In v.3.98.18.03, we changed the Program Tabs’ names to more accurately reflect their functionality and use. The Bids Tab was renamed Projects Tab, and subsequently, many fields in On-Screen Takeoff were updated to match.
A Project (or Bid or Job) is another name for a construction job for which a user is doing a quantity survey. It is a collection of the images and takeoff associated with a building project. In On-Screen Takeoff, a Project includes the original "Base Bid" and all its Alternates and Change Orders, also known as "Child Bids". We will cover Alternates and Change Order in Related Articles.
In On-Screen Takeoff, we use the terms Project and Bid fairly interchangeably, although in this documentation we try to stick with "Project", as much as possible. We only use the word "Job" when we refer to the "Job No.", an optional field on a Project’s Cover Sheet.
There are four ways to create a Project:
- Create a new Project. The most common way to create a Project is from scratch, pages are added to the Cover Sheet and Conditions are created or added on the Takeoff Tab (covered in the next article).
- Download a project file from a Planroom. Typically, you'll download an "OSX" file that creates your bid and provides you a mechanism for downloading project files (images, blueprints). You'll still create your Bid Areas, Layers, Conditions, etc.
- Duplicate an existing Project. Some clients use a 'template' Project that is the basis for all jobs they takeoff. Duplicating a Project makes an exact copy of it in the database; all Pages, Conditions and takeoff, as well as the Project Name are the same. Only the Bid Number is changed to the next available number in the database, just like a new Project. (Copying and Pasting a Project within the same database or from a different database is similar).
- Import an existing Project. You can export and import Project/Bids from/to On-Screen Takeoff and even send these exports to other OST users.
We cover creating and duplicating Projects in the next articles. See Related Articles for information on using Planrooms and Importing bids.
 The Projects Tab - Bids Tab Context Menu | Creating a Project  |
Related Articles
Creating (Importing) a Project from ConstructConnect using OST-Connect