SMART Estimator

How to create a manual Quotation item in SMART Estimator

Why should I manually create quotation items?

There are a number of reasons why you may wish to create a separate quote item for non-scaffold related work or costs. Such as inspections, design costs, man in attendance etc. In this documentation, we’ll cover how to split up and separate the non-scaffold related work and costs as individual items, so that they can be integrated into the Quote.

  1. Creating a Blank Item

    To begin, click on the new item icon on the project bar to create a blank item. You should then give the item a new description, such as Inspections.

  2. Setting up the Cost in Price IT

    Go to Price IT and set up the costs for your manual item. In the example we’re quoting for inspections so override the total tender price to the cost of inspections for the contract period for example if your adding an item for inspection you could override the tender price and extra hire. (£200 a week, for a 4 week hire totalling £800) then override the Extra hire to the weekly inspection cost (e.g £200.) Whereas the design cost may just be the tender price.

  3. Navigate over to Quote IT

    Next, navigate to Quote IT. On the cover page of your quote you’ll see your new item in the summary table with the costs set out. Double-check and verify that the manual quotation item price figures are correct and properly incorporated into the quotation.


    Item Description Page

    Our next step is to navigate to the item description page, which is located in the sections list at the top of the main toolbar. Click on it and ensure you have the item highlighted in green, then proceed to the item description for your item. (Top Tip – if you want you can save your wording as a lead in to be reused in future quotes, please see below)

  4. Amending the item description for Inspections

    Your item description page will be largely blank (there aren’t any scaffold models to generate the automatic description) however, you should be able to see your pricing information.

    Feel free to go ahead and delete the main body text wording and replace it with your preferred wording about your inspection.

    Future-proofing Tip for item descriptions

    To amend the item description on a quote-by-quote basis, you can do so by clicking on the Lead-In Description SMARTText. From there you can add, edit, and save your item descriptions for future usage.

How to create a manual Quotation item in SMART Estimator

Quoting for scaffolds that aren’t feasible in SMART Estimator

Sometimes we need to quote for a scaffold that falls outside the capabilities of SMART Estimators modelling. In this case, even though you’ll likely have worked out the cost on paper you can still include the scaffolds in your larger quote with the manual scaffold option in Schedule IT.

  1. Adding Manual Scaffolds to the schedule

    In Schedule IT, when viewing scaffolds, click on the second menu of scaffold types to reveal the option for manual scaffolds. From there, click this option to add a manual scaffold.


    You can then enter the details, such as the height and length dimensions and a descriptive name for the manual scaffold.

  2. Method 1: Producing the Kit List & Hire Cost

    If you wish to create a material list – and detailed hire cost you need to navigate to Report IT and use the Add Extra Materials function to add your required components and quantities.


    Now when you navigate to Price IT, you’ll see on the Item Breakdown Report that the labour price figures for the Extra Materials have been retained. You can calculate the labour cost to erect a manual scaffold by modifying the lift run length and the cost per metre figure.

  3. Method 2: Material Hire as a lump sum

    Alternatively the material hire price can be manually added as a lump sum in Price IT, if this is more convenient for you. You can do this by manually overriding the labour total on the Manual scaffold price line in Price IT.

    Accounting for the Material Hire

    Take note that you’ll need to account for Material Hire, if you haven’t produced a Kit List. In this case, you can simply override the Material Hire price line by clicking on it and replacing the existing hire total with the desired lump sum for material hire.

  4. Typing the Manual Scaffold description

    Now head to Quote IT and open up the item description page for your quote item containing the manual scaffold. In order to include your manual scaffold in the item description, you will need to type it alongside the auto-generated text for any other scaffolds in the same item.