How to build assemblies

Think of an assembly as a container of items to complete a task. This often includes labor, material, equipment, and other direct costs.

What's an Assembly?

• Assemblies have a unit of measurement, like square feet, but can also be per project. You'll add items to your assembly and define the relationship to determine your cost per assembly.
• Assemblies enable you to use one measurement and automatically calculate the quantities of all the related items.
• Don't worry about setting markup, taxes, and profit. You'll do that later in the estimate.
• Assemblies are great templates for future projects speeding your workflow significantly.

Criteria and recommendations for building assemblies: 

1. "Title" your assembly

Choose specific titles for your assemblies.

Instead of "Build Deck," we recommend building out multiple assemblies to support the task of building a deck. See examples below:

• Dig and pour 12" pier footing at 36" deep
• Frame deck, 12' joist length 16" O.C.
• Install 4x4 treated post, attached to concrete, 4' high
• Install 5/4 treated decking straight pattern, screwed, etc

2. Select a "Unit of Measurement"

Specify how you will be measuring your assembly. 

For example:

• Per Each: Dig and pour 12" pier footing at 36" deep
• Square Foot: Install 5/4 treated decking straight pattern, screwed, etc
• Square Foot: Installing flooring
• Per linear ft or "Section": Install fence
• Sq. ft or Sheet: Hang and/or Finish Drywall

3. Add a "Customer Description"

Describe what you are doing to your customer. This will help specify how you plan on performing the work and with what materials. 

Customer Description Examples:

• Dig footing up to 36" deep per code, set 12" tube, pour 5000 PSI concrete, finish smooth in preparation for setting post
• Attach ledger board to structure with galvanized lag anchors, flash with Z flashing, build deck support beams as required, frame 2x10 joists at 16" on center, attach to ledger board using joist hangers. Install deck joist waterproofing tape in preparation for decking.
• Attached pressure treated 4x4 post to concrete using post base anchored to concrete and fastened to post
• Install 5/4 treated decking boards securely with appropriate spacing, fastened with deck screws through face of decking boards.

4. Add items to your assembly from "Catalogs" or click the "+ Item" button

Add material, labor, equipment, subcontractor, and other costs to your assembly 

*Browse and drag multiple items from the Catalog browser (highlighted in orange above). 

5. Set quantities and ratios of assembly items

Step 1: Click "Set Qty" button

Step 2: Click "per UOM" (i.e. "Per Hr") or "Fixed Quantity"

Step 3: if Per Unit of Measure, specify number of hours to perform ____ sq ft of Prime & Paint Interior Walls, 2 coats (i.e 2.5 hours per 100 sq ft) to calculate your per sq ft cost of labor.

or 

Step 3: set a fixed quantity for your assembly item

Step 4: Repeat for all assembly breakdown items

Step 5: Drag your assembly to the estimate and set the estimate quantity to auto calculate your cost for the assembly.

Step 6: Refine and optimize, assemblies are a great tool to calculating your costs quickly and keeping your costs up to date as your cost of labor and materials increase in your catalog. 

💡 Tips for building out your Assembly Catalog:

• You are already having to figure out your costs, why not build them as assemblies to make keeping track of your costs and estimating at record breaking pace a possibility.
• Update costs and modify quantity calculations as you go to keep your costs accurate
• Set minimums and round up to ensure your time and costs are covered
• Make a copy of assemblies in Your Catalog or ConGenius Catalog assembly templates to make variations for complexity, wall height, depth, and other cost modifiers.
• You can build assemblies in your catalog or directly on your estimate (if you build them on your estimate, you can save them to your catalog by clicking the context menu, and clicking "Add to Catalog")