Managing Use Groups in an Estimate

Use Groups categorize different aspects of your estimate based on their intended use—sometimes called asset classes—such as Above or Below Grade Parking, Retail, Condominiums, or Hotels.

With Ediphi, you can leverage Use Groups and access each use group’s associated historical cost data within a single cloud-based platform. That means no more side sheets! This not only expedites the estimating process, but also facilitates effortless cost comparisons between like-for-like uses, even when project details differ (ex. hotel above casino vs. hotel above parking). This also makes it that much easier for you to present clients with costs based on use—particularly helpful if your clients are funding the project by use.

Suppose you want to conduct a cost comparison between building a hotel above a casino versus a hotel above a parking garage. Building a hotel casino is much more expensive than a hotel above a parking garage, but how much more? How do you determine the cost of building just the hotel portion of your project? Better yet, how can you take your past estimate of a hotel and use it to quickly provide clients pricing for a new project?

With Ediphi, you can leverage Use Groups from past estimates, such as a previously estimated hotel, to easily compare costs across different projects. And, because your data is in the cloud, your historical cost base grows over time, making it faster to provide clients with accurate pricing.

See below for steps on how to add and manage Use Groups within your Estimate.

In this article

• Adding Use Groups
• Editing Use Groups
• Deleting Use Groups
• Create or Manage Allocations

Adding Use Groups

1. Within your estimate, hover your cursor over the Use Groups tab, and then click on Add Use Groups.

2. Select the desired Use Groups from the list of presets (these can be renamed later). Click on Save.

Click here for a video on adding Use Groups

Editing Use Groups

1. Within your estimate, hover your cursor over the Use Groups tab, and then click on Manage Use Groups.

2. Click the Label cell to add a custom name to a Use Group. You can also select to Exclude Total, add or edit GSF (Gross Square Feet), NSF (Net Square Feet), and Unit Count.

3. Click on Save.

Deleting Use Groups

1. Within your estimate, hover your cursor over the Use Groups tab, and then click on Manage Use Groups.

2. Click on the trash can icon next to the Use Group you would like to remove.

3. The platform will ask you to confirm you want to delete the Use Group. Click on Confirm.

Create or Manage Allocations

1. Within your estimate, hover your cursor over the Use Groups tab, and then click on Manage Allocations.

2. Click on New Allocation.

3. You will be required to give the Allocation a Name. Then, click on Save.

4. Once the Allocation is created, you will have the option to enter the allocation percentages. The percentages need to sum up to 100% in order to get a checkmark in the Allocation:

5. Once you have added all percentages, click on Save.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team and we'll be happy to help!