Estimating - Manual Overrides

Owned by Adrian Matlack (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Oct 13, 2016
6 min read

Overview

The estimating module includes a great deal of settings, labor standards, and rates to control the behavior of the labor calculations.  If properly set, these will ideally lead to the correct result being computed for every line item without any further adjustment.  However, there are cases that arise where a senior estimator's experience tells them that, for whatever reason, the time should be lower or higher than what was calculated.  Prior to FabSuite 16.2 the labor time could only be manually increased by entering a value into the additional MHrs/Pc field and it could not be lowered.  As of FabSuite 16.2 any of the labor calculations can be overridden, providing maximum flexibility in cases where the automatic calculations just aren't right.

**Note** - This feature is intended as an override for circumstances where there is a special case that is difficult to express with the available inputs and settings in FabSuite.  Whenever possible it is advisable to adjust the underlying settings, labor standards, and rates so that the automatic calculations can be made to reach the correct result.  Setting a manual override should be the exception, not the rule.

Labor Detail Screen

Set Manual Override

On the labor detail screen right-click on any number and select Set Manual Override (note that this option is only available if the user has the Estimating > Estimating Items > Manual Override permission setting selected).

A screen appears showing the current man hours, the originally calculated man hours (will be different than the current man hours if this number has already been overridden), and an input to enter the manual override (2.50 MHrs in this example).  You can enter in an override value, either in minutes or hours based on the selection on the top of the screen.
Once an override is set the grid will be highlighted to identify the numbers are have been adjusted.  Highlighted in yellow are the values that have been directly overridden.  Highlighted in light-blue are the values that have been indirectly affected by an override.
In this example, the total for the selected line item has been overridden to 2.50 MHrs.  As a result the total values have been highlighted in yellow since they have been directly overridden.  The individual labor group times have not been directly overridden but they have been affected by the override so they appear highlighted in light blue.  When an override is set on the total time then the individual labor group times are adjusted accordingly based on the ratio of the originally calculated time and the override value.  Hover the mouse cursor over an overridden value to show the originally calculated value.  In this case, the 2.50 MHrs override is 105.93% of the originally calculated value.  Thus, each of the labor groups is also set to 105.93% of their originally calculated values.

Remove Manual Override

To clear an override right-click on the number that has been overridden (the total in this case) and select Remove Manual Override.

A confirmation prompt will appear, click Yes to proceed.
The labor calculations then return to their original values and the yellow and light blue override highlights disappear.

Labor Group Overrides

The labor group times can be overridden in addition to the total times.  In this example the Move time of the selected item is overridden to 0.50 MHrs.  The Move time is now highlighted in yellow and the total time for the item is highlighted in light blue.  The total time has not been directly overridden but that total has been affected by the override of the Move time.

Multiple Item Overrides

If a number in the Displayed or Total columns is overridden then the override will be applied to all of the matching items, divided proportionally based on the original time of the items.

For a simple example, let's say you have two line items on an estimate.  The first calculates to 1 hour and the second calculates to 1.5.  The labor detail screen will show the total hours as 2.5.  Now if you set an override of 5 (double the original) on the total hours then the first will become 2 hours and the second 3, each one adjusted by the same factor.
This make it easy to achieve an overall result.  In this estimate the total time is 751.81 MHrs.  To set an override to make that total 800 MHrs right-click on the 751.81 value, select Set Manual Override, enter 800 MHrs, and click Set Manual Override.
Since the total time was overridden, the times for all of the line items in the estimate are overridden so that a total of 800 MHrs is achieved for the estimate as a whole.
Overriding the displayed values works similarly in that the override is distributed to all matching line items.  It allows for additional flexibility in that any filter can be set to restrict the items displayed in the grid, resulting in the override being applied only to the items matching that filter.

Labor Diagnostic Screen

Double-click on a line item to open the labor diagnostic screen.  This screen allows you to drill-down to see in exact detail the various operations, standards, rates, and calculations that resulted in the labor totals as well as the labor group breakdowns.


As with the labor detail screen, right-click on any number and select Set Manual Override to override that value.  Here the Labor Code A total is overridden from 1.84 MHrs to 2.00 MHrs.  Notice that the 2.00 MHrs total for the labor code is highlighted in yellow, since that is the value that was overridden.  The labor groups with time under Labor Code A as well as the corresponding labor groups and grand total for the item are highlighted in light blue.  They were not directly overridden but they were affected by the override.

  

Right-click on the overridden value and select Remove Manual Override to clear the override.
  
While very fine tuning can be achieved by setting overrides on the labor diagnostic screen, in most cases it is much more practical to set them at a higher level on the labor detail screen.

Estimate Extra Selection

Double-click on the Extra input or choose the <Select> option in the drop-down list to open the Estimate Extra Selection screen.

  


The estimate extra selection screen shows the man hour total for each extra code.  When an extra code is included you can right-click on the record and click Set Manual Override to override the total for that code.  Setting the override here gives the same result as opening the labor diagnostic screen and setting an override on the total for that extra code.


Click OK to apply the estimate extra changes, then click the Edit button to save the line item.  The override now appears on the labor diagnostic screen.


To clear the override right-click on the number highlighted in yellow either on the labor diagnostic screen or on the estimate extra selection screen and select Remove Manual Override.