HomeTech ADVANTAGE Tip

ORGANIZE YOUR ESTIMATES INTO "PHASES" AND SAVE TIME ON REVISIONS

Did you know you can save time (in future estimate revisions) by organizing your estimate into phases?

In its simplest form, a "phase" is merely a chapter or subdivision of your estimate. By organizing your estimate in to "phases", revisions for changes in project scope can be made quickly and easily.

A very low percentage of customers sign an initial proposal without some pricing revisions. Organizing your estimate into phases will save time when you have to make estimate revisions. You will know exactly what components and how much of each component is being estimated in each area of the project.

What You Need to Know About Phases

• There is no right or wrong way to organize your estimate into phases. Do what is logical to you based on your estimating style and project you are estimating.
• An estimate must contain at least one phase, but can have as many phases as desired.
• Most users tend to view phases as a specific room, or area, of the project to be estimated.

Example: Let's say you are creating an estimate for Mr. Jones who wants a bid for building a new addition on the back of the house, remodeling an existing kitchen, and remodeling the master bathroom. You would have at least three phases in the estimate:

• Phase 1 for the addition
• Phase 2 for the kitchen
• Phase 3 for the master bath

Here's how the phases look in an estimate:

Add, Edit or Delete Phases in Your Estimate
Use the “Phase Maintenance” window to add, edit, or delete phases in your estimate.

• The “Phase Maintenance” window can be accessed from the Estimate Grid from the “Horizontal Slider” menu thru ADD PHASE, EDIT PHASE, or DELETE PHASE.
• Alternately, these same features can be accessed from the Estimate Grid thru the EDIT pull-down menu.

TIPS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR ESTIMATE USING PHASES

For Remodeling Estimates
When presenting the initial bid to a customer, it is very common for the customer to change their project “wish list” from what was initially discussed. They may want to reduce the project size to meet their budget after receiving the initial bid, change particular components of the project based on personal needs or desires, add additional components or rooms into the project, change particular product selections, etc.

Continuing with the example above, if you had grouped all estimate line items (for the addition, kitchen and master bath) into one phase rather than three, it would require more time to revise the estimate. It may not be clear what line items belong to which area of the project, or how much of a particular line item is relevant to each area of the project.

For example, all three of those areas (addition, kitchen, master bath) may contain drywall, but if you have only one drywall item covering all three areas, you will then have to review or recalculate the amount of drywall in each area to make revisions. When you divide estimates into separate phases for each area, or room, you know exactly what line items, or components, are in each area, and how much of each component is estimated for each area of the project. You can simply add, edit or delete the applicable line items in each phase.

For New Home Estimates
Estimates for new home construction tend to be longer and in some ways more complicated than remodeling estimates. Because new home estimates tend to be very large, it becomes increasingly important to organize your estimate using a logical phase structure.

The above concept for creating “Remodeling Estimates” can also apply to estimating new home construction. You may want to have a separate phase for each room in the house. In addition to this, you may also want to create phases that are “common” to the entire project.

For example, it doesn’t really make sense to try to divide the floor framing into a room-by-room basis because the floor is common to the entire structure and you will typically not be framing the floor on a room-by-room basis (you will frame the entire floor at once).

In this sample situation, you may want to create a “Floor Framing” phase in which you include the floor framing for the entire house (or on a level-by-level basis such as “Floor Framing 1st Floor”, “Floor Framing 2nd Floor”, etc.). Likewise, for the rooms or areas that have their own phase, include the line items or components that apply only to that area.

Then, in the “Kitchen” phase, you would include electrical and plumbing fixtures (though perhaps not the rough-in part of this phase), selections, appliances, counters, cabinets, floor covering, wall coverings, ceiling coverings, trim, etc.

Additional Tips
Again, there is no right or wrong way to organize your estimate into phases. Do what is logical to you based on your estimating style and project you are estimating. Review the following table for suggestions on organizing your estimate into phases.

COMMON PHASES Create a Common Phase for These Areas		SEPARATE PHASES Create a Separate Phase for These Areas
Electrical Rough-In Excavation, Site Work and Grading Floor Framing HVAC Plans and Permits Plumbing Rough-In Roof and Ceiling Framing Roofing, Siding and Exterior Trim Wall Framing		Addition Baths (create a separate phase for each bath) Bedrooms (create a separate phase for each bedroom) Carport OR Garage Deck Dining Room Family Room OR Den Kitchen Living Room