EDELCA Cuts Electrical Takeoffs from Days to Hours — Straight from the PDF

• Company: Electricidad del Caribe SRL (EDELCA)
• Industry: Electrical & Mechanical Contractor
• Location: Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic
• Founded: 1986
• Speciality: Power systems, emergency generation, renewables, structured cabling, BMS, HVAC
• Estimating team: 5 people
• Website: edelca.com.do

Results

• Takeoffs cut from 3–4 days to less than 1 day
• Up to 4X faster takeoffs
• 8-10 hours saved per project, roughly 80–150 hours a month
• 3 estimators on one project at once, up from 1
• No more waiting on CAD files: takeoffs run directly from PDFs

The Bottleneck at the Start of Every Bid

Electricidad del Caribe (EDELCA) has designed, installed, and supervised electrical power systems across the Dominican Republic since 1986. The Santo Domingo firm has delivered large electromechanical projects nationwide and has installed more emergency generation systems than any other company in the country. Over the past decade, it has added renewable energy, structured cabling, building management systems (BMS), and HVAC to its portfolio.

Every one of those projects starts with a bid, and every bid starts with a takeoff.

EDELCA's estimating team is five people. Together they bid 10 to 15 projects a month, from smaller commercial jobs to large industrial work, across the entire country. Carlos Eduardo Montas (Vice President of Engineering & Projects) is part of the team that pulls quantities from the drawings and turns them into bids.

Before: Counting from Memory in AutoCAD and Excel

Before adopting Togal.AI, EDELCA's takeoffs ran through two tools: AutoCAD to identify and count elements, and Excel to tally them. Quantities moved between the two by hand.

Most of that work was manual. By the team's estimate, measuring, organizing, and cleaning information took 70–80% of the total takeoff effort. A typical takeoff took three to four days — and that was when the drawings were available in AutoCAD.

The workflow had several weak points:

• Counts nobody could fully trust. "Even when we counted, we weren't sure of the number, because it was from memory, or the process was slower," Carlos says.
• Printing and counting by hand. When AutoCAD wasn't an option, the team fell back on printing the drawings and counting on paper.
• One person per file. The takeoff file couldn't be opened on several computers at once, so only one estimator could work a project at a time.
• All hands on rush jobs. On large projects or tight deadlines, most of the team had to get involved.
• Waiting on CAD files. The takeoff couldn't start until .dwg files arrived, and they weren't always available.

EDELCA Wanted Fast, Accurate, Traceable Takeoff Software

When EDELCA decided to change its process, speed was only part of the goal.

"Speed, accuracy, and traceability in our takeoffs," Carlos says. "Knowing what we did, who did it, and why."

For a team bidding every week, a takeoff that can be checked matters as much as one that's fast.

Togal’s Value Add: Construction Takeoff Straight from the PDF

Two things stood out when EDELCA evaluated Togal.AI. The first was AI-assisted Pattern Search, which finds and identifies repeated elements across a drawing set. The second was working directly on the PDFs.

"Being able to work directly from the PDFs, without having to request .dwg files, which weren't always available," Carlos says.

That removed the wait at the start of every bid. The team no longer needs CAD files in hand before a takeoff can begin.

Thanks to Togal.AI, a typical EDELCA takeoff looks like this:

1. Upload the drawings to a project and organize them.
2. Set the scale.
3. Create the classifications the project needs.
4. Take off sheet by sheet, with Togal.AI counting and pre-classifying elements for the estimator to review.
5. Export the quantities as the base for EDELCA's bid template.

Easy to Learn: Up and Running in a Week With AI-Assisted Takeoffs

The team was using Togal.AI at a basic level within one week. From there, they adapted it to their own estimating methodology, with their Customer Success Manager following up closely and running training sessions along the way.

What surprised Carlos most was how easy it was to scale and measure inside the platform.

"How friendly the interface is," Carlos says. "It's more pleasant than even printing it out and counting, which was one of the methods we used to fall back on."

Faster Construction Takeoffs: Four Days Became Less Than One

Takeoffs that used to take three to four days now take less than one, depending on the project. Carlos estimates time savings of up to 75%, or 8 to 10 hours per project. Across 10 to 15 bids a month, that's roughly 80 to 150 hours back for a five-person team.

The way the team works together changed too:

• Three estimators in one project at once, where before only one could work the file.
• Remote review. Carlos checks the team's work while traveling outside the city or the country.
• One place for everything. "It has really cut down on version confusion and hunting for information," Carlos says. "Everything is in Togal."

On large projects, the team works in a more organized way and consolidates information more easily, which saves time further down the estimate.

Greater Confidence in Construction Estimates with Togal.AI

The bigger change is what the team does with the time it gets back.

"We can spend more time reviewing bids for gaps that aren't on the drawings," Carlos says, "because what's on the drawings, we know is properly quantified."

Togal.AI does the counting and pre-classification. EDELCA's estimators review and correct the results, so they stay in control of every number. Carlos puts it simply: less work, and more certainty. Fewer items fall through the cracks.

The process is also more consistent from one estimator to the next. "It's more standardized, easy to monitor and, most important, it has traceability that lets us spot mistakes easily," Carlos says. New estimators are easy to train and give access to, and the team can take on more bids without adding estimators at the same pace.

What EDELCA Tells Other Contractors About Togal.AI

Asked who benefits most from Togal.AI, Carlos points to estimators first, with supervisors close behind. The problem it solves best for a contractor in EDELCA's market is the need for .dwg files to estimate a project.

For teams still on the fence about AI-assisted takeoff, Carlos points to how quickly the technology is moving. "AI technology is advancing extremely fast. The AI tools today are more accurate than when we started using Togal."

The bottom line, in Carlos' words: "Basically, it's an investment that makes the work easier."

See how Togal.AI handles your drawings. Request a custom demo of our AI-assisted construction takeoff software.