Access by role
Admins can add, edit, and delete values in reference lists. Members can view but not change them. The lists contain vocabulary your company controls:- Takeoff categories
- Takeoff tags
- Departures and clarifications
- Resource group names — renames only. The six rate groups themselves are fixed; see Company settings — Resource group names.
Resource categories
Resource categories (found under Settings → Resource categories) are owned by your company. Admins can add, edit, and delete categories; members can only view them. Resource categories group rate items in the library and drive the category filter on the rates page. Each category belongs to one of six fixed parent classifications — Labour, Plant & Vehicles, Bulk Materials, Materials, Subcontractors, or Disposal — which determines how rate items in that category are classified for pricing and reporting. Your company can customise the displayed group names without changing those classifications. Creating a category requires a name, a parent heading, and at least one allowed unit. The parent determines each rate’s group and material status, so there is no separate rate-group field anywhere in the product. One optional flag exists: Cartage vehicle, valid only under Plant & Vehicles. Rates under a flagged category show the Payload (t) and Bin volume (m³) fields. Disposal is represented by the fixed Disposal parent classification, not a flag on Bulk Materials. See Company settings — Resource categories for the complete workflow.Adding and editing list values
Takeoff categories
A new company starts with a list of takeoff categories that suits its business type. The starting lists are:
These are starting points only. Once your company is created, the list is yours to change. Companies created before these lists were introduced keep their existing categories.
Other is where a new measurement goes when no category is picked, or the first category in your list if your company has removed Other. All is not a category: it is the takeoff editor’s built-in filter for showing every measurement, so an All entry in your list is not offered as a category in takeoff. See Measurements side panel.
To add a value, click Add value in the list header. To edit an existing value, click Edit on its row. Both open a panel with three fields:
- Name — the label shown on screen when choosing this entry. Required.
- Code — the value used in imports and exports. Required.
- Position in list — a whole number of 0 or more. Lower numbers appear first. Leave blank to place the entry at the end. If you type a value that is not a whole number or is less than 0, Stralos shows an inline error and disables Save until the field is corrected.
Departures and clarifications
Settings → Departures and clarifications holds the sentences your company includes with tenders — departures from tender documents, scope exclusions, risk assumptions, and other clarifications. Entries are grouped by trade (for example, Concrete or Trenching). Entries with no group appear under General. To add an entry, click Add entry. To edit an existing entry, click Edit on its row. Both open a side panel with two fields:- Group — the trade the entry belongs to. Type a new name to start a group, or leave it empty to file the entry under General.
- Wording — the full text of the departure or clarification, as it should read on the tender. Required. Maximum 4,000 characters.
Takeoff tags
Takeoff tags label surfaces and sections in multi-segment takeoff across your company. Tagged spans use the tag’s colour on map sheets and drawings. A new tag receives a colour automatically. When editing a tag, choose Palette to select a standard colour, or Custom to enter a hex colour in#rrggbb format. Blank or invalid custom colours block Save. Stralos stores colours in lowercase.
Click Retire and confirm to remove a tag from new-work pickers. Existing spans keep its label and colour. Expand Retired (n) and click Restore to return the tag with its original colour and position. If an active tag has the same name, rename that active tag before restoring. Creating a tag with a retired tag’s name offers to restore the retired tag instead.
Takeoff tags cannot be permanently deleted. Admins can retire and restore them; members can view them.
Why they matter
Reference lists affect filters, editors, pricing forms, and project setup. A messy list creates inconsistent reporting and makes estimating slower.Unit catalogue
Units are platform-owned reference data rather than company-managed lists. The catalogue covers Length, Area, Volume, Weight, Count, and Time, including Metre (m), Cubic metre (m³), Tonne (t), Each (ea), Lump sum (LS), Provisional sum (PS), and Hour (hr). There is no Settings page for adding, renaming, or removing a catalogue unit. Stralos readslm, lin m, and lineal metre as metres.
Stock units
Some materials are bought in whole stock units rather than measured amounts. The Length and Area groups include them alongside the measured units:
Use a stock unit on the rate option, not on the work item. The work item stays in m or m², and
the rate option’s conversion turns that quantity into whole stock units. See
Stock units on rate options.
Deleting a takeoff category value
Click Delete on a takeoff category row and confirm the deletion. Deleting a reference list value removes it from all pickers immediately. The underlying record is kept for audit purposes; it no longer appears in lists or forms. Entries already copied into tenders keep their saved text and are not affected. If you delete a value and then need to add it back, you can create a new entry with the same value. The duplicate restriction only applies to values that are currently active.Good practice
- Prefer short, clear labels.
- Avoid duplicate values that differ only by punctuation or casing.
- Edit labels and values carefully after checking active data.
- Select the closest catalogue unit for consistent reporting. Custom legacy values remain visible where they already exist.