Item Types

A project’s Direct and Overhead Cost Schedules can be made up of a number of various item types that help both calculate the cost of a project and format the project for easier viewing and categorisation.

These types directly affect how the Total Cost is calculated. Item types can be used to provide information about certain Schedule Items and how they contribute to the Project.

There are three different item types used in the Cost Schedules, these are Contributing, Rate Only and Text Only.

Each different item type can be identified by an icon display in the Information column .

Item Types

NAME	DESCRIPTION
Contributing items	The main type used for calculating the costs of a project. To create a cost they require the use of Resources either directly on the Cost Schedule item or within an underlying cost estimate.
Rate Only items	Used to generate an Estimated Rate for an item without affecting calculations such as Estimated Costs and Spreading. It is often useful to use the Rate Only type if a client has requested a rate for a particular section of work as part of the tender submission.
Basic or Text Only items	These items do not have a quantity and can be included in your schedule to add blank lines and separate sections. You can also add a text line to represent a heading, comment, or non-cost item.

HOW TO CHANGE AN ITEM'S TYPE

Prior to changing an item’s type, it must first be changed to an Item State of Unfinished. The item types, Contributing and Rate Only, can be changed from the Item Type column within the grid or from the Item Type field from the Properties pane.

In both methods, there is a drop-down selection which is used to change between each item type. The Properties pane can apply the item type change to multiple lines at once.

Changes made will be reflected in the Item Type column of the Cost Schedule window. The project will also recalculate to take into account type change. The information column  will also indicate that the item type has changed.

Note: Even though Rate Only items don’t contribute to the project value, they are still shown on the Submission Schedule Report.

To toggle item types between Contributing or Rate Only to Text Only items, simply remove the quantity assigned to the item.