Working with Typical Sections on a Cost Estimate

A typical section represents a standard design for a typical section of road work, including detail items needed to complete the work. The Cost Estimate Typical Section Profile Overview lists all of the typical sections on a given cost estimate. You can use the overview to add new typical sections to the cost estimate, change the quantity of a typical section used in the cost estimate, and indicate whether each typical section is active. You can also copy typical sections from other cost estimates and add them to the current cost estimate.

• Note: If the cost estimate is associated with a project that contains project items, you cannot add, activate, or copy typical sections to the cost estimate. Adding items to the cost estimate must be performed at the project level (see Maintaining Cost Estimates for a Project). If typical sections already exist on the cost estimate, you can modify the typical section quantity.  

You can access the overview by navigating to the Cost Estimate Summary and clicking the Typical Sections quick link. The Typical Sections quick link is not displayed for cost estimates associated with a proposal or a project that has project items. Typical section items must be transitioned to detail items before a proposal can be created (see Transitioning Typical Section Items to Detail Items).   

Each row represents one typical section profile associated with the cost estimate. Each row includes an Actions button and these fields:

• Line  

• Active

• Typical Section Profile

• Description

• Qty

• Unit of Measure

• Total

• User Defined

If you change the Qty value, the system recalculates the total cost for the typical section by repricing each item in the typical section when you save the change.

Selecting the Active check box indicates that the total for the typical section is included in the cost estimate total.

To view or change information for a typical section, click the Typical Section Profile link, or select Open from the Actions menu on the typical section profile row. The system takes you to the Cost Estimate Typical Section Summary (see Maintaining a Typical Section on a Cost Estimate).

To remove a typical section from the cost estimate, select Delete from the Actions menu on the typical section profile row. A typical section cannot be deleted from a cost estimate after it is transitioned to detail items (see Transitioning Typical Section Items to Detail Items). To reverse the deletion, click the Undo button. To save your changes, click the Save button. The system displays a message to confirm that your changes were saved.

To create a new user-defined typical section for the cost estimate, select Add from the Actions menu on the component header. The system takes you to the Add Cost Estimate Typical Section component (see Adding a Typical Section to a Cost Estimate).

Copying Typical Section Profiles to the Cost Estimate

To associate one or more existing typical section profiles with this cost estimate, perform these steps:

1. On the Cost Estimate Typical Section Profile Overview, select Copy Typical Section Profiles from the Actions menu on the component header.
   
   The system displays a modal window for selecting typical section profiles that share the same spec book and unit system as the cost estimate.

2. Click the rows for the typical section profiles you want to copy to the cost estimate.
   
   The system adds a check mark at the beginning of the row. You can click the row again to clear the selection. Continue selecting typical section profiles as needed.

3. When you are finished, click the Copy to Cost Estimate button.
   
   The system closes the modal window and lists the typical section profiles you selected on the Cost Estimate Typical Section Overview. The system creates a bid-based task for each typical section item. If a Typical Section Bid History Profile is specified for the parent cost estimate, the new bid-based tasks for non-lump sum items are added as active. Tasks for lump sum items are added as inactive (see Maintaining a Bid-Based Task for an Item on a Cost Estimate Typical Section).

Copying a Typical Section from Another Cost Estimate

A user-defined typical section is a one that has been associated with a cost estimate and modified from its original typical section profile. To copy a user-defined typical section from another cost estimate and add it to this cost estimate, perform these steps:

1. On the Cost Estimate Typical Section Profile Overview, select Copy Cost Estimate Typical Section Profile from the Actions menu on the component header.
   
   The system displays a modal window that lists typical sections from other cost estimates that share the same spec book and unit system as the current cost estimate.

2. Click the row for the typical section you want to copy.
   
   The system adds a check mark at the beginning of the row. You can click the row again to clear the selection.

3. When you are finished, click the Copy to Cost Estimate button.
   
   The system closes the modal window and displays the new typical section on the Cost Estimate Typical Section Summary. For each typical section item that is not a lump sum item, the system creates a bid-based task. If a Typical Section Bid History Profile is specified for the parent cost estimate, the new bid-based tasks are added as active (see Maintaining a Bid-Based Task for an Item on a Cost Estimate Typical Section).

Transitioning Typical Section Items to Detail Items

When you have sufficient information about an estimated improvement, you can transition to using detail items instead of typical section items. The transition to detail items should occur after you are finished deciding which reference price tasks or bid-based price task to use for each item in the typical section. All typical section items must be transitioned to detail items before project items can be built (see Building Project Items).

To transition typical section items to detail items on the cost estimate, perform these steps:

1. On the Cost Estimate Typical Section Profile Overview, select Transition Typical Sections to Detail Items from the Actions menu on the component header.
   
   The system displays a modal window that lists typical sections on the cost estimate that have not yet been transitioned to detail items.

2. The Use Typical Section Bid History Profile field is selected, which will retain the Typical Section Bid History Profile for all items selected. If you do not want to specify a Task Bid History Profile for the items you select, then remove the check from the Use Typical Section Bid History Profile field.

3. Click the row for the typical section you want to transition.
   
   The system adds a check mark at the beginning of the row. You can click the row again to clear the selection. Continue selecting typical sections as needed.

4. When you are finished selecting typical section rows, click the Add to Cost Estimate button.
   
   The system closes the modal window, copies the typical section items to the cost estimate, and displays the new items in the list on the Cost Estimate Items tab on the Cost Estimate Summary (see Maintaining Items for a Cost Estimate). On the cost estimate typical sections you selected, the system sets the typical section to inactive, sets the Transitioned to Detail Items date to the current date, and sets the remaining fields as read-only. A default supplemental description is assigned to any transitioned item that requires a supplemental description. A warning message is displayed to alert the user that the default supplemental description should be updated for these items.

Related topics:

Maintaining a Typical Section on a Cost Estimate