Estimate workspace

The estimate workspace is the project-specific area where tender information becomes priced scope. It is organised into four tabs so you can move between takeoff, pricing, and tender submission without losing project context.

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Tabs

• Overview: a strip of six summary tiles, followed by the Resource summary table and the price breakdown.
• Takeoff: page, scale, and measurement records.
• Estimate Builder: work items and project rates, each accessible as a section within this tab.
• Tender Submission: Ready to submit for what is still open before the tender goes out, Departures and clarifications for departures, clarifications, and included or excluded clauses, Markup (or Margin on a margin-basis estimate) for tender pricing defaults and rungs, Estimate schedule for the priced schedule, Tender review when it is turned on for your company, and Tender download for the branded PDF, Excel, and Word files you send to the client. See Tender submission.

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Overview summary tiles

The six tiles at the top of the Overview tab summarise the estimate in one row:

• Total cost: the total cost across all top-level work items.
• Markup — the markup amount. When cost is positive, a helper line shows markup as a percentage of cost. When cost is zero, only the dollar amount is shown.
• Tender price (excl. GST) — cost plus markup, after contingency, before tax.
• Estimate items: the count of top-level schedule lines; sub-items are listed separately so they are not counted twice.
• Resources — the number of unique resources across the estimate.
• Duration: the project’s duration, taken as the longest single work item, because items run side by side. It is worked out on screen from the items’ activities, the same way as the schedule’s Max / total duration column, and is not part of any export.

All money figures use the same exact-cents calculation as the Commercial build card, so the tiles and the card always agree to the cent. GST is shown in the Commercial build card as “GST (X%)” using the estimate’s stored tax rate.

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Resource summary table

The Resource summary table on the Overview tab shows every resource aggregated across the estimate. Resources are grouped into bands in resource group order: Labour, Plant & Vehicles, Materials, Bulk Materials, Disposal, Subcontractors, Day/Card rates, and Other. The rate group bands use your company’s rate group names. Each band shows its resource count, total cost, and allocated price. Bands start open; select a band’s heading to fold it. Each resource sits on one line, with Category, Items (how many work items use it), Total quantity, Average unit cost, Total cost, Margin, and Allocated price. On a narrow card, Margin, Average unit cost, Category, and Items drop out in that order. Above the table, search by resource name, filter by category, or select group chips (each with its count) to show only those groups. Clear filters resets them, and a count line shows how many resources are listed.

• Each resource row allocates the work item’s proportional markup to that resource’s share of cost. If the sell allocation for a resource cannot be represented (for example, when the cost-to-price ratio is extreme), the cost and price columns both show Cost unavailable rather than $0.00 or a misleading figure.
• When one or more resources have no priced cost, a warning appears above the table: “N resources have no priced cost. Review before submitting.” Review the affected work items before finalising the estimate. Resource rows that represent reused site excavation material are excluded from this count.
• Item pricing adjustment rows appear when a work item’s stored totals differ from the sum of its resource build-up. These rows reconcile the table to the server-owned totals and are labelled with the work item name. A distributed pool section shows a Distributed pool adjustment row for the same reason. Adjustment rows are hidden while a filter is active.
• The Estimate total (all resources) row at the foot of the table always covers the whole estimate, whatever the filters show. It equals the Total cost and Tender price (excl. GST) tiles.

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Source documents changed

If a drive file the estimate uses has changed or been deleted in the drive since you used it, an amber banner says how many source documents changed. Each changed file is listed with when the version you used and the drive’s version were modified, and by whom.

• Select Review to open Review changed sources. For each changed file, choose Sync to add the drive’s new version beside the one you used, or Keep to keep using the version you have. If the newer version is already in Stralos, the row offers Keep using followed by the version name (for example Keep using Version 1), which keeps your current version and clears the item flags for this estimate.
• For a file deleted from the drive, select Got it to dismiss it for this estimate.

The banner updates as you resolve each file, and disappears when nothing is left. Estimate items, takeoff drawings and rate attachments that came from a changed file show a chip, so you can see which items to check. The banner appears only while the estimate can still be edited. See Frozen tender for submitted estimates.

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Needs attention

When the estimate has lines that may need action, an amber Needs attention strip appears in two places. It surfaces three categories:

• Unpriced lines — work items that have a quantity but no price. Each listed item shows its number and name with a View link that opens it in the detail pane. Items inside a distributed Shared Costs pool are excluded because their cost has already been recovered as other rows’ Shared Costs share.
• $0 resource lines: work items whose total price is non-zero but that contain at least one resource row priced at $0 with a quantity. Each item shows a View link. Resource rows that represent reused site excavation material are excluded from this check: their $0 cost is intentional because the cost was already captured in the excavation activity.
• Rate exceptions — when the estimate has rate exceptions, the count appears with a Review link that opens the Rates tab.

The strip shows a count badge of all flagged items. It is hidden when there is nothing to flag — a fully priced estimate with no exceptions shows no banner. On the Overview tab the strip lists every flagged item in full, one per line. On the Estimate schedule the same information appears as a single slim line — a count badge, then each entry with its action link, separated by dots. When there are more than three entries, the line names the first three and shows a +N more count. The strip wraps at narrow widths so it stays readable without growing tall.

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Manage estimates

When the project’s Multiple estimates setting is on, the Overview tab shows a Manage estimates button above the summary. It opens the project’s Estimates sheet over the page, where you can create, duplicate, rename, make primary, or delete estimates. See Managing estimates. The button is not shown on the Delivery estimate.

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Overview loading state

While work items are still loading, the Overview tab shows a spinner and the message Loading estimate summary… instead of displaying zeroed totals. Summary figures and the commercial build breakdown appear once the work-item list is ready.

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Estimate being prepared

When you open a project that was created very recently, the estimate record may not be ready yet. The workspace displays Preparing the estimate for this project… and checks again automatically every 5 seconds. No action is required — the page opens by itself once the estimate is ready.

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Estimate Builder sections

The Estimate Builder tab contains two sections, selectable from a secondary navigation row:

• Estimate schedule: estimate scope lines, quantities, components, status, production data, and pricing review. The schedule header shows Total cost, Margin or Markup (according to the estimate’s pricing basis), and Tender price figures inline beside the section title so the key numbers are visible without scrolling to the Overview tab.
• Project Rates: project-specific rate overrides for this tender.

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Project Documents

Documents are managed on the project Documents page, which sits alongside the estimate workspace in the project menu. The project Documents page lists every document associated with the project — synced and manually uploaded — and is where you route documents into the estimate, run AI processing, and review suggestions. Navigate there from the project menu, or follow a suggestion review link from within the estimate workspace.

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Project context

Stralos keeps the selected project in context. If you switch projects from the project selector, project estimate pages update to the newly selected project. If you follow a link or bookmark to a specific estimate that no longer exists, has been removed, or belongs to a different project, Stralos redirects you to the project’s current primary estimate at the same page within the workspace. The redirect preserves the sub-path, query string, and any hash, so you land on the same tab or view as intended.

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Switching between estimates

When a project has Multiple estimates turned on in Project Settings, a dropdown appears directly beneath the Estimate entry in the project navigation rail. It shows the name of the open estimate. Select it to see the project’s estimates and switch to a different one. The dropdown lists live estimates with the primary estimate first, marked with a star (★), then the rest alphabetically. Not-awarded estimates are hidden behind a Show not awarded toggle. Selecting an estimate opens the same screen in that estimate. For example, if you are on the build-up for one estimate, switching opens the build-up for the one you chose. The page swaps the data in place: it dims briefly while the new estimate loads, then the same panels reopen with the new estimate’s data. If you have a work item open when you switch, Stralos opens the item with the same number in the new estimate. For example, if item 3.2 is open, the switch opens item 3.2 in the new estimate. If the new estimate has no item with that number, a message says Item 3.2 is not in this estimate and the work items list opens instead. A project change, a direct reload, or opening the bare estimate address still loads the page in full. Select Manage estimates… at the bottom of the dropdown to open the Estimates sheet over the page you are on. See Managing estimates. When Multiple estimates is off, the dropdown is hidden and the Estimate rail entry opens the project’s single estimate as usual.

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How areas work together

Project setup, rates, documents, and estimate records stay connected in the workspace. A project gives the estimate its client, reference, status, and location context. Rates and activities provide reusable pricing data. Documents provide summaries and suggestions that you review before creating or changing estimate records.

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Estimate status

An estimate moves through a set of statuses that reflect where it sits in the lifecycle. It covers estimates being priced, submitted, and awarded. Once a tender is submitted, the estimate is frozen. Work item edits, component changes, margin-ladder updates, and all other writes that affect totals are blocked. Takeoff measurements and departures and clarifications are also frozen — the submitted tender document is preserved exactly as submitted. Use Revise tender to return the estimate to Draft when edits are needed.

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Frozen tender

Once an estimate leaves Draft or Review, its pricing and tender document data are frozen. The estimate workspace shows a banner that names the committed tender revision and the date it was submitted. The server rejects writes to:

• Pricing — work item builds, component changes, margin-ladder updates, and estimate-level pricing settings.
• Takeoff measurements.
• Departures and clarifications.

The estimate schedule also hides its write controls: Add section, quick-add rows, Import, the Shared Costs add control, and the SOQ lock button are all removed. Inline cell editing is blocked. In a work item’s build-up, the Add resource rows inside activities and the item’s quick-add row are hidden. Other add and delete buttons and row menus stay visible but are disabled. The rest of the estimate menu is read-only too:

• Markup (or Margin): every margin and markup shows as text, with a note that the estimate is read-only.
• Calculators: New calculation, Copy, and Delete are disabled, and calculators cannot be renamed. You can still open a calculation to read it.
• Calculator workbench: every field shows its saved value as text. Save, Remove calculator, Add a measurement, and linking are disabled and say why. The back link, Advanced mode, and the assignments view still work.
• Work item Calculations tab: you can switch between Measurements and Layer destinations and read them, but Add a measurement and Remove are disabled and layer destinations cannot be changed.
• Project rates: read-only for this estimate. See Read-only project rates.

Hover a disabled control to see why it is unavailable. Dates shown in the estimate workspace — including the submission date on this banner — are displayed in the project’s timezone. For most NZ projects this is Pacific/Auckland. To make further pricing changes, use Revise tender. It reopens the estimate, allowing edits, and freezes a new revision on the next submit. You can still rename a frozen estimate: select Rename… for it in the Estimates sheet (see Manage estimates). A not-awarded estimate cannot be renamed there, and a saved version is never renamed. You can still save a workspace version on a frozen estimate. Branching a saved version into the working copy is not available while the estimate is frozen — revise the tender first. If no committed revision exists (for example, after an admin normalisation), the banner states that the estimate is frozen without naming a revision number. If source documents changed or were removed in the drive after submission, the banner adds a note saying how many changed. A frozen estimate can’t sync new versions.

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Lifecycle actions

The estimate workspace header shows action buttons for the current stage of the tender. The available buttons depend on both the estimate status and the project lifecycle status.

• Submit tender — freezes a tender revision. The first submitted estimate on a project moves the project to Submitted; later submits leave the project status as it is. The confirmation dialog names the estimate, the tender price from the Overview, the revision number this submit will freeze, and that the revision cannot be changed afterwards. Use Revise tender to change the price after submitting. If the tender price has not finished loading, the dialog says so — check the Tender price (excl. GST) tile on the Overview before you confirm. A draft or review estimate shows Submit tender even when the project already has another submitted estimate — each estimate’s header reflects that estimate’s own status. Submit tender is not offered while the project is at Lead. A Lead project moves to Estimating when you first save a change to the estimate, and Submit tender then appears without a page reload.
• Revise tender: reopens the tender. Stralos first saves the submitted tender as a version, then returns the estimate to Draft. See Versions saved by Revise tender and Reopen. The project moves back to Estimating only when no other estimate on it is still submitted. The next submit freezes a new revision.
• Mark won — available to admins and to leads of the project. Mark won appears only on an estimate that is itself Submitted; other estimates on the same project do not show it.
  • With Multiple estimates on, it opens a side sheet that lists the project’s submitted tender estimates. Select the estimate the client awarded, then confirm. The selected estimate becomes the primary estimate, the project moves to the awarded lifecycle stage (normally displayed as Won), and the contract baseline is created from that estimate’s latest submitted tender revision. Any other live estimates on the project are hidden as not-awarded — they are kept read-only, and you can show them again with Show not awarded in the rail or the Estimates sheet.
  • With Multiple estimates off, a confirmation names the estimate and the tender revision the contract baseline is created from.
• Mark lost… — records a required reason category and moves the project to Lost. If you type a reason note and then try to close without submitting, Stralos asks you to confirm before discarding it.
• Reopen: reopens a lost project and returns the estimate to Draft. As with Revise tender, Stralos first saves the submitted tender as a version. Prior tender revisions are retained.

Saved-version estimates show no tender lifecycle actions — tender submit and win/loss actions apply to tender estimates only. When the project is awarded, banners appear in the estimate workspace depending on which estimate was selected as the winning tender:

• Winning estimate — shows a persistent banner such as Won — contract position is baselined. The stage name follows the platform-managed project status list. The estimate remains editable as a working document.
• Not-awarded estimates — shows a Not awarded — read-only banner. Another estimate on the project was marked won, so this one is kept as a record. It can be viewed and duplicated, but not edited.

See Projects for the full lifecycle transition rules.

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Estimate settings

The estimate header shows an Estimate settings button that opens the Estimate settings sheet. Settings are per-estimate — each estimate in a project has its own values.

• Hours per working day — the number of hours in a working day for this estimate. Every duration-priced line uses this value. Accepts a value greater than 0 and up to 24. It is seeded from the project when the estimate is created. Saving other settings without touching this field leaves it unchanged.
• Default markup % or Default margin % — applied to any estimate item without its own override. A negative value is accepted and causes those items to be priced below cost; a warning is shown while the value is negative.
• Contingency % — added once to the tender price.
• Quantity source — Schedule of quantities or Measured off the plans. Imported SOQ quantities are read-only until you edit them; measured quantities always stay editable.

Project Settings shows the primary estimate’s hours per day as a read-only reference. Select Edit on the estimate there to open this sheet on that field. See Project settings.

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Estimate versions

The estimate header shows a Versions button that opens the versions panel. This panel saves immutable, numbered snapshots of the working estimate and lets you restore an earlier snapshot as the working estimate.

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Saving a version

1. Select Versions in the estimate header.
2. Enter an optional name for the snapshot, for example Client review, or leave it blank.
3. If the tender has a quote number, decide whether it takes the new version’s quote number. The new version always gets the next quote number. Leave Also update this tender’s quote number ticked to give the tender that number too, or untick it to keep the tender’s current number. The option is not shown once the tender is submitted, won or lost.
4. Select Save new version.

Before saving, Stralos flushes any unsaved pricing edits so the snapshot reflects current pricing accurately. It then calculates current totals, saves the current state as the next numbered version, and marks it Current. If no versions exist yet, this creates version 1. The panel shows each version’s number, save date, optional name, quote number, source version when applicable, and the frozen total cost and tender price from the moment the version was saved. Save dates are shown in the project’s timezone.

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Restoring a past version

Each saved version shows an Open in new tab link and a Restore… button. Open in new tab opens that version read-only in a new browser tab, so you can review it without leaving your working estimate. Versions saved in the older view-only format show View instead. Selecting Restore… opens a Restore version dialog before anything is changed. The dialog asks you to choose how prices should be handled after the restore:

• Keep the version’s saved prices — every price is exactly as it was when the version was saved. Project rates, margins, and price choices all come from the version. Nothing is recalculated.
• Reprice with current rates — the version’s items and quantities come back, but they are priced at the estimate’s current project rates and the rate library as they stand today. The dialog shows a preview of how many lines would change price and by how much.

After you choose and confirm, Stralos makes a new copy of the chosen version the current working estimate and saves it as a new highest-numbered version. The version you restored from, and every other saved version, stays as it was. If you want to keep any changes made since the last saved version, save a new version before restoring. Before restoring, Stralos flushes any unsaved pricing edits so they are not lost during the replacement. When the version contains day-rate lines, the Reprice with current rates preview also says how many would move to the project’s current day-rate revision and how many keep their saved price. See Day rates in the build-up. If the restore request fails after the write was sent to the server, the outcome cannot be confirmed. In that case, Stralos shows a Check restored estimate notice and pauses editing until you reload the estimate. Select Reload estimate to return to the current saved state and continue working. Some versions saved before a platform upgrade are view-only. They appear in the panel with their saved totals and a View button, but they cannot be restored or duplicated.

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Duplicating a version as a new estimate

When the project’s Multiple estimates setting is on, each saved version also shows a Duplicate as new estimate button. Enter a name and select Create estimate. Stralos creates a new draft tender estimate on the same project, copied from the version’s saved state, with the version’s own project rates. The new estimate is separate from the working estimate and does not affect any existing versions. With Multiple estimates off, the button is not shown. You can also start a new estimate from a saved version in the Estimates sheet — see Managing estimates.

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Tender revision and version number

Once an estimate has been submitted, the header names its tender revision: Tender revision N submitted once it is submitted, or Working on tender revision N+1 after you revise it. An estimate that has never been submitted shows no revision line. The saved version number is separate. Hover over Versions to see the latest saved version, or No saved versions yet. It increases each time you save a version or restore an earlier one, and when Revise tender or Reopen saves one.

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Versions saved by Revise tender and Reopen

When you select Revise tender, a side sheet names the tender revision that will be saved and the revision you will work on next. Its Version name field is prefilled with the default name, made from the tender revision and the date it was submitted, for example Tender revision 2 (submitted 12 Oct 2026). Change the name if you want, or clear it to use the default. Select Save and revise, and Stralos saves the submitted tender as a version before the estimate returns to Draft. When you select Reopen on a lost project, a confirmation names the revision instead. Select Save and reopen, and Stralos saves the version with the default name. If the tender has a quote number, both the side sheet and the confirmation show Also update this tender’s quote number, ticked by default. The submitted tender is saved as a version with its own quote number. Leave the option ticked to give the tender you work on next a new quote number, or untick it to keep its current number. The notification afterwards says which quote number the tender now has. The saved version is listed in the versions panel with the versions you saved yourself, so you can open the submitted position in a new tab or restore it later. The success notification offers Open revision N to open it straight away. In the versions panel, a version saved this way carries a Submitted · revision N badge. Once the estimate has been submitted, the panel also has a Submitted tender revisions group. It lists each revision with the date it was submitted, who submitted it, its Tender price (excl. GST), and its cost, with Open in new tab for its saved version and PDF, Excel and Word downloads of the tender as submitted. A revision submitted before revisions were saved as versions has no Open in new tab link. The downloads are the files Stralos kept when the revision was submitted. If no copy was kept, Stralos makes the file from the submitted figures, and the row says This copy was made today from the submitted figures. Each tender revision is saved as a version only once. If you try again after an error, Stralos uses the version it already saved, with the name it was saved under. If the version cannot be saved, the estimate does not return to Draft and stays as it was, submitted or lost. Stralos says so. Try again in a moment.

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Snapshot contents

A version is a complete, self-contained copy of the estimate. It captures estimate settings, sections, work items, components, pricing rows, TAG links, takeoff measurements, and tender clauses. Project rates are also copied at the time of saving, so a Keep the version’s saved prices restore uses the rates from that point in time. Contract artefacts, such as tender revisions and baselines, have their own immutable records and are not part of a workspace version.

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Pending suggestion pills

Pending-review prompts appear only where outstanding work exists. Takeoff uses Review drawings. Project Rates, Work Items, and Tender Submission use Review suggestions. Overview has no review prompt. Selecting a prompt takes you directly to the project Documents page filtered to that area. Review outstanding work before you finalise pricing — it may contain scope or rates that affect the estimate.

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Cross-panel navigation

Selecting a takeoff chip on a work item jumps to the Takeoff tab filtered to that work item’s measurements. The filter is cleared automatically when you navigate away from the target panel.