bid4build tutorial

7/31/2019 Bid4Build Tutorial

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Welcome to the Bid4Build Construction Estimating System Tutorial. This tutorial isdesigned to take you through the process of quickly and accurately creating an estimate.If you are using the demo system, you will not be able to save an estimate to disk orprint reports to a printer (limited to print-preview to the screen). All other features,functions and operations outlined in this tutorial will be the same between the demo andlicensed versions of the Bid4Build Construction Estimating System.

Please note: We update our programs on a weekly basis. There may be additionalfeatures in both the demo and licensed versions of the program which may not bereflected in the current version of this training tutorial. This tutorial is also designed tocover the basic steps required to create an estimate and associated estimate reports.

MICROSOFT ACCESS vs. MICROSOFT ACCESS RUNTIME

The Bid4Build System requires Microsoft Access (the database program) to run theapplication. If you do not have Microsoft Access installed on your computer, then youcan download the MS Access Runtime for FREEdirectly from our website.

The links below will provide you with more information on installing Microsoft Access andenable you to download the Microsoft Access 2000 Runtime.

Microsoft Access Runtime Information:

http://www.bid4build.com/Art2k.html

Microsoft Access Runtime Download Link:http://www.bid4build.com/runtime/art2kmin.exe

CREATING AN ESTIMATE (OVERVIEW)

There are many features and functions which are included in the Bid4Build system andthere are often several ways to accomplish the same task. These variations aredesigned to enable you the flexibility to choose your specific preference for the stepsrequired to accomplish a task objective.

This tutorial covers the basic steps which are required to create an estimate. At the endof this tutorial, you will be able to create an estimate which can then be presented toyour customer for acceptance of the job.


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CREATING AN ESTIMATE (PRE-ESTIMATE SET UP)

Before you create an estimate, there are a few steps (pre-estimating steps) which aresuggested to maximize the quality or results for your estimate.

STEP A - (TURN OFF THE QUICKSTART MENU)

This training tutorial will use the Bid4Build drop-down menu options, therefore it issuggested to remove the Quick Start menu from the screen display.

1. In the Quick Start menu, click on the command button Exit Quick Start Menu.

STEP B - (DEFINE YOUR COMPANY INFORMATION)

Bid4Build reports have the ability to display your company information. Enter yourcompany information into the Bid4Build program to take advantage of this feature.

1. From the drop-down menu option, select Edit.2. Select My Company Information.3. Supply your company information in the requested fields.4. If you have a digital company logo, import your company logo into the logo box

displayed on the right side of the form.5. Click on the Gold Question Mark in the drop-down menu option, to the right of

Help to display further detailed help information about this screen.6. Exit the My Company Information screen by clicking on the Exit/Return button

(black button located in the top left section of this screen).

Note: If you are using the Microsoft Access Runtime to operate the Bid4Buildapplication, then you will need to follow a few additional steps to insert your digital logo.These instructions can be accessed by entering the following link into your internet

browser.

http://www.bid4build.com/bid4buildlogoprocess.pdf

STEP C - (CONFIGURE THE CRAFTSMAN ITEM COSTBOOK DATABASE)

If you are using the demo program or have purchased the Craftsman Costbookdatabase, add-on option, then you should configure the costbook specific to yourgeographic location. More information about Craftsman and their cost data informationused by Bid4Build can be accessed by entering the following link into your internetbrowser.

http://www.bid4build.com/craftsman.html

Note: The demo program contains just a residential subset of the Craftsman NationalGeneral Construction Costbook database (no commercial data included).

1. From the drop-down menu option, select Item Costbook.2. Select Item Costbook Maintenance.


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3. You are now in the Item Costbook Maintenance screen. Click on the buttonlabeled Area Modification Factors.

4. Type the first 3 digits of your zip code in the field Location Search Value.5. Click on the Search button.6. Double-Click on your city location (displayed in the red field).7. This will place your city in the Location Selected field.8. Click on the button labeled Process.9. Click OK to confirm modification of the item costbook database.

10. Click OK to confirm successful completion of the updates.11. Exit the Area Modification Factors screen.12. Click on the Gold Question Mark in the drop-down menu option, to the right of

Help to display help further detailed information about this screen.13. Exit the Item Costbook Maintenance screen by clicking on the Exit button

(black labeled button located in the top left section of this screen).

At this point, you have adjusted the item costbook to your specific geographic location.You can create and save multiple item costbooks by following this procedure and usingthe costbook Import/Export function.

Note: If you are not able to locate your city (steps 4 and 5 above), select the nearest zipcode for your area location. For example, if the first 3 digits of your zip code are 971,then type in either 970 or 972.

CREATING AN ESTIMATE

Once you have completed the suggested pre-estimate setup requirements, you are nowready to begin to create your estimate. The process of creating an estimate using thistutorial will be the same for the demo and the licensed (production version). You willcomplete the following tasks:

Define a new Customer

Define a new Project Create an Area (define a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) or a physical room

with area dimensions), optional Phase and Area Offsets Locate, Select and Transfer Costbook Items to your Estimate (assigned to the

selected Area definition) Generate Estimate Reports

STEP 1 - DEFINE A NEW CUSTOMER

The Bid4Build system is a sophisticated database which has the ability to store andsearch through thousands of customers.

Specific to this tutorial, you will create a new customer record (even if you already havecustomers defined in the Bid4Build system). Pre-defined customer records would be thecase if you are using the demo system or have already defined customer(s) in thelicensed version).

1. From the drop-down menu option, select Edit.2. Select Customers.


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3. You will be presented with an Add a New Customer screen.

Note: If you already have customers in the database, then you will display theCustomer Information screen. In this case, click on the Add Customer button locatedin the left control panel of this screen. You will then be presented with the Add a NewCustomer screen.

4. Enter the contact information for the customer. You should enter the customerscompany name and/or contact name in the fields provided. At a minimum, enteran Address, City, State and Zip.

5. When you have completed entering all the information for you new customer,click on the Save/Return button located in the left control panel of this screen.

6. You will then be presented with the Customer Information screen.

Note: If this is your first and only customer, then this customer record will be displayedwith the customer number of 1 in the Customer Information screen. If you have morethan one customer record, then the customer record you just created will be assigned acustomer number which is one more than the last customer record number created. Youcan navigate through the customer records by using the record navigation controllocated at the bottom of the Customer Information screen.

7. Click on the Gold Question Mark in the drop-down menu option, to the right ofHelp to display further help information about this screen.

8. Exit the Customer Information screen by clicking on the Exit/Return button(black button located in the top left section of this screen).

STEP 2 - DEFINE A NEW PROJECT

A Bid4Build Project contains specific information about the estimate you are definingfor your customer. This includes Markups, Taxes, and Estimator Information specific toeach individual customer. The Project information also includes customer-specific

report-default information which will be displayed on estimate-based reports.

You can create an unlimited number of projects for each customer. Multiple customerproject records would be appropriate if you wanted to create multiple estimates and tieall these estimates back to a single customer. The selection of the project recordconnects the historic financial and contact information of the customer and project(estimate/job) to the actual estimate you are building in the Bid4Build system (costbookitems, areas, and optional phases).

Projects are defined by first selecting the specific customer you want, then creating theproject record. These steps are outlined below.

1. From the drop-down menu option, select Edit.2. Select Customers.3. Use the List Customers or Search Customers command buttons (on the left

side of this screen) to locate your customer or use the record navigation controlat the bottom of this screen to move to the desired customer record.

4. Once the desired customer is in display, click on the Add Project button (on theleft side of this screen).

5. A tax information message will be displayed. Click OK to confirm this message.


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6. You will be presented with a new Project record screen. Complete theinformation required in the fields of the Project tab (there are 3 tabs to thisscreen form. The default tab is labeled Project).

7. Click on the Gold Question Mark in the drop-down menu option, to the right ofHelp to display help information about this screen. There are sections in thehelp documentation of the Project record which explains Markups and Taxes.

8. Click on the Report Defaults tab at the top of the Project screen.9. If you are using the demo system, these 5 fields of report default information will

already contain demo information. If you are using the licensed version, they willbe blank, therefore, click on the Insert Report Default Information button (on theleft side of this screen). This will insert report default information which you canthen modify, either now or in the future. The information you provide in these 5fields will be displayed in various locations on most of estimate-based reports.

10. For purposes of this tutorial, you are now ready to save your project informationand begin to create the estimate. Click on the Save/Return button (on the leftside of this screen). You will be taken back to the original Customer Informationscreen with your selected customer displayed.

11. Exit the Customer Information screen by clicking on the Exit/Return button(black button located in the top left section of this screen).

STEP 3 - DEFINE AN AREA (AND OPTIONAL PHASES OR OFFSETS)

Once your have either created or selected your customer and project records, you arenow ready to create your estimate.

Note: It is suggested that you configure the customer and project records first becauseinformation from these records (markups, taxes, report defaults etc.) are used incalculating the financial information in various analysis screens, and are required toproduce the full estimate reports. Also, make sure that the project record you wantto use for your estimate has a check mark in the field labeled Select Project forCurrent Estimate You can verify this by selecting Edit from the drop-down

menu options, then selecting Projects to display the project records. Locate thedesired project record to verify the placement of the check mark.

The first step in creating an estimate is to define an Area (and optional Offset or Phaseinformation). At a minimum, you are required to create 1 Area for an estimate.

A. Understanding Phases, Areas and Offsets

It is suggested that you read the definitions for a Bid4Build Area and Phase beforecreating these definitions so you know how they are used in the Bid4Build application.The steps to review this information are outlined below.

1. From the drop-down menu option, select Edit.2. Select How do I Create a Phase & Area.3. You will be presented with a help form which has a series of help tabs displayed.

Information is available on Phases, Areas and Offsets.4. The Example Diagram tab will display a graphic depicting how the Areas and

Area Offsets are calculated.5. Exit the How do I Create a Phase & Area screen by clicking on the Exit/Return

button (black button located in the top left section of this screen).


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B. Deciding between Phases, Areas and Offsets

Once you are familiar with the Bid4Build concepts of a Phase, Area and Area Offset, youare now ready to configure these definitions in the Bid4Build system.

Before creating an Area, Offset or optional Phase, you should first decide how you wantto structure your estimate. Typical questions you should ask yourself may include thefollowing:

Do I need to define optional Phases in my estimate or should I just defineAreas? In most cases, you will not need to define Phases.

Do I want to create Area Definitions for my estimate or just select CostbookItems which are assigned to Item Costbook Categories? (The Bid4BuildSystem requires a minimum of 1 area definition to be created. If one area isdefined, then all costbook items would be assigned to the one area andtransferred to your estimate).

Do I need to define any room definitions for my estimate? (If part of yourestimate involves selecting items for a physical room, then you can benefitfrom the area and offset calculations which are available for items which useSquare Feet (SF) and Linear Feet (LF) units of measure.

Do I need to define any logical area definitions or work-break-down (wbs)structures? Since an area can also represent a logical report breakoutdefinition, such as a CSI definition, you can mix and match both physical andlogical area definitions.

If I have a complex estimate which requires costs accumulated and brokendown by multiple sections, what is the best way to define these using Phase,Area and Item Category sections?

C. Creating Phases, Areas and Offsets

There are two choices you can make when you create a Phase, Area or optional AreaOffset.

Adding to Existing Phases, Areas and Area Offsets

If you already have an existing estimate which contains at least 1 Area definition in theBid4Build System, then it is suggested that you select the drop-down menu option Editand then select Areas Current Estimate. This will display the Phases, Areas andArea Offsets records which have already been created. At this point you can either editthe information displayed, or you can add a new Phase, Area, or Area Offset using thecommand buttons displayed in this screen.

Adding a New Phase, Area and optional Area Offset

If you are in the process of creating a new estimate and have not already defined aPhase or Area, it is suggested that you use the Create New Estimate wizard which willguide you through the process of creating Phase(s), Area(s) and Area Offset(s). OncePhase and Area definitions have been created, the Create New Estimate wizard willthen transition you to the Create Estimate Items screen. This is the screen which isused to locate, select and transfer costbook items to build your estimate.


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Note: The Create New Estimate wizard should only be used to create your First Phaseand/or Area. The Create New Estimate wizard will remove any estimate informationwhich is resident in the Bid4Build System, including Phase, Area, and Area Offsets, aswell as Estimate Items. If you have already created at least 1 Area definition and youwould like to add or modify Phases, Areas, or Area Offsets for your estimate, then youshould use the drop-down menu option Edit -> Areas Current Estimate. If you justwant to add or modify Phase information, then you can alternatively select Edit ->Phases Current Estimate.

The following steps will guide you through the process of creating a new Phase, Areaand optional Area Offset(s) using the Create New Estimate wizard.

1. From the drop-down menu option, select Estimating.2. Select Create New Estimate.3. If there are no Areas created, you will be presented with the Bid4Build Phase

and Area Wizard, Step 1.4. Click on the Help About button if you are not familiar with Bid4Build definitions

of a Phase, Area, and Area Offsets, or would like to see a diagram of an areawith associated offsets.

5. The screen entitled Step 1 will enable you to define an optional Phase for yourestimate.

a. If you are not using Phases in your estimate, click on the Next button.b. If you are using Phases in your estimate, enter the Phase definition(s).

Select the Phase you want to assign to the Area definition you will becreating by placing a check mark in the Tag checkbox next to thePhase. Click on the Next button to continue.

6. The Bid4Build Phase and Area Wizard will then display Step 2 of the wizard.a. If you are using a logical or WBS area definition (for example, creating a

reporting section called General Requirements), enter the name of thearea definition in the Short Desc field. If you would like to provideadditional information to be presented on reports for your shortdescription, enter the additional text in the Long Description field. Click

on the Next button when completed to proceed to the next step.b. If you are defining a physical room for your area definition, enter the

additional length, width and height dimensions of the room, then click onthe Next button to proceed to the next step.

7. The Bid4Build Phase and Area Wizard will then display Step 3 of the wizard.a. If you have defined a logical or WBS area definition (step 6.a. in this

outline), then there will be no need to define Area Offsets, therefore clickon the Next button to proceed to the next step.

b. If you have defined a physical room as your Area definition, Step 3enables you to define any additional Area Offsets associated with theprimary area dimensions which you defined in Step 2 of the wizard. Youhave from 1 to 10 area offsets which can be defined for each primary

area created. Once you have entered all offset information, or if you donot have any Offset information to provide, click on the Next button toproceed to the next step.

8. The last screen of the wizard if the Finish splash screen. At this point, you candecide to navigate back through the wizard to make any changes, or click on theFinish button to complete the creation of your 1st area definition. Click on theFinish button to complete the area creation process when you are ready.


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9. Once you have completed the creation of your first Area definition, you will thenbe presented with the Edit Estimate Area and Associated Offsets screen. Theblue section of the screen contains all the primary area definitions of the currentestimate. The yellow section of the screen displays all the Area Offsetinformation for each Area of the current estimate.

10. At this point you can either change any information for the primary area oroptional associated Area Offset(s), or create a new Phase/Area or additionalArea Offsets.

a. If you would like to create an additional Area definition or define a newArea definition associated with a new Phase definition, click on the Addbutton which is in the blue section of the screen (displayed below).

b. A new wizard screen will display asking if you would like to add a newPhase/Area or add an additional Area Offset.

i. If you select Create a new Phase/Area and associated optionalOffset(s), then follow steps 5 through 8 of this outline.

ii. If you select Add new Offsets(s) to an existing Area then on thefollowing screen, select the primary area to assign to the offset(s)and then follow steps 7 through 8 of this outline.

11. Once all areas have been defined for the current estimate, click on the Exitbutton to exit the Edit Estimate Area and Associated Offsets screen andproceed with the next section of the Create New Estimate wizard process.

Note: It is not required that you define all the areas for your estimate at this time usingthe Create New Estimate wizard. Define only the areas you know are required for thecurrent estimate. Adding or changing Phases, Areas or Area Offsets can beaccomplished at any time once an estimate has been imported or created and isresident in the Bi4Build System.

STEP 4 SELECTING AND TRANSFERRING ITEMS TO AN ESTIMATE

If you are creating a new estimate using the Create New Estimate wizard (which isdescribed in Step 3 of this outline), then upon completion of your area definitions, youwill be presented with the Create Estimate Items screen.

If you have already defined Areas for your estimate and would like to begin selecting andadding Costbook Items (or adding additional Costbook Items to items which are alreadyin your estimate), follow the steps outlined below.

1. From the drop-down menu option, select Estimating.2. Select Add Costbook Items to Current Estimate.3. You will then be presented with the Create Estimate Items screen.

The Create Estimate Items screen is divided into 4 quadrants. The top left quadrantdisplays the Phase, Area and Area Offset information (Area definition section). Thelower left quadrant displays the Categories which are defined in the current ItemCostbook. The top right quadrant displays a series of Command buttons. Listed belowthese buttons are the items from the Item Costbook which correspond to the Categorieslisted in the lower left quadrant. The bottom right quadrant is the Assembly functionwhich enables assemblies to be selected and transferred to the current estimate.


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The Bid4Build System uses the Unit Cost Method of estimating. At a high-level, theCreate Estimate Items screen is primarily used to locate and select material, labor,subcontract or equipment based items from the current Item Costbook; calculate andassign unit quantities for each item selected; associate items selected to individual areadefinitions; and transfer the selected items to the current estimate.

The following outlines the suggested steps to locate, select and then transfer CostbookItems to your estimate.

Note: Further details about each command button, function and process included in theCreate Estimate Items screen are outlined in the Bid4Build help documentation. Todisplay the help documentation for the Create Estimate Items screen (or any screenwhich is in displaye), click on the Gold Question Mark located in drop-down menusection (top right corner) of the Bid4Build program.

A. Select an Area Definition

The first step in creating estimate items is to select an area definition from the Phasesand Areas which you have already defined. This will associate an area definition to oneor more items which will be selected and transferred to your estimate. The Areadefinitions are located in the top left quadrant of the Create Estimate Items screen

1. Locate the area definition you would like to select for the first item(s) totransfer to your estimate

i. If you would like to navigate one area record definition at a time, usethe right and left arrow keys in the area definition section.

ii. If you have many areas defined and would rather select an area fromthe total list of areas created, click on the report icon to the right of thearrow keys. This will display the current list of areas created. Selectan area from the list by double-clicking on the Short Description field

2. Once an area has been selected, lock in the area by clicking on the check-box in the area section labeled


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Using the Bid4Build Search Engine

If you are unsure of the item or item category to select but know some attribute about theitem (item code, possible category or partial item description), then it is suggested thatyou use the Bid4Build Search Engine.

1. In the top right quadrant of the Create Estimate Items screen, click on theSearch command button.

2. This will display a search screen with search criteria listed at the top of thescreen and costbook items on the bottom of the screen. (When the searchscreen is first opened, all costbook items will be displayed and search criteriablank).

Note: You can use the search criteria to combine and provide partial attributes for asearch. For example, entering GC10 in the Item Search Value field and Ston in theDescription Search Value then clicking on the Search button will display items whichcontain these values in the associated fields of an item costbook record. If you are usingthe demo system, the item GC100200 Aggregate 3/8 stone will be displayed.

3. Enter a combination of attributes into the search criteria fields of the searchscreen. For example, if you are trying to locate Hardwood Floors, the bestapproach would be to enter hard in the Description Search Value, wood inthe first Additional Desc Value field, and floor (not floors because this wouldlimit your criteria search) in the second Additional Desc Value field.

4. Once your search criteria has been defined, click on the Search button todisplay all the items in the Item Costbook which match the defined criteria.

5. If your search lists a possible costbook item for selection, double-click on theitem code displayed in red for the desired item (listed in the Item Value column).

6. Double-clicking on an item code displayed in the search screen will close thesearch screen and display the Item and Category of the item selected in theCreate Estimate Items screen.

C. Select Costbook Items

Once you have located an item to transfer to your estimate, you must select or tag theitem for transfer. Click on the CHK box which is next to the item code for the item youwish to select. This will place a check mark next to the item and will instruct theBid4Build System to transfer this item to the estimate once the Transfer Itemscommand button has been selected.

Note: You have the ability to select as many items in as many categories as you desirebefore you transfer item(s) to your estimate. You may select and transfer one item at atime, or select and transfer multiple groups of items across multiple categories.

D. Calculate Quantities

The Bid4Build System provides several tools to help define the unit quantities ofcostbook items which are to be transferred to your estimate. Place your mouse cursor inthe quantity field (in the QTY column) of the item you have selected. The costbookitems are listed in the top right quadrant of the screen. Clicking once in the QTY fieldwill move the record selector (inverted black triangle) to that costbook item. The recordselector will be pointing at the CHK box of the selected costbook item.


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Using Area Definition Calculations

If the quantity value for a costbook item is based upon a SF or LF unit of measure, andthe item is to be associated with an area definition which represents a physical room,then you may be able to use one of the resulting calculations which are available in thearea definition section (top left quadrant) of the Create Estimate Items screen.

The area definition section displays various SF and LF room calculations for the primaryarea (base) and base plus associated area offsets. If one of these values represents thequantity which should be assigned to a selected costbook item, then double-click on anarea value to place this number in the quantity field of the costbook item selected. Thishelps to prevent any potential typos which could be created by manually entering thenumbers displayed.

Using the Bid4Build Calculator

If the quantity required for the selected costbook item is not based upon a SF or LF unitof measure, or does not correspond to any area calculations displayed for the selectedarea in the area definition section, then double-click on the QTY field to display theBid4Build Estimating Calculator.

There many construction and conversion calculations which are available with theBid4Build Estimating Calculator. There are sub-calculators and an expression calculator(which enables you to create your own calculators) available to help calculate requireditem quantity values. Once you complete a calculation using the Bid4Build EstimatingCalculator, and the value is displayed in the calculators display panel, exiting thecalculator will place the resulting calculation from the calculator into the quantity field(QTY column) of the selected costbook item.

Transferring Costbook Items to the Estimate

Once all the costbook items have been located, selected, and assigned quantity values,

and the associated area definition selected, you are then ready to transfer the items tothe estimate. Click on the Transfer Items command button, located above the list ofcostbook items, to transfer all selected costbook items to your estimate.

When you have completed transferring all required costbook items to your estimate, clickon the Exit button to close the Create Estimate Items screen.

STEP 5 GENERATING REPORTS

Once you have completed your estimate, (or would like to display the results of a partialestimate), you can view your results by selecting one or more estimate reports which are

provided by the Bid4Build System.

1. From the drop-down menu option, select Reports.2. Select Estimate Reports.3. Click on one or more reports (you can display/print multiple reports at one time).4. Define any desired reporting controls (select or enter a Report Header Desc).5. Click on the command button Preview or Print to display or print the desired

reports. (You can also print a report to the printer using the Preview command).

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