This is a list and descriptions of the documents included in SpecWriter. You may review and print the actual documents themselves by simply downloading the SpecWriter Demo onto your computer.
Checklist
The Checklist is the core of SpecWriter and your Checklist selections are used to create all the other documents. It contains over 4,000 specifications, grouped by category, although you can certainly edit or add more specifications as you may need. By using the Checklist format, you eliminate the possibility of accidentally forgetting something, and the format allows you to quickly designate the Scope of Work between the Owner and the Contractor. The Checklist allows you to specify Fixed Cost Allowances, Unit Cost Allowances, Contract Options, Owners Responsibilities and Exclusions.
Specifications
The Specifications are created from your Checklist selections, and are presented in an 8 section, easy-to-read outline format. Each page has the project and builder’s name and copyright at the top, and the page number and signature lines at the bottom. You may revise the Checklist and re-generate the Specification as many times as you need until they are picture-perfect. The Specifications are designed to be attached to your contract, but they can also be used by the project manager, your field personnel, and even your subcontractors. Everyone benefits from well-written specifications.
Takeoff
The Takeoff page provides you with an area to calculate and record the Project’s basic quantitative measurements. Based upon your entries, the Takeoff will perform calculations for masonry, roofing, drywall, etc. Once you’ve completed the Takeoff, you can access and transfer any of the figures from the Takeoff into the Estimate page by pressing “Control-L” from the Estimate page at any time.
Estimate
The Estimate is created using the same specifications that are in your Project Specifications, with the addition of extra columns to enter quantities and extend totals, and a summary section at the bottom of the page that subtotals the construction costs and allows you to add percentages for Project Overhead, Sales Commission and Builders Compensation (aka Profit). Because the Estimate is a mirror image of the Specifications that get attached to your contract, nothing is left out of your bid. you may switch between 6 different views of the Estimate, including views allowing horizontal markup or hiding the calculations and displaying only the totals for each line item.
Prior Estimate
If and when you generate a new Estimate, SpecWriter automatically saves any existing estimate to this page for your further review.
Schedule of Values
The Schedule of Values is comprised of the headers you selected from the Checklist, with adjacent columns for entering costs, markup and price. The SOV is designed for commercial projects that require you to submit a Schedule of Values as part of a bid submission package. Some residential lenders also want a SOV with the loan application because they will utilize it as the basis for the draw schedule. Some Builders use the SOV to estimate their projects or simply as a “Preliminary Rough Estimate”. You can always generate the SOV, view it, and then decide if it’s of any use to you. If you don’t need to use the SOV, just ignore it.
Field Notes
Field Notes are a document created from your Checklist that is specially formatted to be used to take notes during discussions with potential customers. When you return to your computer to write the specifications, your printed notes match your SpecWriter Checklist. When you select the menu command “Generate Field Notes”, SpecWriter will create a set of Field Notes from your Checklist, exactly as you have it customized, exactly as you’ve collapsed it, to the Field Notes page, where it will go through a process that will reformat the page, place checkboxes next to each specifications, and reduced the font size to create room for handwritten notes.