Avoid Close Out Errors and Scope Gaps
This section covers how to avoid close out errors through a streamlined quote management process, that includes automatically updating your estimate with subcontractor quote values when you award them.
This section also walks through how to use quote comparison tools to avoid scope gaps.
Solicit Quotes
You can use InEight Estimate for sending out Requests for Quotes (RFQs) to subcontractors, using the following steps:
Let’s walk through these steps in more detail.
Step 1
Create the RFQ.
From Quote > Request for Quote, right click the blank row and select New.
Select from one of three options, then click OK
Step 2
Add details.
This imports the entire cost structure into your Control budget (CBS).
On the Line Items > Cost Items tab open the CBS register, select the cost items to include on the RFQ, then click OK.
Fill out the Terms & Conditions tab.
Step 3
Select Seller Companies.
On the Seller Companies tab, select the subcontractors you want to send the RFQ to from the Address Book.
Select how to publish the RFQ (send to an MS Word file or directly to a draft email).
Step 4
Publish.
Select the sellers in the table below (use the CTRL key to select more than one), then click Publish.
Quote Comparison
Let’s walk through this process in more detail.
Step 1
Create the RFQ.
Select the sellers in the table below (use the CTRL key to select more than one), then click Publish.
Select to create a Quote from scratch or from RFQ records.
Step 2
Add Pricing.
Header information and cost items populate automatically if you create from an RFQ record. Otherwise, you can add subcontractor information and cost items manually.
If the subcontractor gives you a lump sum price for all the work, you can create a Package Price on the Packages tab, then assign it to all included cost items on the left.
Step 3
Review Special Terms & Conditions.
Under Special Terms & Conditions, keep track of what scope items are included or not included on the quote.
Compare Quotes
When subcontracting a lot of work, it can be difficult to see if you have good scope coverage across all the work in your estimate. Within InEight Estimate, using the Quote Comparison & Award register on the All Quote Groups view, you can easily scan the entire estimate for all quote groups to ensure scope coverage as shown below:
When you expand a quote group, you have several tools to help you select the best vendor for the work.
There are several tools built into this view to help you determine if coverage is sufficient for the different scopes of work.
Watch the following video to review how to use these tools:
There are several tools built into this view to help you determine if coverage is sufficient for the different scopes of work: