user guide qto 4

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1 | USER GUIDE – QTO 4.2

Copyright © 2021 by Construction Computer Software (CCS)

This publication is protected by copyright, and permission must be

obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage

in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise.

User Guide Reference: 45-CAN-TCH-UG-0008

User Guide Version: 02

User Guide Date: June 2021

Information is correct as per the functionality present in

Candy V 2.01f03.8


TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................5

OBJECTIVES ...............................................................................................................................5

GETTING STARTED ...................................................................................................................6

Requirements .................................................................................................................................. 6

Creating a Bill of Quantities .............................................................................................................. 6

Updating quantities from an existing Bill of Quantities........................................................................ 6

QTO MANAGER ..........................................................................................................................7

QTO 4.2 LAYOUT ......................................................................................................................10

Customise the Display ................................................................................................................... 10

BILL OF QUANTITIES...............................................................................................................11

Adding Bill Items ............................................................................................................................ 12

Deleting Bill Items .......................................................................................................................... 12

MEASURE FOLDERS ...............................................................................................................13

Adding a Folder ............................................................................................................................. 13

Renaming a Folder ........................................................................................................................ 13

Sorting Folders .............................................................................................................................. 13

DRAWINGS ................................................................................................................................14

Attach a Drawing ........................................................................................................................... 14

File types ..................................................................................................................................................... 14

Drawing Names ............................................................................................................................. 15

Opening a drawing......................................................................................................................... 15

Calibrating a Drawing..................................................................................................................... 16

ZOOMING AND SCROLLING ...................................................................................................17

View Sets ...................................................................................................................................... 17

MEASUREMENT TOOLS ..........................................................................................................19

Count tool...................................................................................................................................... 19

Line tool ........................................................................................................................................ 20

Line segment tool .......................................................................................................................... 20

Area tool ....................................................................................................................................... 22

Area Selector tool .......................................................................................................................... 23

Arc Tool ........................................................................................................................................ 24

Ruler ............................................................................................................................................. 24

Shortcut Keys ................................................................................................................................ 25

Updating & Deleting Measurements ............................................................................................... 26

Undo Feature ............................................................................................................................................... 26


Moving a Point ............................................................................................................................................. 26

Adding a Grip Point ...................................................................................................................................... 26

Deleting a Point ............................................................................................................................................ 26

Deleting a Measurement .............................................................................................................................. 27

Editing a Measurement ................................................................................................................................ 27

Moving a Measurement ................................................................................................................................ 27

Re-alignment................................................................................................................................................ 27

Multi Selection On Measurement .................................................................................................... 28

TAKEOFF LIST ..........................................................................................................................29

Name ............................................................................................................................................ 29

Unit ............................................................................................................................................... 29

Quantity ........................................................................................................................................ 30

Type ............................................................................................................................................. 30

Continue ....................................................................................................................................... 30

Colour ........................................................................................................................................... 30

Is Complete ................................................................................................................................... 30

Code ............................................................................................................................................. 30

TAKEOFF SHEET......................................................................................................................31

Variables ....................................................................................................................................... 32

Adding Bill Items to the Takeoff Sheet ............................................................................................ 33

Remembering the location of the Bill Item in the Takeoff Sheet........................................................ 34

Adding Bill Items to the Takeoff Sheet ............................................................................................ 36

Formula......................................................................................................................................... 37

Pinning of a Takeoff Sheet ............................................................................................................. 38

Takeoff List Unlinked / Linked Items ............................................................................................... 38

TEMPLATES ..............................................................................................................................39

Create a Template ......................................................................................................................... 39

Copy Takeoff to Template .............................................................................................................. 40

Copy Templates ............................................................................................................................ 40

Template codes ............................................................................................................................. 40

Measuring from the Template ......................................................................................................... 41

Using Templates............................................................................................................................ 41

Typical Examples of Templates ...................................................................................................... 41

Sorting Templates ......................................................................................................................... 42

COPY MEASUREMENT FROM ONE DRAWING TO ANOTHER ..........................................43

REVISED DRAWINGS...............................................................................................................44

Changing Drawing Paths ............................................................................................................... 44


ANNOTATION ............................................................................................................................45

MEASUREMENT TRANSPARENCY FEATURE .....................................................................46

DRAWING COMPARISON ........................................................................................................48

DEDUCT TOOL ..........................................................................................................................51

PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE TRANSLATION .........................................................................53

INFORMATION NOTIFICATIONS ............................................................................................53

REPORTS...................................................................................................................................54

UPDATING THE BILL OF QUANTITIES IN CANDY ...............................................................55

TIPS ............................................................................................................................................57

Progress existing Takeoff’s ............................................................................................................ 57


INTRODUCTION

QTO is used to perform On-screen measurements from 2D PDF, Image and DWG drawings. These measurements are used to dynamically update the Bill of Quantities in Estimating, Valuations and Subcontract Manager.

OBJECTIVES

• Measure quantities from 2D drawings.

• Measure multiple bill items using common dimensions.

• Dynamic link and references to the BOQ.

• Progress the BOQ.

• Re-measure revisions and variations.

• User customised templates for repetitive measurements.

• Fast, accurate and efficient.


GETTING STARTED

Requirements

There are basic requirements to use QTO 4.2:

• To have a Bill of Quantities set up in the Candy job.

• To have a basic knowledge of Candy.

• To understand the principles of measurement.

Creating a Bill of Quantities

A Candy job with a BOQ is required to access QTO. QTO makes use of the BOQ items in Candy Estimating and Valuations.

A BOQ can be created by:

• Manual Input.

• Copying from Master.

• Importing from an external file such as Excel or WinQS.

It is recommended to duplicate and rename before accessing QTO.

Updating quantities from an existing Bill of Quantities

This job is ready for QTO as the Bill of Quantities has already been created.


QTO MANAGER

The QTO Manager is used to create, rename and delete Takeoff packages.

To access QTO in Candy follow this path:

Under the Estimating tab > Bill Prep > QTO Manager.

Takeoff packages may be organised or structured into heading and sub-headings. The example below would be a typical structure used on a building project.


To add a new Takeoff package, right click either on a Heading or Sub-Heading or an already created package, then select New > New Package.

To create a new Heading or Sub-heading, use the New button at the bottom or right click on an already created Heading, then select New > New Heading or New Sub-heading.


Takeoff packages can be opened in 2 (two) different ways:

• By double-clicking on a Takeoff package, or

• Click on the Takeoff package, then click on Select at the bottom.

Only one package can be opened at one time.


QTO 4.2 LAYOUT

Once the Takeoff tab is selected, the QTO interface is displayed showing the icons below:

• Measurement Bill

• Drawings List

• Attachment

• Measurement Folder List

• View Set List

• Templates

• Takeoff List

• Report Manager

Customise the Display

Each document can be arranged to the preferred position on your screen or even on separate monitors. This is done by dragging the Header to the required position.


BILL OF QUANTITIES

Use the Measurement Bill icon to display the QTO Bill of Quantities.

Bill Headings get opened and closed to a specific level, similar to Candy documents by going to the View menu and closing to the required level. Individual Headings get opened/closed by using the right click menu of the Heading selector.

Bill descriptions get displayed in multi-line or single line with or without a blank separator line by going to the View menu and selecting Bill items.

Another Candy feature is the Go to Page which allows you to select the page to which to navigate.


The BOQ panel gets closed by using the Close icon on the Measurement Bill header as shown below.

Adding Bill Items

New items must get created in the Candy bill to be displayed in QTO. Once the items get created, go to Tools > Bill Items > Update to update the QTO Bill of Quantities.

Deleting Bill Items

Bill items cannot be deleted inside QTO, first delete the items in the Candy job, select Tools > Bill Items > Update and the items get deleted from QTO.

It is important to note that if an item that was previously measured is deleted, the item description and page references are removed from all Takeoffs, but the formula remains to indicate that there was an item measured. See examples below Figure 1 before deletion and Figure 2 after deletion.

Figure 1

Figure 2


MEASURE FOLDERS

Measure folders are used to organise Takeoffs into specific areas or locations. These get referenced when the QTO quantities transfer to the Candy Bill of Quantities.

Measure folders and sub-folders get created to your specific requirements. A Measure folder can extend over multiple drawings. Many Measure folders get created and listed in this panel.

Adding a Folder

To make folders and sub-folders, right click in the Measure folder panel at the required position of the folder structure. Select new folder/subfolder.

Renaming a Folder

The default name for all folders that get created is Measure folder, click on a folder to highlight and rename.

Sorting Folders

Measurement folders can be ‘bubbled’ by using Ctrl & Right arrow or Ctrl & Left arrow, enabling you to rearrange folders. Please note that a Sub-folder cannot exist outside of its parent folder.


DRAWINGS

Attach a Drawing

Drawings are added to QTO by clicking on the Drawings List icon. Right click inside the panel, click on Attach and then use your browser to select the required drawing.

Multiple drawings can be added by using Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click from within the file browser dialogue.

Due to the size of drawing files, they are not saved inside QTO but are attached using the file location. We suggest that a separate directory gets made for all drawings.

If a drawing has multi-pages, a dialogue box will appear which gives an option to attach one, a selection or all pages. Each page is listed separately.

File types

QTO accepts drawings in the following file formats like pdf, dxf, dwg and image files like jpg, jpeg, bmp etc.


Drawing Names

A Drawing name can be added and edited by clicking on the name and editing the text.

Opening a drawing

To open a drawing, click on the PDF/DWG icon.

The first drawing to be opened in a package displays the Measurement system dialogue; this is where the Measure system for the Package gets selected with the following options:

• Metric

• Imperial

Any subsequent drawing opened within the Package has the previously selected Measure system greyed out as each package can only use one system.

The second selection on the above dialogue is necessary for all drawings; the default dimensions depend on the Measure system selected and may be changed using the drop list.


Calibrating a Drawing

The scale on PDF, Image and certain DWG files is unknown and must be manually calibrated before measuring.

Select the Calibration tool and click on the start point and endpoint that has a defined dimension.

The dimension must be entered in the dialogue box to establish the scale. The calibration accommodates different units of measure, the default is mm but can be changed using the drop list.

Each drawing page gets calibrated once. Drawings can be recalibrated by selecting the calibration tool again.

The quantities in the BOQ and Takeoff sheets are updated once the drawing has been recalibrated.


ZOOMING AND SCROLLING

The Rectangular Zoom tool is a quick way to zoom to a selected area of a drawing. Select this tool and drag to select the required section of the drawing. This will zoom and display the selected section to fill the drawing screen area.

The Reset Zoom tool resets the zoom to the original setting.

Clicking on the Zoom in and Zoom out tool zooms in and zooms out of the drawing in equal increments. Rolling the mouse wheel also expands or contracts the drawing.

To move the drawing around the drawing panel, push the mouse wheel in and move the mouse around, or use the Pan Tool, and hold the left mouse button and drag.

View Sets

View Sets can be used to save the location and zoom factor on drawings (e.g cross-sections and elevations) that are frequently visited when measuring.

To save a View Set, take the following steps:

• Step 1: Zoom into the required location on the drawing.

• Step 2: Under the Takeoff tab, click on Views on the toolbar.

• Step 3: Right click in the blank space of the View Set List window and select Add.

The default name View Set can be edited by Click on the text and typing the required name.


To open the saved View Set, take the following steps:

• Step 1: Open the drawing.

• Step 2: Click on the View Set tab.

• Step 3: Right click on the required View Set name and select Open.

If a View Set requires slight modification, take the following steps:

• Step 1: Repeat steps 1 to 3 above.

• Step 2: Modify the zoom.

• Step 3: Right click on the View Set name and select Recapture.

To delete a View Set, take the following steps:

• Step 1: Click on the View Set tab.

• Step 2: Right click on the View Set name and select Delete.


MEASUREMENT TOOLS

QTO measurement tools are displayed horizontally at the bottom of the drawing panel and contain the tools required for the measurement of drawings. These are displayed when a 2D drawing or image is opened.

Count tool

Use the Count tool to count items such as windows, doors, openings, utilities, holes etc. When the Count tool is selected a dialogue box is displayed which gives the option to:

• Name the Takeoff (Count tool is the default name).

• Select an alternate Measurement colour from the dropdown selector.

• Select Measurement Type from the dropdown selector.

• Change the Measurement size, the default size is 2pt but can be changed as required.

• Click on each item that is to get counted. The total count of the measure is displayed on the status bar as each


count is measured.

• End the Counting by right clicking after the last measured item.

Line tool

Select the Line tool to start a linear measurement. When the Line tool is selected a dialogue box is displayed which gives you the option to:

• Name the Takeoff (Line tool is the default name).


• Select from the dropdown selector.

• The default thickness of the Measurement is 2pt, this can be changed as required.

• Click on the start point of the length to be measured.

• Click successively on each of the points of the length measured. The length of the measure is displayed on the status bar as the length is measured, displaying the total length measured from the start point.

• End the linear measurement by right clicking after the endpoint.

Line segment tool

The Line Segment tool differs from the Line tool in that whole lines are selected rather than individual points, this makes measurement quicker but only works on PDF vector files.


Select the Line Segment tool to start linear measurement by segment. When the Line tool is selected a dialogue box is displayed which gives you the option to:

• Name the Takeoff (Segment tool is the default name).


• Select from the dropdown selector.

• The default thickness of the Measurement is 2pt, this can be changed as required.

• Hover mouse cursor over the line that is to be measured, this will be highlighted in red, select by click to measure the line.

• Repeat this on each line that is to be measured. The length of the measure is displayed on the status bar as the lines are measured, displaying the total length of all lines.

• End the linear measurement by right clicking after the last line.

If it is required to measure through openings or blank areas, hold the Shift key and Click to select the start and finish point of the line measure required, releasing Shift will revert to the segment measure method.


Multiple lines or curved elements can be measured by starting the line selector and holding the Control key, and moving the mouse over the required lines. This is useful when measuring treads of staircases, kerbs etc.

Area tool

Select the Area tool to start the area measurement. When the Area tool is selected a dialogue box is displayed which gives you the option to:

• Name the Takeoff (Area tool is the default name).


• Select Measurement Type from the dropdown selector.

• Click on the start point of the area to be measured.

• Click successively on each of the points of the area measured. The length and area of the measure is displayed on the status bar as the drawing is measured, displaying the total length and area measured from the start point.

• End the area measurement by right clicking after the endpoint (or right click anywhere and the line connects to the origin).


The points recorded on the drawing get referred to as grip points.

Area Selector tool

Select the Area Selector Tool to start linear measurement by segment. When the Area tool is selected a dialogue box is displayed which gives the option to:

• Name the Takeoff (Area Selector Tool is the default name).


• Select Type from the dropdown selector.

To use the Area Selector Tool, after selecting and changing the options above, select Start, then take the following steps:

• Step 1: Hover the mouse cursor over the line of the area that is to be measured, this will be highlighted in red, select by left click to measure the line.

• Step 2: Repeat this on each line that is to be measured. The area of the measure is displayed on the status bar as the area is being measured, displaying the total area and perimeter.

• Step 3: End the area measurement by right click after the last line.

If it is required to measure through openings or blank areas, hold the Shift key and Left -click to select the start and finish point, releasing Shift will revert to the segment measure method.


Arc Tool

Select the Arc tool to measure the length of the Arc and Area of the segment. When the Arc tool is selected a dialogue box is displayed which gives you the option to:

• Name the Takeoff (Arc tool is the default name).

• Select an alternate Measurement colour from the dropdown selector Select Measurement Type from the dropdown selector.

• Change the Quantity type from the default.

• Click on the first point and then the endpoint of the chord, by default the arc length will be a semi-circle with the first and end point determining the radius.

To change the arc length, click on the segment then click on the arc point and move the arc to the required position, finish by double click. The Arc length and the Segment area are displayed on the status bar as the segment is drawn.

Ruler

Select the ruler to display a quick measure, this can be saved to the clipboard and then copied to a Detail quantity, a Dimension, Variable or Detail formula.

After selecting the Ruler, click on each point that requires a measure and right click to end. The length of the measure is displayed on the status bar as the length is measured, displaying the total length measured from the start point.

The result of the measure gets saved to the clipboard, and this value gets inserted in Quantity or Formula fields of


the Takeoff sheet by using right click and ‘Paste’ or Control ‘V’.

Shortcut Keys

• “Esc” key to cancel draw tools and calibrate, • “C” to start the Count Tool, • “L” to start the Length Tool, • “P” to start the Length Selector Tool, • “A” to start the Area Tool, • “S” to start the Area Selector Tool, • “H” to start the Arc Tool, • “R” to start the Ruler Tool, • “Q” to continue a measure.


Updating & Deleting Measurements

Undo Feature

Pressing ESC while measuring deletes the last measured point and can be repeated until you are back to the first point. This feature is particularly useful as it is not necessary to wait until the end to make corrections. The ‘Undo’ feature gets used with all the drawing tools.

Moving a Point

Position the cursor on the measurement that is to be changed and click to display the Points currently used. Select the Point to be moved and click, position the cursor in the new position and click again, the Point has now relocated. Double-click to display the revised measurement.

Adding a Grip Point

Position the cursor on the measurement where the additional Point is required and right click to display the dialogue box, select Insert. The point gets inserted between the two nearest points of the cursor position.

Deleting a Point

Position the cursor on the Point that must get deleted, right click to display the dialogue box and select Delete Point.


Deleting a Measurement

Position the cursor on any position of the measurement that needs to be deleted and right click to display the dialogue box and select Delete Key.

Editing a Measurement

Edit a measurement using the right click menu on the Takeoff List or the measurement. This displays the initial dialogue settings for the Takeoff enabling the Name, Colour, Type, Line Weight or Thickness to be changed.

Moving a Measurement

Measurements can be moved individually by click on the centroid (centre point) and moving the measurement, right click to release at the required position.

Re-alignment

All measurements can be re-aligned as a group by selecting the re-alignment tool, click to pick up all the measurement, move to the required position and right click to release. Once released there is an option to cancel (return to original) or save the revised position.


Multi Selection On Measurement

This feature allows for users to select multiple measurement, of the same type and add them up.

E.g. Area can only be added up with Area.

• Step 1: Select the first part to measurement. • Step 2: Hold the Ctrl key down on the keyboard. • Step 3: Select the rest of the measurements.

The total for the selected items will now be shown in status bar.


TAKEOFF LIST

Open a drawing required to be worked on. To access the Takeoff List, take the following steps:

• Step 1: From the menu bar, select the Takeoff.

• Step 2: Select Takeoff List on the toolbar.

The Takeoff List relevant to the open drawing and Measurement Folder will open below menu bar.

The Takeoff List can be moved around on the screen or even moved to another screen by clicking on the Takeoff List Tab and moving to the required position.

The column headings of the Takeoff list are Continue, Color, Name, Unit, Quantity and Type.

Name

The default name of each Takeoff is the tool name, i.e. Area Tool, this gets changed by selecting (click) the name and re-typing it.

Unit

The measurement unit.


Quantity

The measured quantity of the Takeoff.

Type

The Type identifies whether the measure is for Bill, Claimed, Actual or Final Quantities.

To change the default type go to Settings on the Ribbon and then the Quantity Type Tab and change as required.

To change the quantity Type for an individual Takeoff, use the dropdown selector on the Takeoff list and change as required.

Continue

There are occasions when a Takeoff is not completed and must continue. Typical examples are when counting columns, windows or doors on a large drawing.

Instead of starting a new Takeoff each time, select the continue button and continue with the Takeoff. Alternatively, right click on Takeoff and select continue.

Continue is also used when a 2D template is to be applied, this is explained later under Templates.

Colour

Takeoff’s get identified on the drawing by using different colours for the Measurement.

The colour of the Measurement used to represent the measurement is changed by right clicking on the colour sample and selecting a new colour from the colour chart.

Is Complete

A user reference that a Takeoff is measured; use the tick box to mark Is complete.

Code

The Code records the Template code used for this Takeoff. The use of Templates is explained in more details


under the heading Templates.

TAKEOFF SHEET

The Takeoff sheet gets accessed by double clicking on the Measurement or by selecting the linked/unlinked icons against the required Takeoff from the Takeoff list:

The Takeoff sheet gets divided into three panels:


• Dimension panel where the dimensions applicable to the Takeoff measurement are displayed.

• Variables panel where you can input all the required Variables applicable to your Takeoff.

• Takeoff Detail panel where BOQ items get allocated with a formula using data from the Dimensions and Variables, as well as Mathematical and Trigonometric functions and simple values.

Variables

Variables are required in the measurement to calculate the correct quantity for multiple Bill items using one Takeoff measurement.

For example, the Area of a building gives the area of the floor and ceiling but requires a variable (thickness) to calculate the volume of concrete in the concrete slab.

To create a Variable:

• Name column: Define the Name of the Variable (ConcT).


• Quantity column: Enter a value (0.35m) this may come from a section or detail.

• Unit column: Select the unit of measure from the dropdown selector.

• Formula column: The value of a Variable can be derived from a formula using a combination of values from the Dimension panel and the Variable panel. In the example below the Volume is derived from the Area (Dimension panel) and ConcT (Variable). It is good practice to leave the Quantity column blank as deriving the Value from a given formula overwrites a value in the Quantity column. It is important to note that formulae can only refer to Variables above the current line.

• Factor column: Left blank makes no adjustment to the line result but any value entered multiplies the quantity or formula by the Factor amount: this is used when measuring for Actual work done when a particular line item has not commenced (enter 0) or is incomplete (enter for example 0.50).

• Result column: Is a no entry column and displays the Result.

Adding Bill Items to the Takeoff Sheet

The Bill of Quantities should be displayed so bill items can get dragged onto the Takeoff.

There are three ways that Bill items get added to the Takeoff Sheet:

• Right click on the Row selector and select Link to Bill links the selected Bill item to the bottom of the Takeoff detail of the active Takeoff list.

• Locate the item from the QTO BOQ and drag onto the Detail panel. The selected BOQ item gets placed at the bottom of the Takeoff detail.

• Use the dropdown selector in the Takeoff detail panel. Headings are now in Bold and predictive text (after 3 characters) can be used to aid selection.

• A selection of Bill Items can be added by Ctrl & Click or Shift & Click on the BOQ items you want to select. Once the selection has been made. Right click on the Row selector and select Link to Bill.


Remembering the location of the Bill Item in the Takeoff Sheet

When linking a BOQ Item, the location of that BOQ Item will be remembered. When selecting the linked Bill Item, you will be directed to the location of that BOQ Item in the Bill.


When selecting the next blank line after the linked BOQ Item, you will be directed to the next BOQ item which is located after the previously linked item.


Adding Bill Items to the Takeoff Sheet

Search for items by typing in the key words and it will automatically find related words.

The Unit, Formula, Factor and Result columns operate in the same way as the Variables, referred to above.


Formula

Formulas are entered by select and drag the required line item into the formula area, drag the remaining line items the same way and then apply the operation sign by selecting from the dialogue.

Formulae can make use of Dimension names, Variables and support the following Mathematical & Trigonometrical functions.

• Radians: Converts Radians to Degrees

o Example: Radians (3.14) = 180

• Degrees: Converts Degrees to Radians

o Example: Degrees (180) = 3.14

• Sin() and Asin()

• Cos() and Acos()

• Tan and Atan()

• Abs: Converts any number to a positive

o Example: Abs(-4) = 4

• Pow: Raise to the power

o Example: Pow(3,2) = 9

• Round: Round to a whole number

o Example: Round(10.2) = 10

• Sqrt: Calculates the Square root


o Example: Sqrt(4) = 2

• PI: The ratio of circumference of circle to diameter

o Example: PI = 3.14

Pinning of a Takeoff Sheet

The Pin functionality allows for the Takeoff sheet to be moved to a different location on screen and pinned to the new location.

The next time the Takeoff sheet is opened, it will automatically open in the new location.

Takeoff List Unlinked / Linked Items

We have added an extra column within the Takeoff list, which indicates if the user has fully, partially, or no linked BOQ items in the Takeoff sheet.

• Yellow Icon: Partially linked Takeoff sheet. This means that all linked BOQ items do not have a formula in them,

• Grey Icon: No Linked items. This means the Takeoff sheet does not have any BOQ items linked to it,

• Green Icon: Fully Linked. This means that all BOQ items linked to the Takeoff sheet has a formula against it.


TEMPLATES

The most efficient way to measure the job is to make use of Templates. Templates can be created to include variables, formulae and Bill of Quantity items in the same way as used in the Takeoff sheet as described above. Templates are used for typical Takeoff’s which are needed many times to measure the job.

Create a Template

To create a new template, take the following steps:

• Step 1: Under the Takeoff tab, click on the Templates icon on the toolbar.

• Step 2: In the Template List right click in the open panel and choose New Template.

• Step 3: Enter a template Code, Name and select the Measurement Type, then select OK.


Copy Takeoff to Template

Templates can be copied from a Takeoff Sheet by selecting Tools > Copy to Template.

The Template will be created, given a unique Template Code and added to the Template List.

The Template Name adopts the name of the Takeoff by default. The Template Name and Code is editable by clicking on the Name and Code.

Templates can also get copied.

Copy Templates

Templates can be copied to create another Template from either:

• A Template List - right click on the source Template and copy, then right click on the Template List panel and paste.

• A Template Sheet - by selecting the highlighted icon below.

The Template Name and Code are editable as described above.

Template codes

Each Template that is created is given a unique code. This code gets stamped against each Takeoff to identify which Template was used. Template codes can be changed but they must be unique.

The Template codes are useful for the following reasons:

• After creating several Takeoff’s from a Template and a revision gets issued, the Template can be updated and then re-applied to all the Takeoff’s. The method would be to update the Template and then select Tools > Overwrite Template Headers, updating all measures using this Template to the latest version.


• If you have a measurement and want to change to using a different Template, change the Template code of the Takeoff’s that need to change. You may only change the Template code to one using the same Measurement Type.

Measuring from the Template

To measure from a template, drag the template name onto the Takeoff List and select Continue (tick) and measure as described previously. When the measurement is complete, go to the Takeoff List where the Takeoff gets listed with other Takeoff’s. The default name on the Takeoff List is the name of the Template used. It is essential to change the name of this Takeoff to identify what was measured.

The template can be dragged and dropped directly onto the drawing as well and will immediately activate the drawing tool.

Using Templates

The use of templates saves time as it eliminates all the preparation work for repetitive type measurements.

Typical Examples of Templates

• Internal Perimeter - including all Bill of Quantity items that require a perimeter measure, a good tip is to select the Area type for this template, as this gives the internal perimeter and by use of formulae in variables, the centre line and external perimeters get used.


• Window - including all Bill of Quantity items affected by the installation of a window. The Number type would be selected, counting the Window type and with the use of variables, deductions get made for external walling, internal and external finishes and items such as lintels, reveals, cavity closers, sills can be attached.

• Door - including all Bill of Quantity items affected by the installation of a door. The Number type would be selected, counting the Door type and with the use of variables, deductions for walling, internal and external finishes get made and items such as frames, ironmongery, lintels, reveals, cavity closers can be attached.

• Down stand Beam - The linear tool is selected, and with variables, measures the concrete volume, formwork to the sides and soffit of beams and makes the deduction for the formwork to soffit of slabs.

Sorting Templates

Templates can be ‘bubbled’ by using Control with Right or Left arrow, thereby enabling the organisation of Templates into a specific order.


COPY MEASUREMENT FROM ONE DRAWING TO ANOTHER

When you have a project with many typical floors, it is possible to measure one typical floor and copy the Takeoff’s to another typical floor. Any necessary adjustments get made by updating the measurement as explained earlier in this manual.

To copy a measurement from one drawing to another, take the following steps:

• Step 1: Open a drawing as A, then calibrate and measure the drawing.

• Step 2: Open another drawing as B that are similar to drawing A and calibrate it.

• Step 3: Open the Takeoff list of drawing A, then click on the drawing A header, then click on Takeoff list.

• Step 4: Right click on the required Takeoff, then select Copy.

• Step 5: Open the Takeoff list of drawing B, then click on the drawing B header.

• Step 6: Right click on the Takeoff list of drawing B and select Paste.

Drawings that are not similar should be measured separately.


REVISED DRAWINGS

When a revised drawing gets issued, it is not necessary to start the measurement process from the beginning.

To update measurements of a revised drawing, take the following steps:

• Step 1: In the Drawing List, right click the drawing you would like to revise.

• Step 2: Select Revise.

• Step 3: In the browser select the revised drawing.

• Step 4: Open the drawing.

• Step 5: Calibrate the drawing.

The original measurements are now visible on the revised drawing and can be altered as required.

Takeoff’s can be added, existing measurements extended by using the Continue button or edited by inserting, deleting and moving the grip points.

Changing Drawing Paths

If the drawing gets moved to a different folder, the file access needs to be updated in QTO. Do this by selecting the file path, the Path and then use the browser to locate the drawing.


ANNOTATION

Text gets added to a drawing by selecting the Annotation tool.

A Text Tool window will open where the font, text size, colour and text get selected. Select OK when complete and then position the text on the drawing.

Click on T1 and the text displays to the right of the selected position.

The text or size of the font can be edited by:

• Double clicking on the annotation on the drawing.

• Right click on the annotation recorded in the Takeoff List.

Both of the above actions will open the Text Tool window where the text details can be changed.


MEASUREMENT TRANSPARENCY FEATURE

The measurement transparency feature can be found under the Settings tab, where the transparency can be switched on or off.

As indicated below, when selecting a Takeoff item in the Takeoff list, the measurements will only be shown for the selected item and the others will be transparent.

• Reset by clicking in the empty space in the Takeoff List or on the drawing.

Below is a view when transparency is turned on:


Below is an example when transparency is turned off:


DRAWING COMPARISON

The Compare tool is used to compare a drawing with a revised drawing that will identify what has changed. To start comparing drawings, take the following steps:

• Step 1: Under the Takeoff tab, select Compare on the toolbar.

The Compare PDF’s window will become available.


• Step 2: Click on Select PDF, then browse for the first drawing to be compared, then repeat the same for the second drawing.

• Step 3: Select the Compare button.

This will open the compare window shown on the next page.

The drawing tools are not active while in the compare window as this window is only to compare the two drawings.

To activate the drawing tools, save the drawing as a pdf file by selecting the Save Comparison button, save the drawing and then attach it as a separate drawing in the Drawings Tab.


• The drawing lines for the first drawing will be displayed in RED, meaning that those lines were removed from the drawing.

• The drawing lines for the second drawing will be displayed in BLUE, meaning that those lines were added to the drawing.

• Where the two drawing lines overlap each other, they will be displayed in BLACK.


DEDUCT TOOL

The Deduct tool is used for deducting an area within an area of measurement and is only accessible after an area measurement is created.

• Step 1: Create an area of measurement.

• Step 2: Right click on the measurement area, then select Deduct.


• Step 3: Select the point for the area to be deducted.

• Step 4: Right click to end the Deduct tool.

Note that the area selected to be deducted has now been removed and the quantity has also been adjusted to the quantity after the deduction.


PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE TRANSLATION

QTO supports the English and Portuguese Languages. The languages can be changed under the Settings tab on the toolbar.

INFORMATION NOTIFICATIONS

All Notifications have been changed to be Information Notifications.

It is a small message that shows up in a box at the bottom right of the screen and disappears on its own after few seconds. It is simple feedback about an operation in which current activity remains visible and interactive.


REPORTS

To get a Takeoff report, take the following steps:

• Step 1: Select Manager on the toolbar.

• Step 2: Select the down arrow next to Takeoff Reports.

• Step 3: Select the report required.

• Step 4: Add or Change what needs to be viewed on the report on the right panel.

• Step 5: Select Print Preview to view the report.


UPDATING THE BILL OF QUANTITIES IN CANDY

When the measure is complete, the QTO quantities synchronise with the Bill of Quantities. Right click on the selected file and select Transfer the quantities of this package to BOQ.

After this process, all the QTO Takeoff’s are visible in the Bill of Quantities stating the QTO type, QTO quantity, drawing, Measure folder and Takeoff references.

The quantities can then get copied into the relevant columns in the Bill of Quantities.


In the above example, the Final Quantity is copied into the Bill of Quantities by right clicking in the column heading Final Quantity and selecting, Copy Final from QTO.

On the screenshot below, only the Takeoff marked Final gets transferred.


TIPS

Progress existing Takeoff’s

Existing Takeoff sheets can be copied and used to measure progress quantities for Quantity type Actual or Claimed.

• Create a Measurement folder named Bill or Final Measures with Sub-folder structure thereunder.

• Create and measure your Takeoff’s in the relevant Sub-folders for Quantity type Bill or Final.

• Create a Measurement folder named Progress Measures with the same Sub-folder structure.

• Open the Takeoff List created, and right click Copy each Takeoff from those Lists.

• Open the Takeoff list in the relevant Subfolder created and right click and then Paste.

You now have duplicate Measurement Folders:

• Open Measurement folder named Progress Measures and change each Takeoff to Measurement Type Actual.

• Add the Column name Factor to the Takeoff Detail Header.

• Open each Takeoff in Progress Measures and apply a Factor of 0 (zero) to each Bill item.

Once this has completed for all Takeoff’s, Measurement for progress quantities is straightforward by allocating a progress Factor between 0 and 1 to each Line item as the work progresses.

user guide qto 4

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