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Databuild is a complete construction program that provides you with all the tools necessary to produce a sales estimate, generate a detailed bill of quantities, process purchase orders, specifications and colour schedules.
Estimating in Databuild can be performed using one, or a combination, of the following modules: Graphical Estimating, Cad Link, Rapid Estimating, Manual Take-Offs or by Digitizer Pad.
The first step in being able to produce fast and accurate estimates is the set-up and creation of the databases.
Before starting, you need to setup some data:
The Catalogue in Databuild is the hub of the estimating procedures. It contains every item that you wish to include in your system and, for each item, up to five different price levels. The dynamic design of the Catalogue means that each item can assume one of several different roles in the system. An item may be simply that - an item that is included in your bill, purchase order, or quotation. It may also be an ingredient in a recipe, or an actual recipe itself. You do not have to be in the Catalogue window to access the Catalogue. It is accessible from several other locations in Databuild, such as the Quantities Window.
A recipe is an item on the Price List that is made up of other items on the same Price List. Each item, which is used to build a recipe, is called an ingredient. As recipes can represent any number of items on the Price List, together with their respective quantities and formulas, they become a formidable tool in the generation of costs and quantities. Correctly formulated recipes will greatly reduce the time taken to create a sales estimate with the creation of the bill of quantities at the same time.
The very nature of your business and the building industry is such that maintaining your costs in an effective manner can be an arduous task. The Cost Centres window in Databuild allows you to efficiently group your costs into main cost centres.
A cost centre represents a specific area of your business that incurs costs such as concrete or hire items. Each cost centre belongs to a set of cost centres, the expenses of which are similar in nature. Each set of cost centres is called a cost centre bank. Every cost centre that you define within your Databuild system belongs to a cost centre bank. When you create a cost centre you assign it to one of your cost centre banks. For example the cost centre 'hire items' would belong to the cost centre bank 'Jobs'.
A Units of Measurement is the name given by Databuild to the term Unit of Measure. Units of Measurement are used extensively throughout Databuild in the estimating routines. These Units of Measurement are attached to each item within the Catalogue. The Units of Measurement determine which calculating routine the system will use when items/recipes are appended to the bill of quantities.
Databuild provides a set of standard Units of Measurement which you can use with your system. You can also add your own Units of Measurement to suit the requirements of your business. Each Units of Measurement that is listed in your system consists of the following fields; a number, display, print, rounding, divisor, and calculation routine.
The Databuild Suppliers function will ensure that all of your information relating to suppliers is efficiently processed. Each of your suppliers is allocated a code that is used to nominate the supplier in routines such as purchase orders and posting invoices.
Supplier Groups are used to group suppliers together for various reports and processes. Examples include: Sub Contractors, Trade Suppliers, Utilities.
An alternative is to group them by their individual trades such as Plumbers, Carpenters, and Bricklayers etc.
Once your data is setup, you are ready to process quantities. Databuild has a large amoury of modules and functions to accomplish this.
The major product of job estimating in Databuild is the Bill of Quantities. The Bill of Quantities is a list of all of the items and prices you require for a selected job. Having established what the cost will be you are then in a position to determine your profit margins.
The flexibility of Databuild allows you to use part or all of a Bill of Quantities on more than one job.
The Databuild Workup Routines take their cue from the Units of Measurement and create, format, and calculate standard work-ups such as timber lists, area work-ups, excavation work-ups etc. The uniquely powerful Workup Routine is of great value when you are estimating bills. It allows you to calculate quantities and prices for items on your bill according to the calculation routine associated with the Units of Measurement of the item. The Workup screen is activated by the operator as and when it is required.
It is much quicker to add groups of items (recipes) than all the individual components. These recipes can then be exploded into their components. For instance you may enter a recipe for a brick veneer wall as one item that is measured by the lineal metre, and then explode it into all its components such as bricks, timber studs, plaster area, labour etc.
Recipes can also contain negative quantities. This is important when dealing with items such as windows and doors. These recipes would contain some positive quantities for the addition of the window, architraves etc., together with some negative quantities for the deduction of bricks and studs etc.
Provides the estimator with a link to files created from popular CAD packages. These files contain the necessary data in ASCII format, such as wall lengths, floor area, number of doors etc. Each item within the CAD link file has either a Databuild Price Code or Recipe Code, or is cross-referenced to the Databuild code number. The file is transferred by the system into the Bill of Quantities.
Databuild provides you with a comprehensive facility to copy quantities. Quantities can be copied between jobs, orders, cost centres etc. Time can be saved using this feature of Databuild, as you can simply copy quantities from one job to another, as distinct from having to actually create jobs from scratch.
This module of the estimating section enables the operator to activate changes to text and quantities throughout a Bill of Quantities. For instance, many items on a house may be related to the floor area. By setting just one item you can have subsequent items pick up and manipulate that item's quantity to calculate their own quantity. Text Variables are a very powerful tool in Databuild's estimating arsenal. They allow you to replace standard blocks of text in bills and orders with the relevant value for the current job.
A scanned image or a CAD drawing saved as a metafile is loaded into the Take-Off Module. This may, for example, represent the floor plan of a house. The estimator sets the scale of the image, then takes off quantities by selecting items or recipes, then "traces" or blocks the image to take off related quantities.
Data required: - Existing Bill of Quantities, Contacts File. Quotations in Databuild are processed in the Sales Analysis window. Quotations can be created, modified, printed and stored. Detailed analysis on your sales, salespersons, and quotation history can be carried out.
A Specification document can be automatically created from a Bill of Quantities. This ties the final document to what was quoted and what is ordered. Text can be inserted in Catalogue in specification folder against relevant items.
The Estimating Summary provides you with a break down of the Bill of Quantities by Cost Centre, and includes markups both horizontally and vertically. The costs of each Cost Centre can also be compared to any selected job value or formula; for example, you could compare all costs to the area of the job, Comparisons between jobs and price movement
Powerful macros automate the manual estimating processes
A Purchase Order is an order you place with one of your suppliers. You create purchase orders using Order Profiles in the Databuild quantities window. You can also print purchase orders from the quantities window. You can produce multiple orders per cost centre or part orders by assigning items to different load numbers and then placing orders accordingly.
The system has the ability to select best supplier by rules set by operator such as price locality or maximum number of orders outstanding to specific suppliers.
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