Standard Item Dialog - General Tab

The General tab is used to manage the basic details for a standard item, such as quantity, unit details, base pricing, and notes.

Item Group

Field	Description
Full Reference	Full reference to the standard item in the VPB. This field is locked and cannot be edited. Example The standard item 13.4.3.2 includes the following VPB details: - 13: Home Technology - 13.4: Air Conditioners - 13.4.3: Split Systems - 13.4.3.2: Coarseair 8.0 kw model split system
BOQ Count	Number of BOQ links for the standard item. These are created and maintained in the BOQ Links tab. This field is locked and cannot be edited.
Nature	Category applied to the standard item. Click the Nature popup button to select. Example A standard item called Split System may be categorised as Electrical. Other examples include Structural, Fittings, Painting, etc.
Location	Area of the house to which the standard item applies. Click the Location popup button to select. Example A standard item called the Terra Incognita Garage Door may have their location set to Garage. Other examples include Facade, Windows, Doors, Garage Variations, etc.
Permit Significant?	Does the selection of the standard item affect the permit approval process? No (default): The selection of the standard item will not affect the permit approval process. Yes: The selection of the standard item requires special consideration as it will affect the permit approval process.
Energy Significant?	Does the selection of the standard item affect the overall energy rating of the house? No (default): The selection of the standard item will not affect the overall energy rating of the house. Yes: The selection of the standard item will affect the overall energy rating of the house.
Programme Impact	Total number of programme impact days the selection of the standard item will affect the anticipated completion date (contract duration).
Style	This field/function is currently disabled. Font style applied to the standard item when printed. Click the Style popup button to select. Standard items may be printed on a VPB, a report, or a document. Example Normal, Bold, etc.
Suppress?	Will the standard item be suppressed on the printed VPB and in the Framework VPB Browserapplication? No (default): The standard item will be included in the printed VPB and in theFramework VPB Browser application. Yes: The standard item will be excluded from the printed VPB and in theFramework VPB Browser application. An item would be suppressed if it is unavailable.
Available?	Will the standard item be available for selection in a client document? Yes (default): The standard item will be available for selection in a client document. No: The standard item will be viewable, but not selectable, in a client document. Example Let's say a brick is temporarily unavailable for three months due to a shortage. The salesperson can access the details of the brick but it cannot be selected for the client. As a temporary measure, a note explaining the situation could be added to the Notes field explaining the situation.
Quantity	Number of items required. The Quantity field cannot equal 0. Bricks (per 1,000) are selected based on the size of the house. If 15.0 is entered for a house type, it indicates that 15,000 bricks are required for the selected standard item.
Unit	Unit of measurement used to describe the quantity. Example Each, Per Job, m, m2, lm, etc.
Unit Description	Manually entered text to describe the unit. The unit description is displayed on the document. Example If the selected unit is each, the unit description may be ea.
GST Applies?	Does the standard item have GST applied? Yes (default): GST will be calculated on the Retail Price (ex GST) of the standard item. No: GST is not to be paid on the item and the price of the item will be calculated accordingly. Example As GST is not applied to items relating to finance or interest, an example of a standard item that does not have GST applied would be Interest for Late Payment.

Base Pricing Group

Field	Description
Cost Price (ex GST)	Cost price (ex GST) of the standard item.
Retail Price (ex GST)	Retail price (ex GST) of the standard item.
Retail Price (GST)	GST amount for the retail price of the standard item. This field is locked and cannot be edited. If the GST Applies? field is set to No, this will display the figure $0.00.
Retail Price (inc GST)	Retail price (inc GST) of the standard item. This field is calculated by the addition of the Retail Price (ex GST) and Retail Price (GST) amounts. Example If the Retail Price (ex GST) field is $1000 and the Retail Price (GST) field is $100, then the Retail Price (inc GST) will be $1000 + $100 = $1100.
Pricing	Base price status of the standard item. Click the Pricing popup button to select. Standard selections include: Fixed Price: The base price is fixed and confirmed. Provisional Price: The base price is an approximate price only.

Price fields may be locked when there are Retail or Cost formulas applied.

Base Published Price Group

Field

Description

Format

Format used to display the published Price (inc GST) field below.

Example

By Owner, Included, No Charge, Not Available, etc.

If the selected format is [Retail Price], a dollar amount will be displayed in the Price (inc GST)field. However, if a string field such as No Charge is selected, the No Charge text string is copied to the Price (inc GST) field. The ability to enter custom text into the Price (inc GST)field is also supported.

Price (inc GST)

Published price of the standard item. This field will display either a dollar amount or text.

Notes Group

Free text area for notes regarding the standard item. Notes entered here will be available on table intersection items, documents, document variations, document templates, sales advice quotes, and the VPB.

Standard Item Dialog - Area Pricing Tab

The Area Pricing tab is used to manage area pricing for a standard item. Area pricing is applied to standard items whose price is affected by location or area, using both area percentage and fixed amount values.

Example

Let's say the price of an item for the metropolitan region is $100 but in regional centres is 20% more. Rather than creating multiple standard items for different regions, the Area Pricing tab can be used to apply area based pricing to a single item.

Administrators can set the price of a standard item for:

All Unlisted Areas: Using the For Unlisted Areas? popup button. This will open the Select VPB Item Rule - Area Pricing dialog.
For All Listed Areas: By clicking the New toolbar button

Area pricing is allocated to a VPB version via the Area Pricing tab of the Version dialog

Area Pricing Group

Field

Description

For unlisted areas?

Method by which an area that has been created for the VPB, and that has not been included in the Area Pricing list, is priced by Framework for a selected standard item. For all unlisted areas, the standard selections include:

Base Price Applies (default): The base price of the standard item is applied.
Base Price + Area %: The base price of the standard item plus the area percentage amount is applied.
Item Is Not Allowed: The standard item only applies to the areas listed.
Base Price + Area % + Fixed Amount: The base price of the standard item plus the area percentage amount plus a fixed amount is applied. The Fixed Amount field can be entered.

Pricing Details Group

Field	Description
Fixed Amount	Fixed amount added to the standard item price. This field only applies when the For unlisted areas? field is set to Base Price + Area % + Fixed Amount.

Area Pricing List

The items in this list are edited using the Area Pricing dialog.

Column	Description
#	Area pricing number.
Area	Name of the area pricing applied to the standard item.
BOQ Ref	Bill Of Quantities (BOQ) reference in an estimating system for the standard pricing in the area.
Method	Method used to calculate the published price.
Published Price	Retail price (inc GST) of the standard item.
Notes	Notes about the area pricing item for internal purposes.

Procedures

Adding Area Pricing To A Standard Item

Click the New toolbar icon. The Area Pricing dialog will be displayed.
Enter the details.
Click OK. The dialog will close and new area pricing will added to the standard item. The Area Pricing list will be updated.

Formulas can be applied to Area Pricing calculations. This feature is enabled with a data update. Please Contact Insula Software.

Standard Item Dialog - Validity Tab

The Validity tab is used to manage the availability of a standard item for a region/division or house type.

Example

- A specific air conditioning unit may not be available for the Metro - North region/division as the supplier used in that particular region/division does not handle those unit types.
- A specific facade is only available to a particular house type as it may not fit onto other house types.

Region/Division Validity Group

Field

Description

Valid For

Specific region/division validity for the selected standard item. Click the This item applies topopup button to select. Standard selections include:

All Region/Divisions: The standard item is valid for all region/divisions.
All Except the Listed Region/Divisions: The standard item is not valid for the listed region/divisions.
Only the Listed Region/Divisions: The standard item is valid only for the listed region/divisions.

Region/Divisions List

Column	Description
Name	Name of the region/division to which validity will be applied.
Ref	Reference name of the region/division to which validity will be applied.

House Type Validity Group

Field

Description

Valid For

Specific house type validity for the selected standard item. Click the This item applies topopup button to select. Standard selections include:

All House Types: The standard item is valid for all house types.
All Except the Listed House Types: The standard item is not valid for the listed house types.
Only the Listed House Types: The standard item is valid only for the listed house types.

House Types List

Column	Description
House Class	Name of the house class to which validity will be applied.
House Type	Name of the house type to which validity will be applied.

Procedures

Applying Region/Division Validity To A Standard Item

Region/divisions are added to the Region/Divisions list so that validity can be applied to the standard item.

To add a region/division to the Region/Divisions list, the This item applies to field must be set to All Except the Listed Region/Divisions or Only the Listed Region/Divisions.

From the Valid For field, select a validity method.
Click the New toolbar icon. The Select Region/Division dialog will be displayed.
Select the required region/division.
Click OK. The dialog will close and a new region/division will added to the Region/Divisions list.

Repeat steps 2 - 4 to add more region/divisions.

Applying House Type Validity To A Standard Item

House types are added to the House Types list so that validity can be applied to the standard item.

To add a house type to the House Types list, the This item applies to field must be set to All Except the Listed House Types or Only the Listed House Types.

From the Valid For field, select a validity method.
Click the New toolbar icon. The Select House Type dialog will be displayed.
Select the required house type.
Click OK. The dialog will close and a new house type will added to the House Types list.

Repeat steps 2 - 4 to add more house types.

Standard Item Dialog - Formula Tab

The Formula tab is used to enter cost and retail formulas that are applied to the pricing of a standard item. Variables used in the formulas are added to a VPB via the Version screen.

Cost Formula

Displays a cost formula that has been selected for use on the pricing of a standard item.

Once selected, and the Validate and apply formula toolbar button has been clicked, the formula is applied to the price of a standard item.

Example

[Item_quantity]*5.50 is the product of the quantity and 5.50

Cost Notes

Free text area for notes regarding the cost notes formula.

Retail Formula

Displays a retail formula that has been selected for use on the pricing of a standard item.

Once selected, and the Validate and apply formula toolbar button has been clicked, the formula is applied to the price of a standard item.

Example

[Item_cost_price]*1.25 is the cost price with a 25% margin.

Retail Notes

Free text area for notes regarding the retail notes formula.

Procedures

Inserting And Validating Formulas

Select the Cost Formula or Retail Formula group.
From the toolbar, click . The Select VPB Variable dialog will be displayed.
Select a VPB variable.
Click OK. The dialog will close and a VPB variable will be added to the selected group.
From the toolbar, click . The formula will be validated and applied to the cost and/or retail price of the item.

Important Concepts

Rounding

An instruction on how to round outcomes can be added to the Cost or Retail formulas. The syntax is a combination of a rounding instruction and a specified increment.

Example

[Item_cost_price]*1.25 roundup1 is cost with a 25% margin, rounded to the nearest whole $1.00

Rounding Instructions

Argument	Behaviour	Example
round	Positive rounds away from zero Negative rounds towards zero	1.50 to 2.00 -1.50 to -1.00
roundup	Positive rounds away from zero Negative rounds towards zero	1.50 to 2.00 -1.50 to -1.00
rounddown	Positive rounds towards zero Negative rounds away from zero	1.50 to 1.00 -1.50 to -2.00
roundtowardszero	Both positive and negative round towards zero	1.50 to 1.00 -1.50 to -1.00
roundawayfromzero	Both positive and negative round away from zero	1.50 to 2.00 -1.50 to -2.00

The values to round to are expressed using a number at the end of the round argument.

Rounding Increment Examples

Integer	Increment	Example (roundup)
.1	One decimal place	1.57 to 1.60
.25	Nearest .25	1.57 to 1.75
1	Nearest whole number	1.57 to 2.00
5	Nearest whole 5	1.57 to 5.00

Standard Item Dialog - Miscellaneous Tab

The Miscellaneous tab is used to manage miscellaneous content about the standard item, such as tooltips and catalogue details.

Tool Tip Group

Field	Description
Tool Tip	Text displayed when the mouse pointer hovers over an item on the Items list of the Browse VPB screen.

Sales/Catalogue Identification Group

Field	Description
Code	Unique code used identify a catalogue item.
Reference/Name	Reference name used to identify a catalogue item.
Marketing Description	Free text area that can be used in Marketing material

Standard Item Dialog - Image Tab

The Image tab is used to insert a full size image against the standard item.

Image

Displays the image recorded against the standard item.

Images are stored in the Framework ECM database. Moving or removing the image from the location on the network will not affect Framework ECM.

Standard Item Dialog - BOQ Links Tab

BOQ links are ONLY required if information is integrated between Framework ECM and an external estimating system.

The BOQ Links tab is used to manage the Bill Of Quantities (BOQ) links for a standard item.

A BOQ is also known in the housing industry as:
- Assembly
- Recipe
- Mini-bill
- Model

A BOQ is a document used in estimating in which costs for materials, parts, and labour are itemised to create the total cost for an item. Entering a BOQ link allows the exchange of information between Framework ECM and an external estimating system.

Example

A single wall oven may be connected to a BOQ that contains:
- Required materials (in this case, the wall oven itself, gas piping, etc.)
- Labour
- Delivery

Multiple BOQ links can be created so that a single item can be tied to multiple BOQs.

Example

A house may be connected to multiple BOQs such as:
- Bathroom BOQ
- Garage BOQ
- Kitchen BOQ, etc.

BOQ Links List

The details in this list can be edited using the BOQ Link dialog.

Column	Description
#	Order of the BOQ link on the BOQ Links list. BOQ links may be moved to a different position in the list by using the directional buttons on the toolbar.
	Indicates the primary BOQ link. The primary BOQ link is indicated with a icon.
QTY	BOQ link quantity.
Qty Method	Selected quantity method for BOQ links.
BOQ Reference	BOQ reference item in an estimating system for the standard item.
Export	Export method for the BOQ link from Framework ECM to an external estimating system.
Pricing	Sales pricing import method for the BOQ link from an external estimating system to Framework ECM.
Notes	Free text area for notes regarding the BOQ link.

Procedures

Adding A BOQ Link

Click the New toolbar button. The BOQ Link dialog will be displayed.
Enter the details.
Click OK. The dialog will close and a new BOQ link will be created.

Multiple BOQ links can be created.