Managing Category Alternate Sets

Groups of items in categories can serve as alternates for each other, which means that a bidder can choose to bid on either or both of the alternate categories. Keep in mind that some agencies require bidders to submit a bid for each of the alternatives to have a complete bid.

For more information about using alternate sets, see Working with Alternate Sets. For information about item alternate sets, see Managing Item Alternate Sets.

The Category Alternate Sets tab on the Project Category and Item Summary contains a grouped list of all the category alternate sets in the project. Each row represents one category alternate set and includes a count of the number of categories in the set. For each alternate set, you can view or change information in these fields:

The Life Cycle Cost Indicator should be selected if Life Cycle Cost is to be considered when analyzing the lowest cost alternate for the proposal. For more information, see Analyzing Alternate Sections and Life Cycle Costs.

To add a new category alternate set to the project, click the New button. The system adds a new row at the bottom of the list of category alternate set records. All fields in the new row are blank. To save a new category alternate set record, you must enter information in the Cat Alt Set ID and Description fields. When you are finished, click the Save button.

To delete a category alternate set, select Delete from the Actions menu on the category alternate set's row.

Note: You cannot delete a category alternate set to which items are currently assigned.

Managing Categories in an Alternate Set

The categories associated with an alternate set are displayed in a rolling list below the alternate set's row. Click in a category row to view or change information in the following fields:

To remove a category from the alternate set, select Remove from the Actions menu on the category's row.

To delete a category from the project directly from the alternate set, select Delete from the Actions menu on the category's row.

Adding Categories to an Alternate Set

Follow these steps to add one or more categories to an alternate set:

Choose Select Category from the Actions menu on the alternate set's row.

The system displays a modal window for selecting categories.
In the modal window, locate the category you want to associate with the alternate set. Use the Quick Find search box if necessary.
Click the row for each category you want to add to the alternate set.

The system adds a check mark beside each category you select and shades the row. To cancel a selection, click the selected row again.
Click the Add to Alternate Set button.

The system closes the modal window and takes you to the Category Alternate Sets tab of the Project Category and Item Summary. The new categories are displayed at the bottom of the rolling list of categories in the alternate set.
To complete the category assignment, enter a value in the Cat Alt Mbr ID field for each category you added.
When you are finished managing category alternate sets, click the Save button on the component header to apply your changes.

The system displays a message to confirm that your changes were saved in the database.