The quote is in an inbox, the price is in a cell
The estimator reads a PDF, types a number into the estimate and moves on. Three weeks later a reviewer asks where the figure came from, and the answer is a search through someone’s email.
Estimating
Subcontractor quotes in a construction estimate
Before a number goes into an estimate, there are usually three or four quotes behind it: the drywall sub, the electrical sub, a supplier for the rooftop units. Fidrel lets you keep those quotes on the estimate line they price, choose the one you are carrying, and see at a glance when the chosen quote has expired or no longer matches the line. This page walks through it and says clearly what it is not.
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Where quotes get lost on the way to the estimate
A quote that has quietly expired
Subcontractor quotes hold for a set number of days. An estimate that was priced in March and approved in June can carry a number the sub no longer stands behind, and nothing on the line says so.
Quote totals and unit prices do not mix
One supplier quotes per unit and another quotes a lump sum for the whole scope. Putting both against the same line means converting by hand, and the conversion is exactly where mistakes creep in.
Several quotes on one line
A cost item can hold as many quotes as you have, each with its supplier, its amount, whether that amount is per unit or in total, how long it holds, its number and the document it came from. Because the quotes sit on the line, the person approving the estimate sees the field next to the price and does not have to ask for the file. The supplier can be typed or chosen from the supplier register, which keeps the name spelled the same way across estimates.
Cost estimation
Choosing a quote sets the price
One quote at a time can be chosen, and choosing it makes it the line’s price. A quote per unit becomes the unit price. A quote in total turns the line into a fixed amount, and Fidrel says so before it does. If you later change the price by hand, the line reports that its price differs from the chosen quote, so the estimate and the quote cannot drift apart without a flag. A quote whose Valid through date is before today is marked as expired.
Putting quotes on an estimate line
Step 1
Open the line and its Quotes
Select the cost item the quotes price and look for Quotes in its panel. Choose Add quote for each one you have received; this part of the panel is shown only to people who may see costs.
Step 2
Say who quoted and how much
Type the Supplier or choose it From the supplier register, enter the Amount, and mark it Per unit or In total. Add Valid through, the Quote number and a Note, then save the row.
Step 3
Attach the quote document
Under Quote document, search the project’s documents and pick the PDF the supplier sent. The quote and its source then sit on the line, so a reviewer opens the proof from the estimate itself.
Step 4
Choose the quote you are carrying
Tick Choose the quote on one of them. If the item’s price differs, Fidrel shows Use as the item’s unit price; a quote given in total says the item is then priced as a lump sum before you accept.
When the unit price is built up
A line can take its price from a build-up of resources or from a chosen quote, not both. If the unit price is built up, the quote cannot be used until you remove the build-up, and the panel says so. That keeps one answer to the question of where the number came from, which is what a reviewer needs.
What the quotes do not do
Fidrel compares quotes as amounts on a line, not scope by scope, so it does not level bids or show what each quote includes and leaves out. It does not rank the quotes or pick the lowest one for you; you choose. Quotes are records you type in, and the amounts are not read off the document, and Fidrel does not request quotes from suppliers from this panel. Formal bidding with sealed bids and bid evaluation is a separate product in Fidrel.
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You can add as many quotes as you have received to a cost item. Only one can be chosen at a time as the line’s price.
The quote is marked as expired once its Valid through date is before today. The line still holds the price until you choose another quote or change it.
Yes. Mark the amount In total and, when you choose it, the item is priced as a lump sum. Fidrel tells you this before you accept it.
Yes. Each quote has a Quote document field that searches the project’s documents, so the PDF the supplier sent stays with the quote.
No. Quotes are compared as amounts on one line. Scope-by-scope leveling, with inclusions and exclusions side by side, is not part of the estimate.
Only people who may see the costs. The quote panel is not shown to anyone else.