Supplement to Estimator User’s Guide
This document contains guidelines for using Estimator 2.9a on New York State Thruway Authority projects. It is a supplement to the generic Software User’s Guide to address New York State Thruway Authority specific use of the product. The numbering convention used in this document corresponds to the convention used in the Software User’s Guide.
2.2.4 - Getting Estimator Support - Consultants shall obtain support from the Authority’s Bureau of Design Support Services at 471-4244. However, support for New York State Thruway Authority staff will be provided through the Department of Information Technology Help Desk.
2.3.1 Setting Preferences
Estimator Options, General Tab: Roll Up Item Quantity for Bid History Prices – The New York State Thruway Authority will use this system management function to total the quantities of an item across groups for use with bid-based pricing. For items with bid history, the same unit price will be displayed for the same item in each group, consistent with current practices.
3.1.3 Understanding the Difference between Estimate Groups and Catalogs – For New York State Thruway Authority projects, Groups shall be used to combine items into the various Fiscal and Engineering Shares required for the contract. Additional information regarding Groups can be found in section 5.2 of the Estimator User’s Guide titled “The Groups and All Items Tabs”.
4.2 Updating your Catalogs - The New York State Thruway Authority configuration does not currently support the “Check for Catalog Updates…” command under the Tools menu.
4.3.2 Opening a Catalog – The New York State Thruway Authority has only one catalog that contains US customary items, nystaenglishcatalog. The user should use the “Switch Catalog” command from the Tools menu to activate that catalog before they create an estimate, if any other catalog is active (i.e. NYTNG, training catalog). However, once an estimate is created the catalog can only be changed by the following method:
To switch to the U. S. Customary Unit catalog:
- Select the “Estimate Options” command from the Edit menu.
- Select nystaenglishcatalog from the drop down list for the Catalog field.
- Click the “OK” button to accept the changes and close the Estimate Options window.
- Verify the Spec.Year field now shows ‘08”.
- Select English from the drop down list for the Unit System field if it does not already specify “E”.
4.4.1 Saving Estimates / Using valid file names - The name of a New York State Thruway Authority Estimator file should be based on the first six characters of the New York State Thruway Authority Project Identification Number (PIN). As the user is instructed to enter these characters in the estimate header’s Estimate ID field, the New York State Thruway Authority has configured Estimator to automatically read that field and display it as the default file name the first time the estimate is saved. The user should accept this default value.
4.6 Verifying an Estimate – Verifying an estimate does not flag the following:
- Lump sum quantities that do not equal 1.
- Dollar and Cent Unit Item prices not equal to $1.00.
- The same items in different groups and having differing unit prices.
- Data in fields that are not used by New York State Thruway Authority. The following fields should not contain any data:
- Item Level Supplemental Description
- Group / Engineering Share level Alternate Code
5.1 Working with the Estimate Header
ESTIMATE ID – The Estimate ID for estimates included in the “Plans, Specification and Estimate” (PS&E) submission shall be the first six characters of the New York State Thruway Authority Project Identification Number (PIN).
SPEC. YEAR – The Spec Year is automatically set depending on the catalog currently active and can only be changed by changing that catalog. The 08 spec.year will be used for all English contracts. The 08 spec. year item catalog includes approved 2008 New York State Department of Transportation standard specification book items and New York State Department of Transportation special specification English items also approved for use at the Thruway Authority, as well as approved Thruway Authority special specification English items.
BASE DATE - For New York State Thruway Authority projects the “Base Date” shall mean the “Letting Date”.
WORK TYPES – The New York State Thruway Authority work type codes with descriptions are provided in Appendix A.
LONGITUDE & LATITUDE OF MIDPOINT – For New York State Thruway Authority projects enter the values in Appendix B for the county in which the majority of the work will be performed. If the project covers an entire Division (e.g. Albany Division Bridge Where and When contract) the values listed under Division-wide should be used. If the project covers the entire state the values listed under Statewide should be used.
DISTRICT - For New York State Thruway Authority projects District shall mean Division; Albany, Buffalo, New York or Syracuse.
FEDERAL / STATE PROJECT NUMBER - For New York State Thruway Authority projects this field will be populated with the project’s TA Number (e.g. TAS 07-65BP), the same as used in the ESTIMATE DESCRIPTION.
ESTIMATE DESCRIPTION - The estimate description field shall begin with the New York State Thruway Authority Letting Number, commonly known as the TA Number (e.g. TAS 07-65BP), followed by the Short Description from the Capital Program Management System (e.g. I-90 (Exit 20): Toll Plaza Pavement Rehabilitation). The entire description should be limited to 60 characters to ensure that all information is passed to Trns*Port PES (e.g. TAS 07-65BP, Syracuse Division Bridge Painting).
HIGHWAY TYPE – While Highway types do not currently affect the prices in Estimator, it is anticipated that they will be used to refine bid history average prices in the future. The code appropriate for the majority of the project should be selected. The New York State Thruway Authority highway type codes with descriptions are provided in Appendix A.
URBAN / RURAL TYPE - While Urban / Rural types do not currently affect the prices in Estimator, it is anticipated that they will be used to refine bid history average prices in the future. The code appropriate for the majority of the project should be selected. The New York State Thruway Authority urban/rural type codes with descriptions are provided in Appendix A.
SEASON – The code selected should reflect when construction on the contract will begin in full (i.e. more than just prep work such as clearing and grubbing). The New York State Thruway Authority season codes with descriptions are provided in Appendix A.
COUNTY - The County selected should be the county in which the majority of the work will be performed. Also included are codes for each Thruway Division, which should be used if the project covers an entire Division (e.g. Albany Division Bridge Where and When contract). The County code is used in Estimator to assign the project to a market area for pricing, as prices will vary by market area. It is currently anticipated that New York State Thruway Authority market areas will be based upon Division boundaries, once enough projects have been processed to calculate historical bid price statistics. The New York State Thruway Authority county codes with descriptions are provided in Appendix A.
CONTINGENCY PERCENT and MOBILIZATION - The Estimator Contingency Percent field takes the total of all the items in the estimate and adds a percentage which appears as the Estimate Total. The contingency is used to factor in risk or unknowns not taken into account that might affect the estimate. As you approach a final estimate, the contingency should drop as close to zero as possible.
The contingency may be used on New York State Thruway Authority projects to calculate initial mobilization costs. However, in the final estimate the appropriate mobilization items and prices should be included in each group and the contingency set to zero.
5.1.3 Using the Estimate as a Template - While a user can create a template, most do not have rights to move it into the Templates folder for others to access. A user should instead work with one of the Estimator System Administrators to have a template posted for general use.
5.1.4 Setting the Estimate’s Options - To ensure that all estimates are rounded to the same level of accuracy, the default “Estimate Options” settings shown below shall be used for all Estimates.
Figure 1 - Estimate Options window
Only Trns*Port items and codes allowed – This box shall remain unchecked for all estimates to allow users to add items that are not in the New York State Thruway Authority item catalog yet. However, all the items should be approved and in the New York State Thruway Authority catalog before the final estimate is submitted as part of the “Plans, Specification and Estimate” (PS&E) submission.
5.2 The Groups and All Items Tabs - For New York State Thruway Authority projects, Groups shall be used to sort items into the various Fiscal or engineering Shares required for the contract.
Group Number – Groups shall be numbered consecutively in increments of 1 beginning with 0001.
Alternate Group Code – Current New York State Thruway Authority business processes do not support the use of the Alt Code field at the group level. This field shall be blank for all estimates submitted as part of the “Plans, Specification and Estimate” (PS&E) submission.
Group Description –This description will be provided by the Office of Capital Program Management. It will be a brief description of the fiscal or engineering share and the work to be performed under that share. Utility shares shall include the name of the Utility Company, while local shares shall include the name of the municipality (i.e. Town, County, etc…).
5.3 Working with the Estimate Item List
Unit Prices
Lump Sum Items – The unit price for lump sum items shall be the dollar amount allocated to the group.
Dollar and Cents Items – The unit price used for each DC unit item in a group shall be $1.00.
For all other item units - When an item is included in multiple groups, the same unit price shall be used in each group.
Quantities
Lump Sum Item Quantities - The quantity used for each lump sum item in a group shall be 1.00. Although Estimator will allow entry of any value for lump sum quantities, use of values other than 1.00 will cause errors in certain reports generated using Trns*Port data.
Quantity Rounding – The combined quantity for each item in the estimate shall be rounded to the nearest whole number, unless otherwise provided for in the item specification. In any case, the maximum rounding level allowed for any item shall be one hundredth of a unit.
Distributing quantities into multiple groups – When distributing items into multiple groups, the rounding level for the item in each group shall be limited to one hundredth of a unit. For example, a quantity of 1 EACH shall be distributed equally into three groups, as follows:
Group 1 = 0.33
Group 2 = 0.33
Group 3 = 0.34
Total = 1.00 EACH
Alternate Item Code - The Alt Code field at the item level is used to identify Alternate bid items.
Supplemental Description – New York State Thruway Authority business processes currently require that the Item level Supplemental Description field within Estimator be left blank.
5.4 Adding Items to Your Estimate – Users will normally only select items from the New York State Thruway Authority item catalog using the drop down menus. However, users can manually enter an item number, which has yet to be approved, as a placeholder. However, all placeholders must be replaced by items that have been approved and in the New York State Thruway Authority catalog before the final estimate is submitted as part of the “Plans, Specifications and Estimate” (PS&E) submission.
5.7.2 Working with Reference Prices – The New York State Thruway Authority has populated the Reference Price catalog with Dollar and Cents items, as their unit prices should always be $1.00. This catalog Reference Price will be automatically applied if a user adds that item to an estimate.
5.7.3 Working with Bid Histories – Due to the great fluctuation in market prices over the past few years and the relatively small number of occurrences for most items (other than the typical Lump Sum or Each items), it has been decided at this time not to include historical bid price statistics in the Estimator catalogs.
6.1 Estimate Extra Data – This option is not currently used by the New York State Thruway Authority.
6.3 Adding Non-Standard Items to the Estimate – Users will normally only select items from the New York State Thruway Authority item catalog using the drop down menus. However, users can manually enter an item number, which has yet to be approved, as a placeholder. However, all placeholders must be replaced by items that have been approved and in the New York State Thruway Authority catalog before the final estimate is submitted as part of the “Plans, Specification and Estimate” (PS&E) submission.
7 Working with Catalogs and Code Tables – Not all the catalogs will be used initially by the New York State Thruway Authority. Use of the Bid History, Labor, Material, Equipment and Cost Sheet Catalogs may be phased in over time.
7.2 The Standard Item Catalog - The 08 spec.year will be used for all English contracts. The 08 spec. year item catalog includes approved 2008 New York State Department of Transportation standard specification book items and New York State Department of Transportation special specification English items also approved for use at the Thruway Authority, as well as approved Thruway Authority special specification English items.
The item catalog will be updated on a regular basis to add recently approved specifications. Disapproved items will be removed in the first catalog update after the item’s disapproval date. Users will normally only select items from the New York State Thruway Authority item catalog using the drop down menus. However, they can manually enter an item number, which has yet to be approved, as a placeholder until the item is approved by the New York State Thruway Authority and the item catalog subsequently updated. However, all placeholders must be replaced by items that have been approved and in the New York State Thruway Authority catalog before the final estimate is submitted as part of the “Plans, Specification and Estimate” (PS&E) submission.
Required Supplemental Description Indicator – This indicator should not be checked, as the New York State Thruway Authority does not currently use the Item Level Supplemental Description field.
7.3.2 Bid History Catalog – Due to the great fluctuation in market prices over the past few years and the relatively small number of occurrences for most items (other than the typical Lump Sum or Each items), it has been decided at this time not to include historical bid price statistics in the Estimator catalogs.
7.3.3 Reference Prices Catalog - The Reference Price Catalog includes all items with units of measure = Dollars and Cents (DC). Additional fixed price items may be added over time.
8 Importing and Exporting - Excel spreadsheets are one of many formats that can be exported or imported from Estimator 2.9a. Minor manual entries will need to be made to correct the project files that are imported from Excel:
- Enter the proper Estimate ID.
- Enter the proper Group Description(s).
- Click on the group names in the tree area to properly re-sequence the groups.
APPENDIX A
Work Type Codes
AMIS - Miscellaneous Buildings
AROF - Roofing
ASMB - Section Maintenance Buildings
ASPB - State Police Buildings
ASSH - Salt Sheds
AWWT - Waste Water Treatment Plant
BFEN - Bridge Fencing
BMIS - Miscellaneous Bridge
BPAI - Bridge Painting
BREH - Major Bridge Rehabilitation
BRPL - Bridge Replacement
BSRS - Bridge SRSO
BWAS - Bridge Washing
BWWC - Bridge Where and When Contract
HCUL - Major Culverts
HMIS - Miscellaneous Highway
HONR - 1R Highway Resurfacing
HPMK - Pavement Markings
HREC - 3R Highway Rehab/Reconstruction
HSAF - Highway Safety Only
HTWR - 2R Highway Rehabilitation
ITS - Intelligent Transportation Systems
Season Codes
WINT - Winter (12/21 to 3/20)
SPRI - Spring (3/21 to 6/20)
SUMM - Summer (6/21 to 9/20)
FALL - Fall (9/21 to 12/20)
Urban/Rural Codes
R - Rural
U - Urban
County Codes
C01 - Albany
C05 - Cayuga
C06 - Chautauqua
C10 - Columbia
C13 - Dutchess
C14 - Erie
C18 - Genesee
C20 - Greene
C21 - Herkimer
C25 - Madison
C26 - Monroe
C27 - Montgomery
C29 - Niagara
C30 - Oneida
C31 - Onondaga
C32 - Ontario
C33 - Orange
C34 - Orleans
C35 - Oswego
C37 - Putnam
C38 - Rensselaer
C39 - Rockland
C41 - Saratoga
C42 - Schenectady
C45 - Seneca
C51 - Ulster
C52 - Warren
C53 - Washington
C54 - Wayne
C55 - Westchester
C61 - Bronx
D21 - New York Division
D22 - Albany Division
D23 - Syracuse Division
D24 - Buffalo Division
Unit Codes
ACRE - Acre
BAG - Bag
BBL - Barrel
BF - Board Ft.
CDAY - Calendar Day
CF - Cubic Ft.
CRWD - Crew Day
CW - Calendar Week
CY - Cubic Yard
CYMI - Cubic Yard Mile
DAY - Day
DC - Dollars and Cents
EACH - Each
EAPR - Each Pair
EINT - Each Intersection
ELOC - Each Location
F - Feet
F-LB - Pound (Fixed Price)
FEA - Each (Fixed Price)
FQU - Quality Unit
FSF - Square Foot (Fixed Price)
GAL - Gallon
HOUR - Hour
INCH - Inch
INTM - Intersection Month
LB - Pound
LBCF - Pound/Cubic Foot
LBG - Pound/Gallon
LF - Linear Ft.
LMCD - Lane Mi Calendar Day
LNMI - Lane Mile
LS - Lump Sum
LTDY - Light Day
MBF - Thousand Board Ft.
MGAL - Thousand Gallons
MILE - Mile
MIN - Minutes
MLF - Thousand Linear Feet
MNTH - Month
PCNT - Percent
PDD - Pressure Distributor Day
PSI - Pounds/Square Inch
QU - Quality Unit
SET - Set
SF - Square Ft.
SITE - Site
SQIN - Square Inch
SY - Square Yard
TMH - Thousand Man Hours
TML - Ton-Mile
TON - Ton
UNMO - Unit Month
VCW - Vehicle Calendar Week
ZZ - ITI Added
Highway Type Codes
ASPH - Asphalt
COMB - Combination Asphalt & Concrete
CONC - Concrete
NONE - No Highway
Appendix B
Latitude & Longitude Values for Capital Projects
On all capital projects use the predefined values listed below. The coordinates input into the Trns*port system will be used in the future to analyze bid data and generate location-specific bid history prices and trends.
| county | LATITUDE | LONGITUDE |
|---|---|---|
| Albany | 42° 38' 00" | 73° 47' 00" |
| Cayuga | 43° 02' 50" | 76° 37' 00" |
| Chautauqua | 42° 24' 40" | 79° 25' 40" |
| Columbia | 42° 24' 20" | 73° 31' 30" |
| Dutchess | 41° 32' 00" | 73° 49' 30" |
| Erie | 42° 49' 40" | 78° 47' 30" |
| Genesee | 43° 01' 10" | 78° 11' 10" |
| Greene | 42° 18' 30" | 73° 52' 20" |
| Herkimer | 43° 00' 50" | 74° 58' 20" |
| Madison | 43° 05' 40" | 75° 49' 10" |
| Monroe | 43° 02' 30" | 77° 41' 40" |
| Montgomery | 42°55'10" | 74°26'20" |
| Oneida | 43° 07 '30" | 75° 24' 30" |
| Onondaga | 43° 07' 00" | 76° 14' 20" |
| Ontario | 42° 58' 40" | 77° 13' 30" |
| Orange | 41° 23 '00" | 74° 06' 10" |
| Putnam | 41° 25' 50" | 73° 37' 50" |
| Rensselaer | 42° 29' 10" | 73° 41' 50" |
| Rockland | 41° 06' 10" | 74° 04' 30" |
| Schenectady | 42° 49' 30" | 74° 00' 50" |
| Seneca | 42° 58' 00" | 76° 50' 20" |
| Ulster | 41° 52' 50" | 74° 03' 30" |
| Westchester | I-87: 40° 59' 40" I-287: 41 °01' 50" I-95: 40° 57' 20" |
73° 51' 10" 73° 45' 00" 73° 44' 30" |
| Bronx | 40° 52' 50" | 73° 50' 00" |
| Division | Latitude | longitude |
|---|---|---|
| Albany | 42° 34' 00" | 73° 47' 00" |
| Buffalo | 42° 55' 00" | 78° 46' 00" |
| New York | 41° 08' 00" | 74° 10' 00" |
| Syracuse | 43° 06' 00" | 76° 00' 00" |
Statewide Projects
Latitude: 43°10' 00" Longitude: 75° 40' 00"
For projects with work being performed at multiple discrete locations, the Latitude and Longitude for the location with the highest cost work should be reported.