FastDUCT Reviews

Ease of use and ability to train others to use. Seeing what is being taken off as you go.

Need to update the fiberglass duct off to include 1 1/2" ductboard.

This product has all the bells and whistles you need, fast and easy to learn, on screen takeoff, and the ability to customize to suit your style of working. The people there are always ready to answer questions when the need arises. This product along with Fastpipe is used daily by me and I highly recommend you give it a try.

I can't think of any at the time of this review. This product has it all covered.

This product is really easy to use. It save a lot of time and you can teek it to match most of your needs.

You are unable to create your own catalogs and pricing. Some of fast Duct prices are way out of line. An example would be to insert a metalbetsos catalog ,or a norfab. Also the workbook they provide is full of errors that take time to fix.

The ability to make a multitude of different takeoffs/sections for a project

The Quick Pick Menu could be better customizable

The takeoff features have been vital to our day-to-day since using FastEST. We came from doing everything on paper, and now it's so much more convenient, accurate, and easy to do it all digitally.

I use FastEST in a virtual machine on a mac. Sometimes the software can start to lag if I have a lot of takeoff items already.

It's very easy to understand & use. Customer support is just a phone call away. Catalog/pricing updates come automatically and keep you running smooth.

Hmm, not so much on software but material systems such as different pressure class aluminums, FRP ductwork, PVA coated ductwork

I have used Fastduct and Pipe for several years . I not only am able to produce extremely accurate bids and take offs, But I use the recap sheet for quick change out bids for service and construction. Once I set my parameters, its remarkably fun and easy to produce bid after bid and be in the middle with all my competitors and be awarded 80% of my bids. Plus they keep updating with new features which I usually find some of the new features helpful depending what area I am focusing on at that time.

When setting up your export file to send to a vendor for pricing , it can get a bit overwhelming as the vendor doesn't want all the details as they have to input it into their computer and their computer adds all the little details. So you have to edit it then send it. But for that extra step I can accept it Fastduct and Pipe is awesome !

I really like the simplicity of learning the software and the how simple it is to customize my take-offs.

A feature I would like to see is when taking off rectangular duct system and I choose a square to round fitting, to automatically go into the round duct take off mode.

reliable and I trust it's accuracy when comparing hard dollar bids

not all items on within the system that sometimes I normally use (fittings)

not as costly as other programs on the market but it still has tons of features that provide accurate and detailed estimates for jobs. staff is very quick to respond to any requests for help or troubleshooting.

because it is set up using national averages it does not reflect local data for the market i work in so we need to constantly make adjustments to multipliers within the program to compensate for the differences. once the multipliers are set up in the program it works fine though.

FastDuct allows me to quickly and accurately perform take offs of most any project we have come across. On top of this when we are completed we can quickly look at projects floor by floor and generate detailed excel spreadsheets of the project. Within this spreadsheet we can also keep track of all additional costs allowing for a very details project breakdown.

There is no shortcut keys within this software. That means all repetitive tasks need to be clicked through step after step.

Cut my estimating time in Half and I can easily go back and review jobs.

not being able to quickly scroll through drawings or find drawing that I had previously
taken off with going through each and every one

The ease of use is fantastic. Ability to import new drawings and revised drawings is great.
Customization is easy.

The way duct is totaled in the summary is not intuitive.

It is simple to use with images of the parts, our junior staff can easily become operational with a short training. The reports are clean and simple to use. We purchase our ductwork and we enjoy the flexibility.

The settings are flexible but it can be difficult to navigate in the options. Also some softwares have an option of a auto select the elbows etc... And the fact we have to create new sections for acoustic liner can be time consuming.

It is Excel based. It is easy to work with and understand.

American pricing and unable to talk with regional HVAC supplier price lists.

Easy to use. Support staff is excellent to work with. No matter what the problem maybe they can fix it. They worked with me on several occasions to develop the perfect excel sheet for my business.

Would like to see HVAC piping and insulation added to accomplish a complete system.

Take-off ease and speed, use of catalog items.

difficult to add some specialty items to catalog for repeated use.

Alot of customizing can be done to fit a companies type of bidding/ work.

Matching the labor hours estimated with our company's production proformance.

Fastduct is user friendly, easy to make special job items for one time use.
Easy to sort data, break out floors, or duct design type.
Ties into our Sage accounting system.
Over all a very good product.

does not currently have a search feature.

Doing takeoffs are real easy and you can combine all of your takeoff are you can do real detailed breakouts in the workbook section.

There is no way to square foot a drawing in the takeoff mode