Custom app for quantity surveying in earthworks
Appfront builds apps that allow groundworks and civil contractors to determine and substantiate the quantities of a project: the survey before and after the work, the difference in cubic metres per section, the loads and weighbridge tickets of material removed or delivered, and the payment statement to the client with the survey attached. So that discussions about the recoverable quantities are held with the same figures on both sides of the table.
What is a quantity determination app for groundworks?
Quantity determination in groundwork means establishing how many cubic metres have been excavated, backfilled, moved or removed, and substantiating that to the client. In a RAW specification many items are chargeable: the quantity paid is the quantity measured, not the one stated in the specification. An app turns the surveys before and after the work into a terrain model, calculates the difference per section, links loads and weighbridge tickets to the removal and supply, and places that as substantiation under the progress statement.
Without such an app, the site manager counts loads in a notebook, the crane operator estimates how many went out each day, the estimator converts loose soil to compacted volume using a factor from experience, and the surveyor's measurement sits in a PDF that nobody lays alongside the loads. The client re-measures, arrives at a lower figure, and the discussion becomes about method rather than soil.
We build custom solutions because the determination has to match how you measure and how you settle accounts: which equipment you survey with, whether your machines have GPS control, which specification system your clients use, and how your estimates and progress statements are currently produced. A surveying package calculates volumes, but it knows nothing about loads, specifications or progress statements.
Survey and model
GPS rover, drone or machine control measurements as a terrain model before and after, per section, with the difference in cubic metres and the soil type per layer.
Loads and weighbridge tickets
Every load removed or delivered, recorded with registration plate, destination and weighbridge ticket, converted to cubic metres using the density per soil type, alongside the measured quantity.
Specification and progress statement
The measured quantities against the specification quantities per item, the difference as additional or reduced work, and the progress statement with the measurement attached as an appendix.
How we build your app for quantity determination in earthworks
We start with a project where the settlement was difficult: what was measured, what was counted, what the specification stated and where the discrepancy arose. The app follows from that.
The equipment you survey with, how loads are currently counted, which specifications your clients use and how the progress statement is currently produced. We look at the projects with the largest discrepancies.
Per project, the sections and the specification items, the baseline survey as the model and the follow-up surveys on top of it, with the difference per section and per soil type.
The site manager or driver records loads on the phone with licence plate, destination and weighbridge ticket, linked to the section and item.
The progress statement with substantiation per item, integration with costing and invoicing, and then management and the extension to machine control.
What an app for quantity determination in earthworks concretely does
The components below recur at almost every earthworks company. Which ones you need depends on your surveying equipment and on your clients.
Terrain model per survey
Surveys imported as a model, with the baseline survey as the foundation and each follow-up survey as a layer on top, per section and per soil type.
Volume calculation
The difference between two models in cubic metres per section, with excavation and fill shown separately and the conversion between compacted and loose volume.
Load registration
Loads on the phone with licence plate, time, destination and weighbridge ticket, linked to section and item, with a density check.
Specification items
The items from the specification with the specified quantity, the measured quantity and the difference, as the basis for additional and reduced work.
Progress statement
Per period the quantities per item with the measurement and the loads as substantiation, ready for the client and invoicing.
Machine control integration
As-built data from machine control as a measurement, so the model grows along with the work without a separate survey.
For whom we build an app for quantity determination in earthworks
The app is built for companies where payment follows the measured quantity, and where that measurement currently comes from separate sources.
Earthworks contractors
Excavation, backfilling and removal for contractors and developers. Volume calculation per section and loads with weighbridge tickets are the core.
Civil infrastructure contractors
RAW specifications with chargeable items for municipalities and water boards. The specification items and the progress statement with substantiation matter most.
Plant contractors with earthworks
Plot work, ditches and embankments for farmers and water boards. Simple load logging and rover-based measurement are what you need.
Companies with machine control
Cranes and bulldozers with GPS control that measure themselves. Linking the as-built data to the model is the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
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Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about measuring and charging quantities. For planning the machines that do the work, see our page on an app for equipment planning in earthworks; for the administration of the soil itself, our page on an app for soil flow administration under the Bbk; and for the budget that the quantities come from, our page on work budgeting software for construction. You can read about our approach at building software.
For the excavation notification from your own planning, with the area information shared with the crew, there is our integration for the KLIC notification.
If you want to reuse surplus soil on another project, look at our soil balance and soil flow software.
If the work involves asphalt rather than soil, with plant tickets per section and layer, see our app for the asphalt statement and daily production.
Why choose Appfront for your quantity determination app for earthworks?
Quantity determination comes down to one figure that two parties must agree on. We build on that: the same measurement, the same loads, the same supporting evidence.
The measurement is the source
Not the operator's estimate, not a factor from experience. The model before and after, per section, and the difference in cubic metres.
Loads and measurements match
What has been removed sits alongside what was measured. A discrepancy shows up during the work, not at the final settlement.
The payment statement carries its own evidence
Quantity, measurement and loads per item. The client checks the supporting evidence, not the contractor.
Security and privacy for a quantity determination app for earthworks
The app works with measurements, specifications and prices that belong to a project and a client. Access is set up by role and by project: the site operator logs loads and sees the quantities for their work, the estimator sees the specification items and prices, and the client sees only the payment statement and supporting evidence for their own project in a portal. Once recorded, measurements and weighbridge tickets cannot be changed without a trace.
The app runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily back-ups. Integrations with measuring equipment, machine control, costing and invoicing use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about a quantity determination app for earthworks
Questions that earthworks contractors and civil infrastructure contractors ask before getting started.
From before-and-after surveys, the app builds a terrain model, calculates the difference in cubic metres per section and per soil type, records loads with weighbridge tickets alongside the survey, compares the measured quantities with the items in the specification, and produces the progress statement with the supporting evidence.
Surveys from a GPS rover, a drone or machine control, imported in the common file formats. The equipment you use determines how the survey comes in; the calculation and the supporting evidence are the same afterwards.
For each soil type you set the conversion between in-situ and loose volume, and the app applies it when comparing measured cubic metres in the ground with removed cubic metres in the lorry. The factor you use remains your choice; the app shows which factor was applied.
Yes, through a portal showing only their own work: the progress statement per item, the survey as a model, and the loads with weighbridge tickets. This means the check is a look at the same figures rather than a separate re-measurement, and it shortens the discussion over additional and reduced work.
Yes. The items from the specification are held in the app with the specified quantity, and the measured quantity is set beside each item. Chargeable items thus produce additional or reduced work, supported by the survey; how you handle that contractually remains part of your own process.
Yes. As-built data from machine control enters the model as a survey, and the quantities go to your estimating and invoicing. We connect to the packages you use; the app does not become a second estimating system.
Check that first. Land surveying software calculates volumes from measurements, and that is enough if you only need the final volume. Custom software makes sense if loads and weighbridge tickets need to sit alongside the survey, if contract items and payment schedules need to follow from it, if the site foreman needs to record data on their phone, or if the client needs to be able to see the supporting evidence themselves.
Every cubic metre measured and documented, before the final account?
Tell us how you survey now, which specifications your clients use, and on which work the settlement last became a discussion. We will show you what the model, the load registration and the progress statement look like.