You only see what you are sent
A contractor sends a file when it is ready. You do not know whether it is the latest, and you cannot see the earlier ones without asking.
For the owner’s representative
Estimate review for owner’s representatives
You read an estimate you did not build, on behalf of the party who will pay for it. What you need is the numbers, what changed between versions, and a way to send it back that leaves a record. This page shows what Fidrel gives that reader and where the role stops.
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What an owner’s representative is up against
Revisions arrive without a list of changes
A second version looks like the first. Finding the lines that moved means scanning thousands of rows, usually under a deadline.
Your comments get lost in e-mail
Questions on individual lines scatter across threads, and later nobody can show which question the revised number answered.
What the history shows you
Every approval is listed in the Estimate history with who approved it, when, the budget before and after, and the reason typed. A revision is numbered Rev 1, Rev 2 and so on, and the earlier estimate is marked Superseded rather than overwritten. When a revision is approved, the approver chooses whether approved changes stay on top of the new estimate or the new estimate already includes them, and the dialog shows the original budget, which is unchanged, beside the new current budget.
Cost estimation
What you can and cannot do
Reading, comparing and commenting follow the permissions you were given. Returning an estimate is part of editing it, which belongs to project and organization administrators alone, and approving needs the finance permissions for the budget and for approving. These are separate rights, so a representative can be given the review without being able to change a price. Costs that sit outside what was shared stay hidden: a quantity taken off a source you cannot open is shown as having a source you do not have access to.
Reading an estimate you did not write
Step 1
Get access to the estimate
The estimate stays closed until it is shared, so the project administrator opens it to you under Access & privacy, and gives you finance permissions if you should see costs. Before an invitation goes out, a summary lists what the person will and will not see.
Step 2
Read the structure and the markups
Open the estimate and read it group by group. The Markups and deductions panel shows the direct costs, each markup in calculation order and the estimate total, so you see what was added to cost before you see the price.
Step 3
Compare the revision with the one before
Choose Compare with another estimate and pick the earlier version. Lines found in only one are listed apart, each line shows its difference, and Differences only hides everything that did not move.
Step 4
Ask on the line, then return or approve
With finance edit permission you can write a comment on a line and mention a colleague with @. If you are a project or organization administrator, Return to draft sends it back with a required comment. If they include approving, Approve as baseline estimate opens the confirmation. Otherwise you read, comment and tell the person who holds those rights.
What Fidrel does not do for the owner side
Fidrel does not create a proposal or a contract for the client, and approval is a button with a confirmation, not an e-signature. It does not judge whether a price is fair or whether the scope is complete, and it holds one approved baseline estimate at a time. The estimate is the contractor’s or estimator’s work; your review is recorded around it, not written into it.
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For the owner’s representative
Frequently asked questions
Anything else on your mind? We are happy to help.
Talk to usYes, if it has been shared with you under Access & privacy. A draft shows a note that it is not the approved project budget.
Use Compare with another estimate, choose the earlier version, and turn on Differences only. Lines in only one of the two are listed separately.
Only if you are a project or organization administrator. Return to draft requires a comment for the person who prepared it, and the return appears in the history.
Yes, with finance edit permission. A comment on a line can mention a colleague with @, and the mention appears in their bell.
No. Approval is recorded in the estimate history with the name and date of the person who approved, but Fidrel produces no proposal and no signed document.