Contractors prepare estimates for the work items that they are responsible for executing. The estimate contains the list of task items/work packages, with details like the task code, amount of work done/quantity, manhours required, and the cost involved under various cost types like labor, material, etc. The estimate can also have consolidated items for similar work falling under the same cost codes and to be executed at different locations, different times, etc. Each consolidated item contains cumulative values for work done, manhours, and cost details. Consolidated items can be distributed for different parent tasks, sub-tasks, or activities, sharing the manhours, cost, and quantity appropriately. The task code helps effectively track the progress and the cost incurred for each work item.
Once an estimate is uploaded to a project, the project managers can use its line items to add tasks, sub-tasks/field tasks/activities into their schedule. They can also link an already added task line item to an estimate item. This enables tracking manpower and equipment expenses and costs incurred for the tasks under various heads like labor, material, equipment, and more. See Estimates – An Overview to read more about estimates.
When a change order is added to the schedule, the work cost estimates submitted for the change order automatically add to the project.
You can link task items to the project estimate line items in three ways:
Add Tasks from the estimate
You can add task items at any level to the schedule.
- Creates new line items with the task item chosen from the estimate at the same hierarchy level as the previous line item.
- The values for the task code, planned effort hours, and the unit of work are auto-populated from the estimate.
- You can edit the values as required for the currently added task.
- While adding an item from the estimate, you can also specify the manhours required for that line item.
- The specified hours are deducted from the total hours of that estimate item, and the remaining hours will be available for allotment to similar tasks added from the same estimate. See the illustration given below to learn more.
To add tasks from the estimate
- Navigate to the schedule page of the project
- Ensure that you are in the Grid view
- Identify the task under which you want to add new tasks
- Right-click on the row and choose 'Add' > 'Add Estimate task' from the options
The 'Add Estimate tasks' pop-up shows the line items in the estimate. Each line item contains the task name, the task code, the planned effort hours, and the planned production quantity assigned to each. The list also contains the items from the work-cost estimate you submitted for the change order work assigned/approved to you.
- Select the item(s) you want to add to the schedule
- Specify the manhours required for each task item
- The 'Total Hours' column shows the effort hours estimated for that item
- To allot the hours partially to the task item, double-click inside the 'Hours to be Allocated' cell and enter the hours required for this task. The remaining hours will show in the 'Unused Hours' column.
- To allot the hours in full, leave the 'Hours to be Allocated' unedited
- Click 'Add.'
The selected item from the estimate adds as a task in your schedule, with the task code, task name as in the estimate, default duration as two days, and the current date as the start date.
- Edit the task name, and specify the dependencies, planned quantity, and start date for the task in the respective columns as required. See this page for more details.
- Repeat the process to add more tasks from the estimate.
Add Subtasks from the estimate
You can add items as subtasks to existing tasks at any level in the schedule.
- Creates sub-line items for the chosen parent task
- Fetches the values for the task code, planned effort hours, and the unit of work from the estimate.
- You can edit those values as required for the currently added subtask.
- While adding an item from the estimate, you can also specify the manhours required for that line item.
- The specified hours are deducted from the total hours of that estimate item, and the remaining hours will be available for allotment to similar tasks added from the same estimate. See the illustration given below to learn more.
To add Subtasks from the estimate
- Navigate to the schedule page of the project
- Ensure that you are in the Grid view
- Identify the task to which you want to add sub-tasks/field tasks
- Right-click on the parent row and choose 'Add' > 'Add Estimate Sub Task' from the options
The 'Add Estimate Sub Tasks' pop-up shows the line items in the estimate. Each line item contains the task name, the task code, the planned effort hours, and the planned production quantity assigned to each. The list also contains the items from the work-cost estimate you submitted for the change order work assigned/approved to you.
- Select the item(s) you want to add as the subtasks
- Specify the manhours required for each task item
- The 'Total Hours' column shows the effort hours estimated for that item
- To allot the hours partially to the task item, double-click inside the 'Hours to be Allocated' cell and enter the hours required for this task. The remaining hours will show in the 'Unused Hours' column.
- To allot the hours in full, leave the 'Hours to be Allocated' unedited
- Click 'Add.'
The selected item from the estimate adds as a subtask to the parent, with the task code, task name as in the estimate, default duration as two days, and the current date as the start date.
- Edit the task name, and specify the dependencies, planned quantity, and start date for the task in the respective columns as required. See this page for more details.
- Repeat the process to add more subtasks from the estimate.
The task is auto-assigned to your company.
Link an estimate item to a schedule item
Linking an item from the estimate to an existing item in the schedule fetches the values for the task code, planned effort hours, and the unit of work from the estimate to the schedule line item.
- You can link estimate items only to the task items you added to the schedule and cannot link to a task assigned by the general contractor.
- While linking an estimate item, you can also specify the manhours required for that line item.
- The specified hours are deducted from the total hours of that estimate item, and the remaining hours will be available for allotment to similar tasks added from the same estimate. See the illustration given below to learn more.
To link an estimate item
- Navigate to the schedule page of the project
- Ensure that you are in the Grid view
- Identify the task to which you want to link values from the estimate
- Right-click on the row and choose 'Link Estimate' from the options
The 'Link Estimate' pop-up shows the line items in the estimate. Each line item contains the task name, the relevant task code, the planned effort hours, available effort hours, and planned production quantity assigned to each. The list contains the items from the estimate you uploaded for the project and the estimates you submitted for the change orders assigned/approved to you.
- Select the item you want to link to the selected task
- Specify the manhours required for the task item
- The 'Total Hours' column shows the effort hours estimated for that item
- To allot the hours partially to the task item, double-click inside the 'Hours to be Allocated' cell and enter the hours required for this task. The remaining hours will show in the 'Unused Hours' column.
- To allot the hours in full, leave the 'Hours to be Allocated' unedited
- Click 'Link.'
Illustration:
In the example below, the task 'Excavation and Fill' is assigned 525 manhours as total hours. When you add it as a task item for the first time, the 'Hours to be allotted' will be the full 525 hours.
If you have allotted 240 manhours of 'Excavation and Fill' for the task added/linked from the estimate, then 240 manhours are subtracted from the total 525 manhours. The remaining 285 manhours will be available for allotment when you are adding/linking the same item next time, to other similar work items, for example, excavation for the basement and so on.
The unused hours get subtracted on every inclusion of the item from the estimate to the schedule as per the hours allotted to the item in that instance.
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