Important Note: All company users within an account share the same databases. If a user makes changes or edits to the database, it will apply to all the other company users as well. Account administrators have the ability to set user permissions to prevent unauthorised changes and edits to the database.
Cordell construction costs are approximate prices from manufacturers within the building industry and in many cases, the component price may vary; suppliers can offer discounts to some builders based on the volume of their purchases, specific terms, or other variables. Supplier prices may be affected by market conditions, accessibility, location or size of the project, complexity of design, type of construction and lead time requirements.
It is recommended to make adjustments on an estimate page. You can edit or change prices on individual estimates. Adjustments can be made on an estimate page and be updated at any stage.
Image 1: Changing the rate of an item on an individual estimate.
Update the estimate with percentage changes.
Image 2: Updating rates.
Important Note: All company users have the ability to make adjustments on the Detailed Database (All components) and Remove and Replace (Labour only). Adjusting labour components will also show the adjustment for all company users. Company administrators have the ability to restrict company users from making these adjustments. This does not affect the individual company user's adjustments that are applied on the estimate page.
All subcontract labour components are displayed in one category-LABOUR RATES. Adjusting the price of labour within this category will adjust the labour rate through all categories that support the subcontract rate selected.
For example, if an adjustment is placed on a carpenter/joinery recipe (install rate), the adjustment will carry through every category that supports a carpenter/joiner. Categories like demolition; concrete formwork; metalwork; carpentry – structural / claddings / fitout – hardware – insulation - windows or doors all use a carpenter/joiner.
Follow these steps to adjust labour rates:
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Click on the LABOUR RATES category in your selected database.
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Select the component price for Subcontract labour
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Identify the component you wish to adjust. Double-click on the underlined value in the adjustment column.
Image 3: Selecting and identifying labour component rates.
A pop-up window will appear for you to input your adjustment:
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The greyed-out information is displayed for your reference and is not editable.
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Enter the amount you want to add on or deduct from the original price. To reduce the original price of an item, add a negative/minus sign before the value. For example, if you wish to add $5, enter 5. If you wish to deduct $5, enter -5.
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Click on the drop-down menu and select whether you wish to apply the adjustments as a dollar value ($) or by percentage (%):
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Adjusting by $5 raises the carpenter/joiner labour charge and increases the system rate by that exact amount (i.e. from $67.47 to $72.47per hour)
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Adjusting by 5% raises the carpenter/joiner labour charge and increases the system rate by that average (i.e. from $67.47 to $70.84 per hour)
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Adjusting by -$5 reduces the carpenter/joiner labour charge and decreases the system rate by that exact amount (i.e. from $67.47 to $62.47)
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Adjusting by -5% reduces the carpenter/joiner labour charge and decreases the system rate by that average amount (i.e. from $67.47 to $64.10)
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Click Update to apply your adjustment and save your changes. Click Cancel to close the pop-up window and clear any unsaved changes. The fields marked with an asterisk (*) are compulsory and must be filled in.
Image 4: Adjusting the price of an item.
Important Note: All company users have the ability to make adjustments on the Detailed Database only. Adjusting material, plant or subcontract components will also show the adjustment for all company user's database. Company administrators have the ability to restrict company users from making these adjustments.
Material, plant or subcontract rates may be adjusted from within the category that supports them. Categories like demolition; concrete formwork; metalwork; carpentry – structural / claddings / fit-out; hardware; insulation; roofing; windows or doors; plumbing or electrical services all use components of material or plant or subcontract rates. i.e. you may adjust the rate for concrete 20mpa from the category that supports it – concrete, adjust the rate for aluminium sliding windows in the category of windows, adjust the rate for external or internal doors from the category of doors, or adjust rates for 1000 bricks from the category of masonry - brickwork.
Adjustments to material, plant or subcontract components will adjust the price through all components and recipes, unit rates, and elements within every category that supports the item selected for adjustment.
In the example below, we will explain how to adjust material rates, specifically for plastering.
Follow these steps to adjust the rates for concrete components:
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Click on the PLASTERING category in your selected database.
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Select the component price for Sheet-plasterboard
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Identify the component you wish to adjust. Double-click on the underlined value in the adjustment column.
Important note:
Plasterboard - if doing smaller length sheet works components can be adjusted or also adjusted on the estimate page within the materials column.
Image 5: Selecting and identifying other component rates.
A pop-up window will appear for you to input your adjustment:
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The greyed-out information is displayed for your reference and is not editable.
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Enter the amount you want to add on or deduct from the original price. To reduce the original price on an item, add a negative/minus sign before the value. For example, if you wish to add $3, enter 3. If you wish to deduct $3, enter -3.
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Click on the drop-down menu and select whether you wish to apply the adjustments as a dollar value ($) or by percentage (%).
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Adjusting by adding $3 raises the plasterboard charge to increase the system rate by that exact amount
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Adjusting by a minus -$3 reduces the plasterboard charge to decrease the system rate by that exact amount
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Adjusting by adding 8% raises the plasterboard charge to increase the system rate by that average
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Adjusting by a minus -8% reduces the plasterboard charge to decrease the system rate by that average amount
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Click Update to apply your adjustment and save your changes. Click Cancel to close the pop-up window and clear any unsaved changes. The fields marked with an asterisk (*) are compulsory and must be filled in.
Image 6: Adjusting the price for an item.
All system unit rates (recipes) include all labour, material, and plant and subcontract costs to complete the activity therefore when adding adjustments to the system price components the selections will automatically adjust the system price within recipe or unit rates or elements throughout the database.
Adjusted pricing for a component, adjustment and rate are noted in dark blue in a related recipe. The adjustment appears in the rate column.
Image 7: Identifying adjusted items.
Adjusting components to recipes within detailed databases (Housing, Commercial, and Remove and Replace).
On the estimate page, manual adjustments to the labour, material, plant and subcontract rate will appear in blue.
Image 8: Identifying adjusted rates on an estimate.
Adjustments can only be made to the individual components of labour, material, plant, or subcontract price displayed in a database. These adjustments may be an addition or a deduction of the value displayed.
These variables can substantially affect costing rates in estimates; therefore you may adjust component prices in our detailed (Housing & Commercial) estimating databases and Remove and Replace to suit specific factors that apply to your business.
Note:Prices do not include builders' profit and overhead. Some subcontractors may charge more.
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Subcontract labour charge out rates for Housing (adjustable database) = Elemental = Renovation = Remove and Replace (adjustable database) = Housing M2
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Commercial Subcontract Labour charge out rates for Commercial (adjustable database) = Commercial M2
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Labour charge-out rates can also be adjusted on the estimate page for site-specific or more expensive subcontractors.
When making adjustments to system prices, the adjusted value will be displayed on every component and every recipe that uses the adjusted component; the adjustment remains on the component permanently until you re-evaluate and edit the adjusted value.
Note: Be mindful to not adjust pricing too high or too low. Components and rates include a delivery/wastage factor. If site-specific works require extra over or height allowances, you may find these items in set categories.
If you have more questions about charge-out rates, please contact support for further assistance or free training.
Important note: Updating the rates using the green icon will not keep detailed adjustments on the estimate.
Follow these steps if you wish to use the calculator to adjust prices on the estimate:
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Click on the calculator icon
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Enter the current rate in the calculator and the percentage you wish to add to the rate. In the example below, we are adding 20% to the current rate.
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Click on the percentage % button
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Click on the equal = button
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Click on Use to apply the rate.
Image 9: Using the calculator to change the rate of an item on an individual estimate.