3PM Estimate helps you turn a project brief, drawings and specifications into a clearer construction estimate. Use Quote to read the estimate as a structured document, switch to Elemental to review cost by part of the building, and use Benchmarks to compare priced estimates with reference costs for a market and facility type.
Start with a Project and describe the scope, location and size. You can attach plans, drawings, specifications, a scope sheet or other project documents. 3PM Estimate uses this information to build an itemised Estimate with quantities, units and rates.
The estimate is built in the estimate workspace, where you can:
Estimates use your workspace settings, including your currency, region, area unit and estimating percentages. Costs are presented GST-exclusive, with GST shown separately where applicable.
A Project is the home for the project information and its Estimates. A Project can contain more than one Estimate, so you can keep alternatives such as a base scheme and a value-engineered option together.
An Estimate is the priced result created from a scope and its Documents. It can be in Draft, Estimating, Ready or Error status. An Estimate format is selected when you create it and stays fixed for that Estimate.
Quote is the document view organized for the reader of the quote. It groups priced work into sections and packages so the scope can be read in the way a construction quote is normally presented.
Elemental is the cost-planning view organized by what each part of the building does, rather than by trade or material. For example, cladding, insulation, sealant and coating can be read together under External walls. Quote and Elemental use the same priced lines and therefore produce the same totals.
Benchmarks provides reference unit costs for a region and building type. A reference cost basis contains low, typical and high ranges rather than one supposedly exact market rate. You can compare a priced Estimate with a basis line by line, by element and by cost per area.
A reference cost basis belongs to the current workspace. Building a basis for a region and building type that already exists replaces the existing basis.
Quote is useful when you want to understand how the work is packaged for a client or when you are checking that the document follows the structure you selected.
Tip: Describe assumptions in the Scope before creating the Estimate. A clear brief gives the estimate more useful context to work from.
Elemental is useful for checking whether the cost distribution makes sense, comparing estimates consistently and reviewing cost against published or workspace reference data.
Only priced Estimates can be compared with Benchmarks. If an Estimate is still being built or has no priced total, select it after pricing is complete.
Quote groups the same priced lines into the document structure used for reading and sharing a quote. Elemental groups those lines by the function or part of the building. They are two readings of the same Estimate and have the same total.
No. Use Quote when you need to review the quote structure or prepare a client-facing document. Use Elemental when you need to analyze cost by building element or compare the Estimate with Benchmarks.
No. The Estimate format is fixed once the Estimate is created. Create another Estimate in the Project if you need to assess the same scope in a different format.
No. Benchmarks compares priced Estimates. Finish building the Estimate and make sure it has a priced total before selecting it for comparison.
A basis for the same region and building type replaces the existing basis. This keeps one current basis for that combination rather than creating competing versions.
Matching is conservative. The unit must agree, and the element, reference code or description must align. A line that cannot be matched is not given a misleading comparison.
The client-facing view is designed to show the quote without internal rates. Use the internal PDF or Excel workbook when you need the full cost build-up for your team.
