The only copy is the live one
If the approved estimate is the file everyone edits, the original number is gone as soon as someone fixes a line. When the owner asks what changed since approval, the answer is a guess.
Estimate control
Construction estimate revisions and comparison after approval
Once an estimate is approved, it is the budget, and nobody should be able to quietly edit it. Real projects still change: a new scope, a re-bid, a corrected quantity. Fidrel handles that with revisions that supersede the baseline on the record, and a comparison that shows what differs between two estimates. This page covers that routine from the cost manager’s chair.
30 days free · No long-term contract.
Why approved estimates get edited anyway
Revisions without reasons
A new version arrives named final-v7. The total is different, but nobody wrote down why, who accepted it or what the budget was before.
Approved changes lost in the swap
The project has already approved change orders on top of the original budget. A revised estimate that ignores them double-counts or erases them, and the cost report no longer ties out.
Approved means locked
An approved estimate is locked, and the page tells you to change the budget through change orders or budget adjustments, or to create a revision. There is one approved baseline estimate at a time. When a revision is approved, the previous baseline becomes Superseded and can no longer be changed. Every item needs a price before an estimate can be approved.
Cost estimation
What approving a revision shows you
Before you confirm, Fidrel shows the current budget today, the new current budget and the original budget, which stays unchanged. If the project already has approved change orders and budget adjustments, you choose between keeping them on top of the new estimate and treating the new estimate as already including them. Items removed from the estimate that have invoices or commitments keep their costs: the budget of the item changes and the costs remain. You tick that you understand the previous baseline will be superseded and by how much the budget changes.
How to revise and compare in Fidrel
Step 1
Create the revision
On the approved baseline estimate choose Create revision. You get an editable copy numbered Rev 1, Rev 2 and so on, while the approved one stays locked. Change lines, quantities and prices in the copy.
Step 2
Submit it for review
Choose Submit for review. The reviewer can approve it or return it to draft, and a return needs a comment for the person who prepared the estimate.
Step 3
Approve with a reason, then compare
Approving a revision shows the current budget today, the new current budget and the number of items changed, added and removed, and asks for a reason. Use Compare with another estimate at any time for a line-by-line check.
History: who, when, before and after
The estimate history lists each event: created, submitted for review, returned to draft, approved and superseded. An approval shows the budget before and after as an arrow, who approved it and when, and the reason that was entered. That is the answer to what changed since approval, without depending on anyone’s memory.
Comparing two estimates
Compare with another estimate opens a view of the open estimate beside the one you choose, with quantity times unit price and the amount on each side and the difference per line. Lines found in only one of them are listed as Only in this one and Only in the chosen one, and Differences only hides the lines that match. If nothing differs, the view says that the items are the same in both estimates. You can compare any two estimates in the project, such as a baseline and its revision, an alternate or a working estimate.
What revisions in Fidrel do not do
Approving a revision cannot be undone, although everything stays in the history. The comparison shows quantity, unit price and amount per line but does not explain why a line changed, which is what the reason on the revision is for. Approval happens inside Fidrel by someone with approval rights, with no e-signature.
Related solutions
One project. One subscription. The entire platform included.
Your trial applies to your first own project and starts when that project is created. No card required. Afterwards, choose card or invoice to continue.
- 30 days free
- Unlimited participants
- No minimum term
Insights
View all
Project coordination just got simpler
The project system of the future connects people, documents and decisions. Discover the thinking behind Fidrel.
Read more
Your drawing, on site. Open DWG on your phone.
On site, answers need to be close at hand. Fidrel displays DWG drawings in your mobile browser, within the project’s document structure.
Read more
A clearer schedule. From the first activity to the final milestone.
When everyone can see the next step, moving the project forward becomes easier. Fidrel brings activities, dates and reported progress together in a shared Gantt view.
Read more
Estimate control
Frequently asked questions
Anything else on your mind? We are happy to help.
Talk to usNot in place. An approved estimate is locked, so you create a revision, change that and approve it as the new baseline. The earlier baseline stays in the history as Superseded.
No. When you approve a revision you choose whether the approved changes stay on top of the new estimate or the new estimate already includes them, and the original budget is shown unchanged.
The estimate history shows it: the approval, the date, the name, the budget before and after, and the reason that was entered when the revision was approved.
For each line, the quantity times unit price and the amount on both sides and the difference, plus the lines found in only one estimate. Differences only hides the lines that match.
Yes. Compare with another estimate lets you pick any other estimate in the project, such as an alternate or a working estimate, when the project has one.