, efficiency, profitability and the communication process. We keep our customers informed on a regular basis.”

Field supervisors keep PCs at the work sites and e-mail progress reports and pictures to project managers. The project managers, who work in the office, e-mail the updates to customers.”

Dempsey’s customers also shop the Internet to select their roofing, windows, doors and security systems, keeping Fairbank Construction on top of products.

• James H. Robinson Company, Inc.

“I had a computer long before I could trust it on bid day,” said Jim Robinson, the chief executive officer of James H. Robinson Company, Inc., a commercial building company of Bremerton. “The first time I used a computer for bidding was like taking a first parachute jump.”

Robinson has depended on Timberline accounting software to bid jobs successfully. Timberline has streamlined the entire estimating process, from conceptual estimates to final bids of materials and labor.

On bid day, subcontractor bids may still be finalized moments before the final bid is tallied and relayed by cell phone to the company’s representative at a bid opening, in a specified location. Robinson has come to rely on Timberline’s speed. He plans to buy another printer to become more competitive.

“The military has been e-mailing blueprints for some time,” Robinson said. “The Navy is on the cutting edge. Before too long, I plan to buy a printer that can accommodate paper measuring 30 inches by 36 inches.”

Robinson has contracted building projects at Puget Sound Naval Station, Naval Submarine Base Bangor and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division at Keyport.