9. Take-off, quotation and schedules

Quantity take-off

An overview can also be read on the Electrical quantity take-off and Electrical installation quotation maker pages. The Create the take-off, opened from the project page, calculates the quantities from the saved drawings of the floors (so save before the take-off):

• the number of devices per price list item (the device's overriding item, otherwise the symbol's default item);
• the length of the cable routes per item: the 3D length between the vertices, with the height difference between the device and the end for ends connected to a device, plus a connection reserve per connected end (250 mm by default), plus the rise of the floor links (stairs, riser), and finally the allowance (10% by default, only for cable route items measured in meters);
• chasing (the horizontal length of the cable routes running in a chase, without allowance), if there is an item for it in the rules;
• the enclosure and devices of the distribution boards, broken down by distribution board;
• the cable by cross-sectional area as separate items.

For each row, the Breakdown shows what makes up the total (floor, source, circuit). For single wires (conductors pulled in conduit) the length is also broken down by conductor, with colors: for 2 cores L (brown) and N (blue), for 3 cores L, N and PE (green-yellow), for 5 cores L1 (brown), L2 (black), L3 (grey), N, PE; in a project to the NEC (US) standard with the US colors (L1 black, L2 red, L3 blue, N white, PE green); for other core counts (e.g. 4) the assignment is ambiguous, so a single row remains. The total does not change. The warnings (e.g. “has no price list item”) point to the place to fix them; the list can be hidden with the Hide button (remembered per browser), and the “Show warnings” button brings it back.

Quantities are rounded to 2 decimal places, counts to whole numbers; the calculation runs on the server, in a single place.

Take-off rules

The Material take-off rules page assigns price list items to the drawing elements: which item belongs to which symbol and which kind of cable route (conduit/cable, system; refined by type + diameter, for cables number of cores × cross-sectional area); here you can give the chasing item, the allowance (%) and the connection reserve (mm). The default item, which can be overridden per device, is on the Symbols page.

If a symbol or run type has no item yet, the Suggest button (on the Symbols and Take-off rules pages, and at the warning) proposes price list items for the symbols on the plan. You get a preview, Apply saves only the selected ones and never overwrites a setting that is in order; if several items fit equally well, it tells you to check. The button is also always available in the Take-off page header, and it replaces a faulty setting (an item that no longer exists, or a non-meter item on a run) too, marked “replaces (old: …)”. The program looks for an item for every symbol (switch, socket, light, board, low-voltage, sensor, fixed connection, energy); where it finds none, it shows a “no suggestion – choose manually” row with a Choose button so you pick the item from the catalog yourself.

Cables and wires are matched by size (type, cores × cross-section): first a rule, then a price list item of the same size; the general cable item does not stand in for wires of another type or size, and a general item without a size is only a fallback and warns. The type of a low-voltage cable is also recognised from the circuit text (e.g. a G mark, “MCU 2.5 blue”). If circuits of different cross-sections run in one conduit, they get separate items. If there is still no item (or a general item would collect several sizes, or the size is unknown), a warning appears; use Choose an item from the price list in the suggestion window of the warning. When the single wires of several circuits share one run, the wires of every circuit are counted. On the US market NM-B and THHN wire also have size-specific general items.

The chasing length also counts the vertical parts of a vertical groove. The rise between levels is added only to a run that ends with a free end on the footprint of a stair or riser.

Quotation from the take-off

1. The take-off's To quotation button (as an editor) puts the rows into a new or existing quotation; the rows coming from the drawing show a “from drawing” badge.
2. For an existing quotation, recalculation only updates the quantity; it leaves a manually changed row alone (“overridden” badge, Reset to the value calculated from the drawing).
3. If the drawing changes, the Update from drawing button in the quotation editor recalculates the quantities.
4. If a line you edited by hand is no longer produced by the drawing, it stays in the quote marked Outdated drawing line (it is not deleted); decide with Restore or Delete.

Editing the quotation

• Quotation details: title, hourly labor rate (currency/hour), VAT (%), description of the work.
• Sections: add, rename, reorder, delete. Rows: + Item from the price list (search) or + Manual line; the quantity, the material unit price and the standard labor time can be edited, and the rows can be moved up and down.
• Calculation: the labor unit price = standard labor time × hourly labor rate. The material and labor costs = quantity × unit price, rounded per row to the decimals of the quotation currency (HUF and ISK to whole units, others to 2 decimals; the Brazilian real, BRL, also has 2 decimals; on a BRL quotation the tax row is labelled “Impostos”, its default is 0 %, and you enter the tax rate yourself), and the time per row to whole hours; the section totals and the grand total are sums of the already rounded rows. VAT is calculated from the net total.
• Currency: every quotation has its own currency; a new quotation takes your account’s default currency (derived from the language of the interface, can be set in the Profile under “Pricing”). When you change it you can choose: only the label changes (the numbers stay), or conversion at the exchange rate you enter. The program does not provide exchange rates, and you are responsible for the printed amounts; the conversion does not keep the old values. Rounding depends on the currency (HUF and ISK whole units, the others 2 decimals). If a price list item is in a different currency than the quotation, the row price becomes 0 with a “missing price” warning (the common catalog price counts as HUF).
• The rows keep the price list data from the time they were added; later changes to the price list do not overwrite them.
• Print view: cover page, summary (material cost, labor, time, net, VAT, gross), tables per section; with the Floor plan at the end of the quotation switch, the drawing sheets can also be attached. The contractor details come from the company details in the Profile. The site name (avenler.com) appears at the bottom of the cover page and at the bottom edge of the further pages.

Options and variants

• Option: with the Optional marker on a row, the item is left out of the base total (“does not count”) but stays on the quotation, so the client can see the choices. A whole section can be marked optional too.
• Required item: a row that is needed according to the board's rules gets a Required badge and cannot be made an option, because the quotation would be incomplete without it.
• Variant: in the Variants section you can create a + Variant group (e.g. a wiring-device series) and add several variants to it with + Variant; you assign rows with the Assign to variant menu. One variant per group counts toward the total, and the price difference is shown relative to the base variant. A row's quantity can also follow another row's.
• Three totals: below the grand total you see Base, With options and Selected, also on the printout.
• Freezing: Freeze assembly saves the current variant and option selection together with the totals (the label can be left empty; then the time becomes the label). From the Frozen assemblies list it can later be opened and printed the same way, or deleted.

Client link

You can create a read-only link to a quote or a plan package that the client can open without signing in. The client can view and print it; the link shows the frozen state at the time it was created. For a quote, the client can also accept it with their name, and you are notified by e-mail. If the quote has variant groups or optional items, the client can choose among them on the link (the total updates with the choice) and accepts the quote with that choice; the chosen total appears in the link list, and the accepted assembly cannot be deleted. The link expires and can be revoked at any time; you see the full address only when it is created.

Price list

The Price list is the source of the items: search by item code/text, filter by section, New item (item code, section, text, unit, material unit price, standard labor time). The Country selector sets whose type items and brands you see (guessed from the interface language by default, also changeable in the profile). You can filter by brand, Generic items only shows the brand-independent items, and the search also matches part numbers and brand names. On a manufacturer product row, the Source link opens the manufacturer data sheet, next to it the date of the check. A small icon in front of each item shows what kind of item it is. The Technical data link below the text expands the item's parameters (e.g. rated short-circuit capacity, IP rating, cross-section): for a branded product this is Manufacturer data (with a link if it comes from a separate datasheet), for a type item it is Type data taken from the item's own description. The designer checks that a chosen product is suitable and complies with local regulations. For US (NEC) items the technical data also include the AWG size, the NEMA receptacle configuration and AFCI/GFCI protection; from a load center item the board view pre-fills the number of spaces and the main current. The shared items are managed by the administrator; you can set your own price by adding your own item with the same item code: it overrides the shared one in your quotations.

Price age: a badge next to the item price and the quote lines shows when the price was last updated (yellow and red; the thresholds are set in the Profile). The catalog filter Price age lists old, outdated or undated prices (the age is unknown for shared and package items). Two bulk actions work on the filtered items: Confirm prices (the price stays, the date becomes today) and Update from wholesaler price (the preferred wholesaler net price with markup; preview before approval). In the quote editor Update prices from the catalog resets the lines taken from the catalog to today's catalog price (manually edited and markup lines stay); the printout shows the line Prices are valid until ….

• Load from Excel: CSV or XLSX (at most 5 MB), in three steps: File, Match columns, Check. If the check finds an error, nothing is saved.
• Export: XLSX.

Purchasing

On the Purchasing page you manage your wholesalers' net purchase prices; from them you can see what the takeoff material costs and what your margin is. The purchase price and the margin are yours only: they do not appear in the quotation, the printout or the shared project, the client and the editor collaborator cannot see them, and nobody else can access them.

• Adding a wholesaler: New wholesaler (name, currency, customer number; the email address is optional, but it is needed for ordering).
• Loading a price list: Load price list, CSV or Excel (the first sheet), in three steps: File, Columns, Check. You assign the columns to the fields yourself (item number, description, unit, GTIN, manufacturer, manufacturer part number, list or net price, discount). If there is an error, nothing is saved; a new upload replaces the previous price list.
• Matching: the program matches the wholesaler's rows to catalog items by GTIN, brand and item number, manufacturer part number or your own code. In the Rows view you can also link an unmatched row to a catalog item by hand (with a unit factor if the wholesaler sells in a different unit, and you can mark the preferred wholesaler); a manual link survives a new upload, and Remove link cancels it.
• Margin: in the "Purchasing and margin" section of the quotation you see the purchase value and the margin; Update prices from wholesalers takes the best offer, and Material price with markup rewrites the material prices after a preview and your approval.
• Ordering: the Order list opened from the Material takeoff groups the items by wholesaler, rounded up to orderable packs; it can be downloaded as XLSX or CSV, printed, and, after confirmation, sent with the Send by email button to the wholesaler's saved email address (the reply address is yours). You start the email; the program only logs the fact that it was sent.
• Data: the wholesaler contact's email address and your price list belong to your account; they are deleted when the account is deleted and are included in the data package that can be downloaded from the Profile.

Schedules

The Lists item of the project page gives three tabs (they calculate only from the saved drawing):

Cable ID: calculated by the program in the form <körjel>-W<n> (e.g. F3-W2; with several circuits the reference of the first circuit, without a circuit W<n>, in a single sequence). Two cable routes are one cable if they share a free end and have the same set of circuits. In the editor, Fix cable IDs writes the current IDs onto the cable routes (at most 16 characters), so later changes to the drawing do not change them; on the drawing and in print the Cable ID layer (off by default) shows them. Sizing only reports; it does not change the cross-section.

Each can be downloaded in XLSX or CSV format, and printed with the common title block (see the Printing, drawing set and DXF chapter).