Quotes and Subcontracts
Some parts of a bid come from other companies. Vendors quote material packages, such as the lighting fixtures or the switchgear. Subcontractors quote work with its labor and material, such as the fire alarm or the trenching. Each one is a quote package of the estimate. Until a quote is selected, the estimate carries the package's placeholder amount.
| Menu | Open the workspace of an estimate, then click Quotes |
| Permission | View all projects and bids to see the quotes. Manage own projects and bids, or Manage all projects and bids, to change them |
| Feature | Estimator Estimates |
What you see depends on your role. If the menu, a button or a setting on this page is missing, ask your administrator to give you the permission listed above or to turn on the feature. Only administrators can turn features on and change site settings.
The Quotes and subcontracts page lists the packages of the estimate, with what each one carries into the estimate and its low quote. The bar at the top shows the totals of the material quotes and of the subcontracts. The workspace adds them to the total of the estimate.
Add a package
- Click Add material quote or Add subcontract.
- Enter the Name, such as Lighting package or Fire alarm, and a Description.
- Enter the Placeholder: the amount the estimate carries until you select a quote, such as last year's price for the same package. Pick the Breakdown node and the Cost code the cost belongs to.
- Under Scope, click Add scope item for each part of the scope every quote must cover, such as Fixture types A to F, Lamps or Emergency drivers.
- Click Save. The leveling page of the package opens.
The kind of a package does not change after it is added.
Enter quotes
On bid day, quotes often arrive at the last minute. On the leveling page, enter the Vendor and the Amount, and click Add a quick quote. Add the rest later.
To enter a whole quote, click Add quote, or Edit under a quote:
| Card | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Vendor | The vendor or subcontractor, the contact, the quote number, the day it arrived and the last day it holds. |
| Amounts | The Quoted amount, the Freight and the Tax the quote adds. Adjustments level the quote: above zero to add, such as a fixture type the quote leaves out; below zero to deduct, such as lamps the owner furnishes. |
| Scope | For each scope item of the package: whether the quote Includes it, Excludes it or does Not state it. For an item it excludes or does not state, enter the Plug: what it costs you to cover the gap. |
| Notes | The inclusions and exclusions as the quote words them, and your notes. |
Level and select
The leveling page shows the quotes side by side: the quoted amount, the freight and tax, the adjustments, each scope item and the Leveled total, which adds them all and the plugs. The quote with the lowest leveled total is marked Low. Above the low quote shows how much more each other quote is.
A cell in yellow is a scope gap without a plug: the quote excludes the item or does not say, and nobody has priced the gap yet. The lowest quoted amount is often not the lowest once the gaps are priced, so price them before you select.
Click Select under the quote to carry. The estimate carries its leveled total, and the package shows Selected. Click Unselect to go back to the placeholder. When you change or delete the selected quote, the estimate follows.
Material in a quote
The install labor of quoted material, such as the fixtures, stays in the lines of the estimate, and its material is in the quote. In the workspace, set the Quote cell of such a line to the package, or select the lines and pick the package in the Quote list above the grid. The line keeps its labor and carries no material; the line panel shows the material the quote covers. Only material quote packages can cover lines.
When you delete a package, its quotes are deleted, and the lines it covered carry their material again.