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Projects, places at any depth and cost codes

Every job is a project: a contract for a client, a development you build to sell, or a building for your own use. Each project is split into places as deep as you need (tower, floor, flat, or a road chainage). Costs are booked to your own cost codes.
PLANSEvery plan
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The problem it solves

  • Site reports say 'third floor' but never which tower, so nobody can add up progress or cost by block.
  • Each engineer names floors and flats in their own way, and reports from two sites cannot be compared.
  • Cost heads differ between the budget, the purchase register and the bills, so job cost is guessed at the end.
  • A road job has no towers or floors, and building software forces it into them anyway.

How it works

  1. A manager opens Construction > Projects > Projects > Projects and presses New. Fill in the name, code, Project Type, Kind of Work, the client (needed for a contract) and the project manager.
  2. Under Dates and Value you set the start, the planned finish, the currency, the contract value and the Entity.
  3. On the Site and Units tab you give the address, latitude and longitude, the site's time zone and the units (metric or imperial). Cut-off and send times follow the site's time.
  4. On the Places tab you add a line per place: name, kind and Inside (the place it belongs to). A villa might be Site > Ground Floor > Kitchen; a tower job Site > Tower B > 7th Floor > Flat 704.
  5. Cost codes come ready: 21 headings from Land and Approvals to Contingency. An administrator adds sub-codes under them, such as 05.10 under 05 Concrete and Structure.
  6. From then on the daily report, snags, inspections, measurements, BOQ items, budget lines and material requests name the place, and costs name the cost code.

Everything it does

Projects

  • Project Type: Contract (Building for a Client), Development (Building to Sell), Own Use
  • Kind of Work: Building, Roads / Infrastructure, Industrial, Interiors / Fit-out, MEP (Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC), Other
  • Code, client, project manager, start, planned finish, completed on, currency, value, Entity
  • Address, latitude and longitude, time zone (your own to start with), units: Metric (m, m², m³, kg) or Imperial (ft, ft², yd³, lb)
  • Status: Planned, Running, On Hold, Completed, Closed; click the status bar to move
  • The card shows days left or days late against the planned finish, amber in the last 14 days
  • Board, list and form; filters My Projects, Running, Planned, On Hold, Completed, Archived; group by status, type, client, manager or Entity
  • Notes for scope and special conditions; a chatter log of every change

Places

  • Kinds: Site, Block / Tower, Floor / Level, Unit / Flat, Room, Zone / Area, Wall, Stretch / Chainage, Other
  • Any depth: each place sits Inside another of the same project; a place cannot sit inside itself
  • Code, floor number (0 for ground, -1 for a basement) and area in m² or ft² as the project's units say
  • The full name is built for you, such as Tower B / 7th Floor / Flat 704
  • Construction > Projects > Projects > Places lists every project's places grouped by project; filters Blocks / Towers, Floors, Units
  • A place's form lists the Places Inside it, and you add more there

Cost codes

  • 21 ready headings: 01 Land and Approvals to 21 Contingency, including Concrete and Structure, Masonry, Finishes, Plumbing, Electrical, Site Labour, Plant and Equipment, Finance Cost
  • Each code has a name, Under (the heading above) and a Cost Type: Material, Labour, Plant, Subcontract, Overhead, Other
  • Type 30 under 03 and it becomes 03.30; type 03.30 and it stays as typed
  • A code can be shared by every Entity or kept to one; the same code cannot be added twice
  • Archive a code you no longer use; the history stays

Who sees what

  • Site staff see a project only when they manage it or are on its team
  • Construction Managers see every project of the Entity
  • Each Entity sees only its own projects and places

Who uses it

Project managerMakes the project, sets its dates, value and units, and lays out its places.
Site engineerPicks the place on every report, snag, inspection and material request.
QSPrices BOQ items and budget lines by place and cost code.
Construction AdministratorKeeps the cost code list and the roles.

Where you use it

  • Web: Construction > Projects > Projects > Projects and Places; Construction > Projects > Configuration > Costs and Payments > Cost Codes
  • The SmartMy Construction app: each project with its places and current team, to pick from on site. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
  • Not on the client portal as a list of places: clients see their projects, updates and bills

What you control

Settings

  • Units per project: Metric to start with
  • Time zone per project: the user's own to start with
  • Cost codes and sub-codes: 21 headings to start with
  • Place kinds come fixed; names, depth and order are yours

Questions

Can we use it for road or pipeline work?

Yes. Set Kind of Work to Roads / Infrastructure. Use places of the kind Stretch / Chainage, such as Km 12 to Km 14, instead of towers and floors.

Can we use our own cost code numbers?

Yes. Rename, add or archive codes and sub-codes. The 21 ready headings are only a start; codes such as 03.30 or a CSI-style list work too.

How many levels of places can we have?

As many as you need. Each place sits inside another one of the same project, so Site > Block > Floor > Flat > Room is fine.

Do we have to type every flat by hand?

Yes, today. You add places on the project's Places tab, a line each, or on a floor's Places Inside list. Making a whole floor of flats in one step is not built for contract projects yet.

Which plan has it?

Every plan, Starter included.

Related features

PROJECTS AND SET-UPProject team with roles and datesEach project lists who does what: project manager, site engineer, QS, the client's representative, the architect, subcontractors and the bank's engineer. Each line has from and until dates, so a hand-over keeps the history and site staff see only their own sites.ESTIMATINGBOQ with versionsKeep each project's bill of quantities in the system, item by item, priced and tied to places and cost codes. Import it from the client's Excel, make it final, and when the scope changes start a new version: the old one is kept as Replaced. Site progress, the budget, work orders and client bills all work from the same items.SITEDaily site report with auto-submitThe site enters the day once: work done by place, labour, material, plant, weather, issues and photos. A report still in draft at the project's cut-off is submitted by itself, so the company and client updates go out on time.MONEYBuilding budget with 80 and 100 % alertsOne budget per project, by cost code and place, approved once and changed only by approved revisions. Costs from site flow into it every hour. The project manager is told when a line passes 80 % and 100 % used.PROJECTS AND SET-UPStages you leave only when the checks passEvery job moves through your stages, from Planning and Approvals to the Defects Period. A stage lets go only when its checks pass, such as the key events done or the client's stage payment received. Passing anyway takes an approval with the reason on record.PORTAL AND APPThe SmartMy Construction app, also offlineOne app for Android and iPhone for the people on site. It has today's site report with photos, the muster roll and check-in, snags and inspections. It also has material requests and issues, measurements, plant log sheets and safety. What is entered without signal is kept on the phone and sent when the signal is back. Clients, subcontractors and buyers use the same app for their own pages.

See your next site report on it.

Tell us what you build, how many sites you run and how your client hears about progress today. We will set up a project with you and send your first daily update.
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