Table of Contents

Process a Bill of Quantities for a Subcontractor

When working with a subcontractor, you may need to request prices for the construction project. You can exchange these files using a Placing Unit (PU) project and the Import Prices function.

To create the PU project

After updating the BoQ project, create the PU project by selecting the BoQ project on the Construction Project page and choosing Functions > Create Placing Project on the Projects FastTab. The PU Project is created with a new project number and Structure Type = Placing Unit.

For more information, see Create Construction Project and Sub-Projects.

To add subcontracting positions to the PU project

Existing positions from the BoQ calculation can be copied to the BoQ Calculation for the PU project. Alternatively, you can manually enter all the positions or if you created a Placing Unit execution unit for the project, you can import them by choosing the Insert Placing Units action on the Home menu (see Execution Units).

  1. On the PU project, choose the Budget Calculation action on the Calculation menu.
  2. On the Home menu, choose the New Line action.
  3. Choose the Copy from action.
  4. In the Search Project Line request page, enter the BoQ project in the No. field.
  5. Choose the OK button.
  6. In the Search Project Lines page, select the BoQ positions to copy to the PU project.
    For example, to select a particular position and the substructure, select the main position and then in the Options section, choose Type = Current position incl. substructure.
  7. Choose the OK button.
  8. Make any necessary changes to the calculations.

To export the BoQ

Note

Blocked BoQ groups and positions are not transferred to the export, since blocked positions are not meant to be part of an active offer or specification.

Any units of measure from Business Central that do not exist in the BoQ Unit of Measure Assignment will be automatically created. Due to the limit of four characters in the BoQ Unit of Measure, the Unit of Measure Code from Business Central is shortened. If you have multiple BoQ Units of Measure assigned to the same Business Central Unit of Measure Code, you can set a default BoQ Unit of Measure to be exported.

  1. Choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature icon, enter BoQ Unit of Measure Assignment, and then choose the related link.
  2. Select the Default Unit of Measure checkbox if this unit of measure should be used when exporting a BoQ to convert the BC Unit of Measure Code to the BoQ Unit of Measure.

Now you can start processing the export.

  1. Go back to the Project Card.
  2. On the Actions menu, choose Export BoQ.
  3. In the Export Project to BoQ dialog, the:
    • Exchange Format field is set to the same as used for the import but can be changed as needed.
    • Exchange Phase field is set to 84 Offer, which is the next step in the bidding process, but can be changed as needed.
    • Transfer Price field defaults to the None option because there are no prices but can be changed as needed.
  4. Choose the OK button.
  5. The Downloads dialog opens. Choose Open to view the file or Save as to save the file for later retrieval.

To import prices from subcontractor

After sending the export BoQ file to a subcontractor, import only the prices to the PU project.

  1. In the PU project, choose the Import Prices action on the Actions menu.

  2. In the Import Prices To Project request page, select the file from the subcontractor in the Bill of Quantities No. field.

  3. The BoQ Version No. field will be updated from the select BoQ file or a different version can be selected.

  4. The Transfer Price field defaults to the Direct Unit Cost (LCY) option for Placing Unit projects but can be changed as needed.

  5. In the General Component Code field, you can optionally specify the general component to use when transferring prices. If not specified, the general component from the PU project's Execution Unit is used; if one is not specified, the general component from the Project Construction Setup page is used.

  6. If you want to replace existing calculation lines when importing prices, turn on the Replace Calculation toggle. When you turn on this toggle, the Replace All toggle is automatically turned on and the Replace Options field group becomes visible.

  7. In the Replacement Options field group, specify which calculation components should be replaced:

    • Replace All: When turned on, all existing calculation components are deleted before importing new prices. This toggle is automatically turned on when you enable Replace Calculation and the individual cost type options (Replace Wages, Replace Material, and Replace Subcontractor) are off and not editable.
    • Replace Wages: When turned on, existing wages calculation components are deleted before importing new prices. This option is only editable when Replace All is off.
    • Replace Material: When turned on, existing material calculation components are deleted before importing new prices. This option is only editable when Replace All is off.
    • Replace Subcontractor: When turned on, existing subcontractor calculation components are deleted before importing new prices. This option is only editable when Replace All is off.

    If the Replace All toggle is turned off, at least one of the individual cost type options must be selected.

  8. Choose the OK button.
    The notification bar shows that the import was complete and indicates the number of imported lines.

  9. On the Calculation menu, choose the Budget Calculation action to open the BoQ Budget Calculation.

A new general component for Subcontractor Cost is added to each position with prices.

After the prices are successfully transferred, the BoQ Contractor record is automatically updated to track which contractor's prices were adopted. For more information, see To view price transfer tracking information.

Note

The Import Prices action is also accessible from the Construction Project by choosing the Functions > Import BoQ drop-down arrow > Import Prices on the Projects FastTab.

To view price transfer tracking information

After importing prices from contractors, you can view which contractor's prices were most recently transferred to the project and when the transfer occurred.

  1. On the Related menu, choose Construction Work > BoQ Data Exchange to open the list of related BoQ files.
  2. Select the BoQ file that contains the contractors and choose the Contractors action to open the BoQ Contractors page.
  3. The following fields display the price transfer tracking information:
    • Prices Transferred: Indicates whether prices from this contractor have been transferred to the project. This field is automatically set when prices are imported and is visible by default. When prices are transferred from a different contractor, the flag is automatically cleared from the previous contractor and set for the new one, ensuring that only the most recent price transfer source is tracked.
    • Price Transfer At: Displays the date and time when the prices were transferred. This field is automatically populated during price import and is hidden by default but can be made visible using the Personalize feature.
    • Price Transfer By: Displays the user who transferred the prices. This field is automatically populated during price import and is hidden by default but can be made visible using the Personalize feature.

The Prices Transferred field can also be set manually. When you manually enable the field, the Price Transfer At and Price Transfer By fields are automatically populated with the current date, time, and user. When you manually disable the field, these fields are cleared.

Note

The price transfer tracking fields are also visible in the BoQ Contractor FactBox when viewing BoQ-related pages.

To update BoQ group and position information

Updates to specific existing information in BoQ Groups and BoQ Positions can be imported as well, including position types, quantities, and more.

  1. In the PU project, choose the Import BoQ (Update) action on the Actions menu.
  2. In the Import BoQ Update To Project request page, select the file from the subcontractor in the Bill of Quantities No. field.
  3. The BoQ Version No. field will be updated from the select BoQ file or a different version can be selected.
  4. Turn on the toggles as needed:
    • Update Position Type: updates Position Type and corresponding Price Type, overwrites GAEB and OeNorm properties.
    • Update Quantity: updates the Quantity, overwrites existing quantities.
    • Update Unit of Measure Code: updates the Unit of Measure Code, overwrites existing unit of measure codes.
    • Update Description: updates the Description, overwrites existing descriptions and the Short Text.
    • Update Long Text: updates the Long Text, overwrites existing long text, deletes manually entered text.
  5. Choose the OK button.
    The notification bar shows that the import was complete and indicates the number of updated lines.
  6. On the Calculation menu, choose Budget Calculation to open the BoQ Budget Calculation.

Next steps

Once the file is returned by the subcontractor with their changes, repeat the processes above to make changes and export/import file with the subcontractor.

These processes will continue until you have an agreement with the subcontractor.


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