Adding a Bid History Profile

A bid history profile is a collection of settings used to gather historical bid data for cost estimation purposes. When a bid history profile is selected during cost estimation, this collection of settings determines which historical bid data is included. For example, a bid history profile can indicate whether to include only bid data for proposals that have a given work type or use a selected spec book. A bid history profile can also indicate a range of dates so that bid data is included only for proposals that were let during that time period. Advanced parameters and filters can be used to identify data that matches exact characteristics. Source data for a Bid History Profile can also be pre-gathered to assist with pricing items. If a Bid History Profile has pre-gathered Source Data the pre-gathered data is used at the time of pricing. If a Bid History Profile does not have pre-gathered Source Data the data is gathered at the time of pricing. Your agency can create multiple bid history profiles that can be used for different types of pricing models and different types of projects.

The system provides a guided process you can use to create a new bid history profile. After you initially create a bid history profile, you can make changes to it as needed on the Bid History Profile Summary (see Maintaining a Bid History Profile). To add a bid history profile, perform the following steps:

Click the Bid History Profiles link in the Estimation component, and then select Add from the Actions menu on the Bid History Profiles Overview component header.

The Add Bid History Profile component displays Step 1, Define Profile.
To create the new bid history profile, you must enter a value in the Bid History Profile field. You can also enter a value for the Description, but it is not required. The Type field defaults to Item.
Click Next.

The component displays Step 2, Select Data. These settings determine the types of proposal and bid item data that will be included in the pricing model. You can return to a previous step at any time by clicking Previous.
To create the new bid history profile, you must select a value in the Use Only field. The default value is All Proposals.
Enter the Start Letting Date and End Letting Date OR the Number of Months. (If you enter the number of months, then you must leave the Start Letting Date and End Letting Date fields blank. In this case, the pricing model will use today's date for the end letting date and subtract the number of months to determine the Start Letting Date. If you enter start and end letting dates, you must leave the Number of Months field blank. If you enter a start letting date and leave the end letting date blank, the pricing model will use today's date as the end letting date.)
For the remaining fields on the Select Data page, you can enter multiple values as separate rows. For example, select a value in the Improvement Type field. The system automatically adds another improvement type row, enabling you to enter another value.
Enter one or more values for the Work Type and Spec Book fields as needed.
Click Next.

The component displays Step 3, Set Basic Parameters. These settings further establish the types of data that will be included, such as the source of item prices, a specific vendor, or a market area.
To create the new bid history profile, you must enter a value in these fields: Source of Item Prices, Date to Use for item prices, Letting Date Adjustment, and Date Rule when date is not available.
Different fields require entry depending on the value in the Source of Item Prices field, as follows:
- If you select Exclude High/Low Bids in the Source of Item Prices field, you must enter a value in the Minimum Number of Bids before Excluding field.
- If you select Low Bids in the Source of Item Prices field, you must enter a value in the Number of Low Bidders per Proposal field.
- If you choose Select Bidder in the Source of Item Prices field, you must enter a value in the Vendor Number field.
Enter values for the remaining parameters as appropriate: Market Area, Convert Opposite Units, and Item Group Set.
Click Next.

The component displays Step 4, Set Advanced Parameters. These settings enable you to specify parameters used in the statistical analysis performed with this profile, such as whether the pricing model includes regressions and averages. Settings are divided into three sections: Variables to include in analysis, Averages, and Regressions.
In the Variables to Include in Analysis section, clear or select check boxes for these variables as appropriate: Highway Type, Improvement Type, Market Area, Season, Terrain, Urban/Rural, and Work Type.
In the Averages section, select the Generate Averages check box if you want the pricing model to include averages. If you select this check box, entry is required in these fields: Minimum Number of Observations, Percent of Date Range to select, Percent of Quantity Outliers to exclude, and Percent of Price Outliers to exclude.
In the Regressions section, select the Generate Regressions check box if you want the pricing model to include regressions. If you select this check box, entry is required in these fields: Minimum Number of Observations, Percent of Regression Model Outliers to exclude, and Level of Improvement to add.
You can select these check boxes as needed: Exclude models that are out of range compared to the average and Exclude regression with positive quantity coefficients.
Select the Include Date variable in analysis check box if you want the regression calculation to determine how the price changes over time based on date. If you select this check box, you must enter values in the Minimum month range of history needed, Minimum Number of Observations, and Maximum inflation/deflation rate allowed fields.
When you are finished setting advanced parameters, click Next.

The component displays Step 5, Set Advanced Filters. These settings enable you to create filter statements that narrow the historical bid data included in the pricing model. Each filter statement consists of a field, an operator, and a value. For example, you can filter the data to include only those proposals that contain the word Interchange in the Proposal Description field. Multiple filter statements can be combined together by using an And/Or operator.
Click in the first field, and select the proposal field that will be used to narrow the data.
Click in the next field, and select an operator.

The operator determines how the system compares the data in the field to the specified value. The type of field you selected in the previous step determines which operators are available. For example, if you selected a numeric field, operators can include Is Equal To, Less Than, and Greater Than. If you selected a date field, operators can include Is On, Is Earlier Than, or Is Later Than. If you selected a text field, operators can include Begins With, Contains, or Is Equal To.
Click in the next field, and type or select a value.

When historical bid data is queried using this bid history profile, the system uses the operator to compare this value to the selected field, and narrows the data accordingly.
If you want to add another filter statement, click in the first field in the next row, and select And or Or.

This setting indicates how the new filter statement will be joined to the previous filter statement.
You can continue adding new filter statement rows at the bottom of the list as needed. When you are finished making changes, click the Create Profile button.

The system creates the new profile and displays it on the Bid History Profile Summary. See Maintaining a Bid History Profile for more information.