We assume you already set up your Bid Areas (and possibly Typical Areas), if not, see: Adding (or Creating) Bid Areas and Adding (Setting Up) Typical Areas. This article shows you how to select an Area (Page, Bid, or Typical), then select some takeoff objects, and finally assign them to the Active Area.
In this article, we detail how to assign takeoff to a Bid Area, however assigning takeoff to a Typical Area is the same, you just choose a Typical Area from the Areas drop-down instead of a Bid Area.
If you do not assign your
takeoff to
Bid Areas that you created, it is assigned automatically to the
Page Area that is created for each
Page in your
bid. You can use these
Page Areas to ensure all your
takeoff is allocated to
Bid Areas you create - go to the Summary Tab and look for any
takeoff that shows up under
Page Areas. Then go back to those Pages and assign all
takeoff to the correct
Bid Areas.
There are two methods to use for allocating takeoff to the appropriate Bid Area: as you draw it or after you draw it.
First, a few reminders about "Active Area" (see: What are "Selected Areas" and the "Active Area"?):
- Everything you draw is assigned (allocated) to Active Area (Bid Area ) automatically (by default, if you do not select a Bid or Typical Area, that will be the Page Area).
- Any takeoff selected on the Plan is assigned to the "Active Area" when you click the
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buttonon the Bid Areas toolbar. - Any takeoff allocated to the Area or Areas selected (highlighted) in the Areas drop-down is selected (on the Plan) when you click the
button on the Bid Areas toolbar. - Any takeoff not allocated to the Area or Areas selected (highlighted) in the Areas drop-down is shown in muted grey (not colored) when you set the Color Takeoff toggle
to "filtered" (grey).
It is important to understand that when you select multiple
Bid Areas in the drop-down, you must check the Status Bar to determine your 'Active Area'. The Active Area is the last record you click on in the Areas drop-down.
Assigning As You Draw Takeoff (not the recommended method)
The program allocates takeoff as you draw to the "Active Area".
If you do not select a Bid Area from the Areas drop-down, takeoff is assigned to the "Page Area" as you draw it.
Because you may forget to change the Active Area before you draw takeoff, you may assign takeoff to the wrong Bid Area inadvertently. While this is not difficult to correct, if you do not notice, if you break out the Summary or Worksheet Tabs by Bid Areas or Typical Areas, your breakdown will be inaccurate (your totals should be correct, unless you forget to assign takeoff to a Typical Area or forget to switch away from a Typical Area before drawing takeoff).
Because it is easy to make mistakes with this method, we recommend you use the "After you finish your takeoff" method.
Assigning After You Finish Your Takeoff (recommended method)
We recommend against setting an area and then drawing takeoff because it is too easy to forget to switch Bid (or Typical) Areas as you are drawing. Then, you end up with takeoff assigned to the incorrect Area, and it is not easy to catch this mistake. We recommend that you draw all your takeoff, leaving it assigned to the Page Areas and then, when you are done drawing takeoff (either on a Page or even better, your entire Bid), you circle back and assign takeoff to Bid Areas, Page by Page. Because this is a deliberate action, you are far less likely to have takeoff assigned to an incorrect Area.
Because you are going to revisit each Page and assign Areas, the "Active Area" does not matter while you are drawing takeoff. In fact, it is best if you leave the Page Area selected, this way, when you navigate to another Page to draw takeoff, the new Page Area is selected automatically. When you are all done drawing takeoff, it is all allocated to Page Areas.
You can assign all the takeoff on a Page to the same Bid Area or Typical Area, or you can assign some to one Area and other takeoff objects to a different one. We cover both in the next two articles.
Color Takeoff Toggle