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 metres);
• 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). 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-metre 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.

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.

Editing the quotation

• Quotation details: title, hourly labour 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 labour time can be edited, and the rows can be moved up and down.
• Calculation: the labour unit price = standard labour time × hourly labour rate. The material and labour costs = quantity × unit price, rounded per row to the decimals of the quotation currency (HUF and ISK to whole units, others to 2 decimals), 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 catalogue 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, labour, 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.eu) appears at the bottom of the cover page and at the bottom edge of the further pages.

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 labour 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. The designer checks that a chosen product is suitable and complies with local regulations. 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.

• 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.

Schedules

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

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