How Echo Project Services Streamlined Cost Planning with Kreo

Echo Project Services is a modern, forward-thinking cost consultancy providing high-quality cost management and commercial advice across the construction and property sectors.  We work across a range of sectors including commercial, residential, industrial, hotels, co-living, leisure and hospitality, and student accommodation.  Our services cover the full project lifecycle, from early feasibility through to construction and final account. Our approach is collaborative and data-driven, with a strong focus on providing accurate cost information that enables our clients to make informed decisions throughout a project.

We chose Kreo as part of our approach to using technology to improve the efficiency and accuracy of our cost management services.  A significant part of our work involves extracting quantities and information from drawings to prepare cost plans, estimates and other commercial documents. Kreo provides us with a central digital environment in which we can review drawings and undertake measurements efficiently.  We primarily use Kreo for quantity take-offs and measurement from 2D drawings, including areas, lengths and counts across different elements of a project. These measurements can then be structured to suit our cost plans and exported into Excel for further cost analysis.  This is particularly useful during pre-contract stages, where drawings and designs are continually developing and quantities may need to be reviewed and updated as further information becomes available.

Before adopting Kreo, measurements were predominantly undertaken using traditional PDF measurement software, with quantities then manually transferred into Excel-based cost plans. While this process worked, it involved moving information between separate applications and created additional manual input, particularly on larger or more detailed projects. Kreo has helped streamline this process by providing a more efficient environment for undertaking, organising and reviewing measurements. Its Excel Add-in has taken this a step further by allowing measurements undertaken within Kreo to be linked directly to our Excel cost plans. Quantities can automatically populate the relevant cells in Excel, removing much of the manual transfer of information between measurement software and our cost plans. This creates a more connected workflow and is particularly useful as designs develop. Measurements can be updated within Kreo and subsequently refreshed within Excel, reducing repetitive work, saving time and helping minimise the risk of manual transcription errors.

Kreo has helped us improve the efficiency of one of the most time-intensive parts of the quantity surveying process. By making measurement quicker and easier to manage, our team can spend less time on repetitive take-off tasks and more time reviewing the cost information, understanding the key cost drivers and providing advice to our clients. It also complements our wider approach as a consultancy. We aim to provide accurate, data-driven cost advice from the earliest stages of a project, and having an efficient digital measurement process helps us produce and update that information as designs develop. For a growing consultancy, having systems that allow us to work efficiently while maintaining the quality and accuracy of our outputs is particularly valuable.

Yes. We would recommend Kreo to other quantity surveyors and cost consultants looking to modernise and streamline their measurement and cost-planning processes. The main benefits for us are the ease and speed of undertaking digital take-offs, the ability to organise and revisit measurements as designs develop, and the integration of those quantities into our wider cost-planning workflow. It is intuitive to use and reduces some of the repetitive manual processes traditionally associated with measurement, allowing quantity surveyors to focus more of their time on analysing costs and providing meaningful commercial advice to clients.