When the master becomes the apprentice.
Hi Guys, I have been training multiple experienced PlusDesignBuild users lately, and it is great to see the quality of output and methodology many are using.
One thing I see that I donāt do myself is create multiple materials of the same size with different member types in the material nameā¦ I use levels to segregate geometry inside the BOQ instead of material names. Am I missing something? I assume the reasoning is being able to associate different recipes with different member types? Is there another reason?
Or is there functionality we can add that will help new users minimise the selection criteria and material creation time?
Here is an example of member types in the material name:
It would be good to better understand why people create multiple materials for the same section size. @Simon@MitchC
Is it recipes alone? Or do you guys not like using the Levels and layers tool? I ma contemplating adding levels and layers by cost code in the takeoff drop down. And then adding the ability to add recipes by material & level > obviously Ill need to think it through in more detail.
I know my levels estimating method saves a lot of time creating materials and selecting materials. It also saves a lot of time multiple adding prices to the same section sizeā¦
Haha youāre the OG master though, I think thatās the greatest back handed compliment for you, it means youāre doing all the right things Student should always better than the master. BTW Without this software I wouldnāt be building anymore, you made it so you keep that title forever
To answer your question Good or Bad ?
Iād say Great !!!
Iām a massive fan of having custom materials, I hope I havenāt blown up your back end hahaha. Iām not just an estimator, Iām a building designer and builder and this method was me getting the software to best assist me with efficiency and accuracy, and all my workflows āfor my business anywayā Does take me much longer to find the exact material and I have a template made/ system for making materials nice and easy by the way
A bit of a run down why.
Even if it is for the same section size just nominated by its application first, it has enabled me to have a better autonomous experience getting through the different cost categories through the take-off interface, Iāve got recipes that automating trail with the materials and assigned materials/ components/fixing specific to the material and application that your team can basically order straight from the BOQ that I have created.
The other bonus is everything isnāt caught up or default connected to sectional material of different applications or just the generic or glitches and counts the wall lineal meter length or something.
Iām having far greater detail of being able to track and allow for costings also and make sure the right amount of labour is allocated for the right application rather than a generic value.
One of the most important things for workflow beyond just a BOQ is it enables incredible ordering transparency and cut lists for the team on site and your supplier.
THAT MIGHT BE WHAT A LOT ARE MISSING. If you have just a massive list with all the same section size how do you know where its going, what to get packed first and unloaded off the truck and how do you get the team to cut out of the right allowance. Or when the supplier doesnāt have one item how do you easily substitute with confidence and efficiency?
This is an example of what I mean.
To give an example as the BOQ transparency there are some different sectional size members and their applications that can be drawn with different tools, e.g example below could be joist tool or Beam tool having a custom material enables it to be transparent everywhere in the workflow and I never miss anything, I can also have the labour rate in the different cost code/ tag/layer and know that it has allocated properly but can also easily be reviewed for consolidation ordering etc.
FIY I do this for different layers too, not just the timber Items/ members.
Obviously this didnāt happen to me at once but I have made it over the years, previously to having this set up I have missed items as it had to be unticked or ticked every time when it was required and my thought process was always if it can get someone else to draw it then 90% of the costing would be there without my involvement.
Regarding the Progress Payments, I would always review and structure to the job and the conditions, bank financed, or owner financed are completely different and I would assess a mock up situation with our schedule as to where we would be financially at different milestones and the materials and labour used at that point by utilising the cost codes.
Actually, came in real handy once with a job ābank fundedā and I literally gave evidence with the BOQ and why I had the progress payments that I did.
Thanks for taking the time to write that out Mitch, It helps me/us understand precisely why itās being done that way, and it is a great solution. Let me digest it a little further and see if I can respond with a few potential solutions to limit the selection criterion in the material drop-down.
My initial off-the-cuff thoughts/brainstorm is to enable users to search materials or add categories.
I say this for two reasons
The more materials any tool has to load = a slower tool opening time. I like to keep the tools within a 2-second opening time if possible. Search functionality will enable this. You could Type J, and everything with J turns up. This could minimise the risk of blowing up the back end (joking the system can handle as many materials as you can throw at it)
Users could create category names if we added categories to all materials. We would have to enable recipes to be linked to the material category and the material. This would make the tool opening quicker yet at the same time enable pro users to retain their existing material library. However, we could create a material converter based on the naming structure. By the way, that would be a lot of work for the dev team, so if you donāt like it please let me know before I investigate.
Hey Mitch, Iām going to Sketchup Basecamp on the 11th of November. Do you have a model I can show?
Kind regards: The apprentice
Let me put this into context for the new comersā¦ Mitch is referring to the backend of the software.
Andrew, thank you again for your time the other day. Always leave with more knowledge than I came with.
I havenāt gone into as much depth as the above, the main reason why I created different materials of the same product is so I can associate a cost code with it.
If we take framing for example, specifically a timber member commonly used like 90x45 Radiata Pine, we would use this in various areas of the build. I would also note that I would have my cost codes associated as follows:
Ground floor frame
First Floor Frame
Ground floor roof
First floor roof
Etc
Once the project has commence and my invoices come in, especially jobs being completed on day labour, I am able to assign these invoices for both labour and material against the budgeted amount.
Rather than just have one cost code associated with 90x45 for the whole frame , this gives me the ability to break down the budget for the frame into the respective areas giving clarity as to where I am at with the final costā¦under or over.
From there I would adjust the cost applied at estimating stage to suit
Not sure if using layers will give us this ability
to segregate geometry inside the BOQ instead of material names. Am I missing something? I assume the reasoning is being able to associate different recipes with different member types? Is there another reason?
Student should always better than the master. BTW Without this software I wouldnāt be building anymore, you made it so you keep that title forever 
