We have been talking about "Projects" and "Bids" a lot, but before we go any further, we should probably explain how we use those terms in ConstructConnect Takeoff.
Whether you are new to electronic takeoff or have used another takeoff and estimating product, you may have used the words Project and Bid interchangeably. However in ConstructConnect Takeoff, the words have different, unique meanings.
Projects
Projects are the highest level of organization for your work in ConstructConnect Takeoff. Usually, a Project relates to a single building, development, or site, for instance, "Cedar Grove Apartments" or "Toyota Center" may be the names of Projects. Projects come from ConstructConnect or can be created manually. Projects are where Plan Sets are added, edited, and deleted. Projects contain Bids...
You grant access to Projects - to people in your Organization (other Org Users) or, eventually, to people outside your Organization.
Bids
So, a Project is your overall "container" of sorts for a, well, project. Inside a project, most estimators have at least one bid. There is usually a "Base Bid" for your Project, the Step 1, or "Starting" Bid that you work on, probably to generate a very basic budget, or even see if the Project is one on which you want to submit an Estimate at all.
Many projects contain several bids - you create additional bids to account for Alternates/Options and Change Orders to the Base Bid and stages of the bid.
All Bids within a Project share the same Plan Sets - you just configure a Bid to "activate" this Plan Set or that Plan Set - every Bid does not have to use every Plan Set in your Project, but they can, if you like.
It is important that you understand how plans are shared between bids in the same project because changing a Plan Set in one bid can affect other bids, significantly. See Related Articles for details about Plan Sets and sharing.
Projects and Bids List Toolbar and Context-Menu