Did You Know These Line Items Existed? or Are You Missing These Line Items?

Did you know there are over 27,000 Xactimate codes and counting?

 

Each month Xactimate adds more line items to the price lists. When estimating water restoration in Xactimate, we normally are dealing with WTR, HMR, CLN, CON and DMO. We may dabble a bit in PLM, FEE, TMP, CAB and a few others occasionally.

Often estimators increase their efficiency by finding patterns that can be repeated over and over. Unfortunately, we may find ourselves in an estimating rut and not even know it.

Because we use the same line items repeatedly, we may miss new line items that are added to the price list. It could be months, or in some cases, years before we recognize a line item that we should have been using but didn’t even know it was there.

We could blame Xactimate for this and ask why they didn’t let us know it was there! But they did!

Each month, Xactimate puts out an email detailing all the new line items that are included in that month’s price list.

You can locate these changes by going to Xactware’s Eservice Center and searching price list modifications. There are also organizations that send out alerts to these new line items, Actionable Insights is one of these organizations.

If we are just doing water mitigation and not repairs, these lists could seem exhaustive. How often does Xactimate really update WTR? More often than you would know.

We will aim to let you know when new line items are developed that will affect water mitigation claims. We apologize we haven’t done this great service up to this point!

We will not let you know all the line items created each month. Instead, we will specifically target new line items you should think about using and when they would apply. Also, how these new line items could affect your bottom line (positive or negative).

(This post catches you up all the way back up to January. Reets Drying Academy will try to take on the task of keeping you up to date with the new line items that will affect our awesome mitigation contractors and estimators. By paying attention to these details, you can maximize the profitability of your company.)

 

Learn other valuable Xact line items and estimating techniques that will help you justify using them at our next Estimating and Negotiating Plus Course 

 

HMR & WTR HBAGG and HBAGG>

 

For example, in January a few line items were added to HMR and WTR. These line items were HBAGG and HBAGG>. This is for plastic glove bags for hazardous material cleanup. That is a good line item for wrapping pipes when dealing with hazardous material. To be honest, I don’t think we will use that line item very much in our company. 

 

WTRTUBD

 

In March, the line item WTRTUBD was added. Previously, what line item were you using? Were you using PLMTUB remove only? That line item was $64.47*. It wasn’t exactly what we were doing. There is some additional time and effort necessary for a tub we are detaching and putting aside to have someone else reinstall later. Some may have tried to use PLM TUB detach and reset, and then set the calculation as .5. That would be $269.22! If you can get paid for that then great. But once again, not exactly what we are doing. Obviously, there is more labor involved in reinstalling the tub than detaching it. Splitting it in half probably wasn’t easily justified in the majority of cases. Adding WTRTUBD at a price point of $86.31 is a win. It is a larger price point than just removing the tub and is easier to justify than halving PLMTUBRS. You’re telling me you don’t want the $20?

 

Learn how to make money using Xactimate with the Reets TV Estimating Pro series. Learn more HERE

 

 

 

WTRPPEM

 

In April, the line item WTRPPEM was added for just the N-95 mask. Hopefully, you are using this line item and this form of PPE while working on site for the health and safety of your customers and employees. The line item is $6.40 per mask. Note that an N-95 is still included in the line item WTRPPE. But if you are just using the mask, you can now use this line item.

 

HMRASBTPA & HMRASBTPAS

 

In May, the line items HMRASBTPA and HMRASBTPAS were added. These line items are used in conjunction with each other. This is for an asbestos air clearance test for after remediation was done. ASBTPA is the base charge and ASBTPAS is charged per sample. If you are doing asbestos remediation and are having a lab or testing company come onsite to inspect, take samples, analyze and report findings then this line item should be used. Note this is for post abatement. You should still charge ASBT for the initial testing. These line items are not intended for a contractor taking the sample and sending it to a lab. Use HMRASBTS for that (charge per sample). HMRDIS for disinfecting a building via fog was also added at $.43 /sf. Notice this is not a volume (CF) charge, but square feet.

 

HMR & WTR HEPAFSH and HEPAWSH

 

HMR and WTR HEPAFSH and HEPAWSH were added. This line item is for HEPA vacuuming exposed framing with sheathing on floors and walls, respectively. If vacuuming all the exposed walls in a room after flood cutting, you will most likely need to use both HEPAW and HEPAWSH. If Hepa vacuuming the sheathing and studs on exterior walls, use the new line item! While WTRHEPAW was $.49 /sf the new line item is $.97. Almost double the price. Even WTRHEPAVAS (detailed HEPA vacuuming) is only $.53 /sf. This will certainly increase your average dollar sale. On one 20 x 20 room, this would add almost $40! Imagine this line item used in several rooms on 1 job. You could see well over $100 added to your average dollar sale. This will make a huge impact by the end of the year.

 

WTR & HMR for dry ice and soda blasting

 

As noted above, in April dry ice and soda blasting was added to WTR and HMR. It was $5.70 and $3.95 respectively. These items covered media blasting exposed and open framed flooring or wall areas. In July, dry ice and sand blasting was added to WTR and HMR again. But you’ll notice a big difference. This line item is for exposed framing with sheathing on one side. This line item would be used in a crawlspace, attic or exterior walls where sheathing hasn’t been removed. What’s the difference? For the past few months, if you dry ice blasted a 1000 sf crawl space due to mold, the price would be $5,700. With the new line item, the same crawl space would be $9,240! That’s over a 62 percent increase on the same amount of work! Add to that the possible use of additional labor hours due to working in a confined space and now you may have something. Line items coming in the near future include Item(s) for supporting countertops when detaching and resetting cabinets. We look forward to that. We will see what kind of time is allotted for that.

*Atlanta, GA price list

 

Want to learn Xactimate online? Reets TV: Estimating Pro Series.

Want to read more great articles on estimating and Xactimate? You might enjoy these articles:

• August Xactimate Price List Changes
• Not Knowing Your S500 Is Costing You Money
• Common Mistake: Adding Fluff To Your Estimate

Written by: Nick Sharp

Nick Sharp has worked with Jeremy Reets for over a decade now. He started in carpet cleaning and mitigation before moving to the construction side as a project manager. He then was the senior estimator for Champion Construction for over 8 years. Since its inception in 2015, Nick has been an instructor of our Restoration Estimating & Negotiating course. His most recent venture is in new content development and Instructional Design for RDA. Nick is an Xactware Certified Trainer and also has his Levels 1-3 Certifications in Xact 28 and X1. He’s a bad boy on that sketch but better at finding lost money!