More information about assemblies

Before setting up any assemblies, think about your methods for creating takeoffs, and consider how to build, organize, and use the assemblies. You can include formulas, waste factors, and parts for items other than building materials—such as labor, equipment, and subcontracts.

Some assemblies might not require certain parts to complete the work. As a rule, include a part in an assembly if you need it at least 5% of the time. It is easier to delete unnecessary parts than it is to remember to add those seldom-used parts.

You can also include part records for labor. Because an assembly contains the parts for an entire unit of work, include the labor parts for the different types of work performed. An assembly for installing a sink, for example, might include labor parts for setting the cabinet, roughing in the plumbing, installing wiring for a disposer unit, and setting the sink and finishing the plumbing. For each labor part, set the quantity equal to the time required to complete the work for that portion of the task.

Assemblies must be practical. Assemblies that encompass too large a portion of a project are unwieldy, and assemblies that contain only one or two parts often provide little help. For example, an assembly for an 1800 square foot, 2 bedroom 2 bath home is too large. Not every 1800 square foot, 2 bedroom 2 bath home is the same. Likewise, a kitchen sink assembly containing a single part, a sink, is too small and is not useful.

There are certain circumstances where one or two items in an assembly are appropriate. For example, when running pipe you might want to use a separate assembly for each type of part (such as ells, unions, and tees) that includes the part and the labor part.

For some types of work, it might be easier to create two assemblies instead of one. Suppose that you perform a great number of water heater installations. You create an assembly that contains the basic parts and labor necessary for the water heater installation except for the water heater itself. Then you create an assembly for each type of water heater and its associated labor and tank-specific parts. When creating a takeoff for the water heater installation, select the basic installation assembly and then select the specific tank assembly.

Some parts rely on additional information such as a linear or cubic dimension to determine the quantity needed. You can use formulas to compute dimensions, quantities, or prices. You can also use formulas for tasks that produce large amounts of waste materials. Waste materials add to the job costs, and by compensating for waste, takeoffs become more accurate.

You can control whether a part is connected to or disconnected from an assembly, which determines whether Sage 100 Contractor computes the part’s extended quantity in a takeoff based on the assembly quantity. You can also connect labor parts to an assembly or to a part in the assembly, allowing you to control how Sage 100 Contractor computes the quantity of labor.