Why Planswift Remains Essential For Quantity Surveyors in A BIM-Driven World
As the construction industry rapidly adopt Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools such as Navisworks, Revit, ProtaStructure, Civil 3D, and others, many professionals on the side of quantity surveyors and cost management begin to question whether traditional tools like PlanSwift still hold value. In this blog post, Nziza Global draws on its vast experience in software distribution and digital integration in Africa’s construction industry to explain why PlanSwift will remain a vital tool for quantity surveyors; now and into the foreseeable future.
WHAT IS PLANSWIFT?
PlanSwift is one of the world’s renowned digital takeoff and estimating software. Although it is a non-BIM product, it allows contractors, estimators, and quantity surveyors to measure dimensions and generate cost estimates quickly from PDF, DWG, and image files. It has been proven to save over 60% of the time traditionally spent on manual Bill of Quantities (BoQ) preparation.
BIM VS. PLANSWIFT: WHY THEY ARE NOT THE SAME
BIM software like Navisworks offers advanced 3D coordination, model-based collaboration, and data integration capabilities, making it highly valuable for design and construction planning. However, BIM platforms are often complex to learn and use, costly to implement and maintain, overbuilt for small to mid-size contractors and projects
In contrast, PlanSwift excels in areas where simplicity, speed, and ease-of-use are essential: Lightning-fast 2D takeoffs, Intuitive interface requiring minimal training, Seamless integration with Excel and other estimating tools and Ideal for quick, accurate estimating on everyday projects
Rather than competing with BIM, PlanSwift complements it. While BIM manages the bigger picture, PlanSwift handles the critical day-to-day cost estimation and quantity takeoff with unmatched efficiency.
WHY BIM MAY NEVER FULLY REPLACE PLANSWIFT
While BIM is revolutionizing construction design and collaboration, PlanSwift remains irreplaceable for practical, everyday estimating tasks; and here's why.
1. Full BIM integration is still rare in most projects.
Even in companies where top management is digitally skilled and open-minded for BIM, true integration is difficult to achieve without universal stakeholder adoption. A successful BIM workflow requires all parties: clients, consultants, contractors, subcontractors; to be on the same level of BIM maturity.
Let’s break this down with a practical example:
Suppose your company has achieved BIM Level 3 maturity and is operating as a design-build contractor. However, the client and consultants are still working with traditional (non-BIM) tools. What happens then? How does your advanced BIM capability benefit the project? Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Communication, coordination, and data exchange become fragmented, and the BIM advantage is lost.
2. Lack of government mandates in Africa.
In many African countries, BIM adoption is still in its early stages. Without regulatory frameworks or government mandates requiring BIM in public infrastructure projects (which account for a large portion of construction activity), most stakeholders default to traditional methods. Until such policies are implemented, full BIM integration across project teams remains unlikely.
3. High cost of implementation and training.
BIM tools like Revit, Navisworks, and others require significant financial investment—not only for software licenses but also for high-performance hardware and comprehensive training. In Africa where many employers take training and software licenses as expenses not investment, these costs are prohibitive. PlanSwift, in contrast, is far more affordable and easier to deploy without major infrastructure upgrades.
4. Incompatibility with legacy project data.
The construction industry is still heavily reliant on legacy project documents—PDFs, scanned drawings, DWGs, and even hand-drawn plans. These formats are not natively compatible with BIM tools, making it difficult to apply BIM workflows retroactively. PlanSwift, on the other hand, excels in extracting quantities from these traditional formats, making it the go-to tool for dealing with existing or mixed-data projects.
5. Immediate ROI and ease of adoption.
PlanSwift delivers immediate value with a minimal learning curve. Quantity surveyors can begin generating estimates within hours after installation. BIM, on the other hand, often requires weeks or months of onboarding before any measurable productivity gains are realized. For firms looking for fast, accurate takeoffs without disrupting operations, PlanSwift remains the more practical option.
SHOULD YOU CONSIDER PLANSWIFT LICENSE AND TRAINING?
BIM is shaping the future of the construction industry, there is no question about that, but tools like PlanSwift are still essential in the present; especially where digital infrastructure, policy support, and full stakeholder alignment are lacking.
Until BIM becomes a universal standard across all stakeholders and project types, PlanSwift will continue to bridge the gap; providing reliable, efficient estimating solutions where BIM workflows fall short. Whether you're working on large infrastructure or small-scale developments, PlanSwift remains the practical, indispensable solution for fast and accurate estimating.
