Work with Enterprise Level Assemblies

An enterprise level assembly is a cost item that is composed of other cost items and calculations, which the application uses to determine the actual quantity and costs of the components.

This is similar to a visual assembly, except that you define the components and calculations using the Enterprise Level Assembly Setup. Once you define the components and calculations, add the assembly to a catalog or estimate and set the specifications for the components.

Click to expand the assembly. The expanded assembly appears highlighted in pink and its members are highlighted in light pink. Click to collapse the assembly. If the quantities of cost items have a red border, the Show assembly member quantity based on assembly quantity of 1 checkbox is selected in the Estimating Preferences screen.

The status displays the current state of the cost item. This feature is especially useful when more than one person is working on an estimate or catalog to communicate the state of the cost item. The status is for display purposes only. You can mark cost items that need to be reviewed by another person or to alert others that the cost item has been changed. Statuses include:

  • Blank

  • Edited

  • Reviewed

  • Alert – Item appears in red

Note: Once you edit a cost item, the status automatically changes to Edited.

The reference of a cost item is a code that uniquely identifies the cost item. Each cost item in a catalog must have a unique reference. Cost items in an estimate, alternate, or change order do not need a unique reference. This means that you cannot leave the Reference blank in a catalog, but blank references are allowed in an estimate, alternate, or change order. The reference of a cost item can contain both numbers and letters.

If you edit or delete a cost item, only the tab where you made the change is affected.

For information on adding cost items to alternates, see Alternates Overview. For information on adding cost items to change orders, see Change Orders.

To open a job in the Manage Estimates screen, click Estimating > Estimating > Manage Estimates in the All Tasks pane. Then select the job you want to open, and click OK.

Tip:
  • Multiple users can work on the same job in the Estimating tab at the same time. The last person to perform an edit function to an estimate item will have the data retained.
  • Any sorts a user performs are temporary unless the job is set to Exclusive mode, which allows you to save sorts. Moving items also requires the job to be set to exclusive, or the move will be temporary.
  • To turn Exclusive mode on, get all other users to close the job, then select Set Job Exclusive. Make the changes to the estimate, then turn Exclusive mode off by selecting Set Job Exclusive again.
  • You can also lock a job, which not only turns on Exclusive mode, it prevents other users from editing the job. Note that all users can view a locked job. To lock a job, get all other users to close the job, then select Lock Job. To unlock a job, select Lock Job again.
  • Any filters performed in the Estimate tab are only seen by the user performing the filter.
  • You will see changes occur in real-time by changing tabs in the Manage Estimates screen or by refreshing the Estimate tab.