CATO Software
The acronym CATO represents Computer Aided Take Off. CATO represents the computerization of the previously manual process of measuring & describing (referred to as “taking-off”) and printing all of the components that make up a building in order for a contractor to price it. Taking off is traditionally one of the Quantity Surveyors most important important and most basic functions.
CATO Enterprise is the software package designed and produced by Causeway Technologies Ltd. in the UK. CATO is one of the worlds leading brands of computer software for quantity surveyors, and is used extensively in the UK, Asia and throughout the Caribbean. Jireh Consultants Inc. was appointed in 2005 as ECL’s sole licensed seller and technical support agent of the CATO Software Solutions throughout the Caribbean.
CATO Enterprise is a high performance suite of software for all stages of Cost Advice and Management.
From Feasibility through Final Account to Costs-In-Use, this suite provides easy to use, Industry Standard software that has been developed with the close participation of the profession and provides powerful support to the QS.
Using the latest technology and user interfaces, CATO allows the Quantity Surveyor to provide cost advice and management of the highest quality, with great consistency, at the highest speed and at the lowest cost.
An empirical analysis has shown that the use of CATO Software can reduce the overall time taken for BQ production by up to 30%. This enables the user to become more efficient, but at the same time more accurate, and the consistency of the final document enables the surveyor to present a more favourable corporate image.
CATO Enterprise provides the flexibility that makes the software attractive to Contractors and Project Managers, as well as the traditional Quantity Surveyor. Users can tailor their purchase to match their particular requirements, without being forced to buy modules that they will not use. At the same time, attractive packages are also available, allowing the user to make significant savings when certain modules are bought in combination with others. The following individual modules are available:
- QuickEst: for the production of initial and feasibility estimates based on historical data.
- Cost Planning: an easy-to-use, yet powerful database-run package used to generate detailed Cost Plans and Estimates.
- Procurement: the flagship module, for the production of Bills of Quantities. Based on the SMM7 library (but with other libraries available), and using codeless technology, this package takes over the tedious and time consuming tasks such as computation, cut-and-shuffle and formatting, leaving the surveyor free to concentrate on the technical aspects of BQ production.
- CADMeasure: permits quantification direct from the design teams AutoCAD® drawings, increasing the accuracy of the measurement process. Quantities are seamlessly transferred to the Cost Planning and Procurement modules for even greater efficiencies.
- Cash Flow: this module generates cash flows for the duration of the project. Cash flows can be based on traditional ‘S’ curves or on user-defined circumstances for unique situations.
- Cost Management: designed to manage construction projects based on the Management Contracting (“work package”) procurement method. The project is split into a series of trade-based contracts, and payments, variations and final accounts can be tracked separately for each package. Ideal for contractors and Project Managers.
- Project Controls: the post-contract companion to the Procurement module. Within this package, the payments, variations assessments and final account calculations for the single contractor are generated. Based on the contract Bills of Quantities, this module permits the project QS to manage the entire post-contract process in an electronic format.
- E-Tendering: the processes of issuing Bills of Quantities, the pricing of them by contractors and the return of their bids can now be carried out in a secure, tamper-proof electronic format. The BQs are converted into Microsoft® Excel format and burned onto a CD. The contractor simply has to enter his rates upon which page, element and tender totals are automatically generated. On return to the QS, all rates are automatically downloaded into the Procurement module, permitting the surveyor to begin his technical analysis within minutes of the return of the bids.
- Whole Life Costing: with Facilities Management and Whole Life Costing becoming an integral part of surveyors services, this extremely powerful module allows the QS to generate data using a variety of scenarios in a minimal time-frame.
About Casueway Technologies Ltd.
Established in 1979 and formerly known as Elstree Computing Ltd, Causeway is focused on the provision of industry standard IT solutions for construction and construction related professionals. The user community comprises a mix of Government Organisations, Local Authorities, Private Practices and Property Developers, supported by a network of regional support centres around the world. Causeway’s underlying business philosophy is to build an understanding of it’s client’s requirements and to work with them in partnership to provide an effective solution.
To request a CD containing demos, manuals and a free, fully functioning 30-day trial version of all modules of the software,
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For more information about the CATO software, and how it can increase the efficiency of operations in your organization, please download our flyer (in pdf format) by
clicking here
To download the free Adobe Acrobat
® Reader,
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