BCGBC4005A Produce labour and material schedules for ordering

Track suppliers

Labour suppliers
Computer programs are generally used by larger companies to keep track of resources, workflow and costs for large projects. The programs can develop tables or charts which are used for tracking labour and materials. For example, this is useful for a company building 25 - 30 houses at the same time in one location. 
The table displays column headings showing the dates from Monday 3 May through to Friday 14 May. No weekend days are shown. The first row is 'Landscaping' which has no cells shaded along the row. In the second row which is labelled 'Prepare and pour driveway' the cells below Wednesday 5 May and Thursday 6 May are shaded. In the third row labelled 'Build garden edges' the cell under Friday 7 May is shaded. In the fourth row labelled 'Install drip irrigation system' the cell under Friday 7 May is shaded. In the fifth row labelled 'Plant plants' the cell under Monday 10 May is shaded and highlighted with a circle. The last row is labelled 'Lay grass/turf' and has a cell under Monday 10 May shaded.
The following example tells you how labour supplier details are entered.
Step 1 of 6
A task can have a number of different suppliers, for example, a supplier of labour and a supplier of materials. Most builders have worked on projects before and would have a database of resource names available. This example lists these suppliers: The Landscapers, Hire Me, Melbourne Temp Fencing, Paul's Plumbing, Ely's Electrical, Timber Specialists, Jack's Excavation, The Brick Experts and The Brick Specialist.
The supplier 'The Landscapers' can be added to the blank top cell of the list to assign the supplier to the task. If it is a new company you can type the name of the company in the blank top cell.
Step 2 of 6
The table shows rows numbered one to five. Only row one has data entered. There are five column headings as follows: 
1.	Description of provisional sum item
2.	Estimated quantity of components or materials, 
3.	Builder's allowance (including labour for each component of unit of material),
4.	Total provisional sum allowance for labour and materials
5.	Builder's % margin on excess. 

The entry in row one is shown as follows, under the appropriately numbered column from the above list:
1. 	Landscaping
2. 	Trees x 5
3. 	$60
4. 	= 300
5. 	20%.
In the contract the provisional sum table will contain information on labour costs. First locate the supplier's name and the related information across the row. This information which is entered into the program is quantity and cost of labour per item.
Step 3 of 6
The table from step 1 is shown again with the menu names 'File', 'Edit' and 'View' across the top. To enter the contract rates into the schedule go to the 'View' menu and select 'Resource'. A drop down list appears with the heading 'Resource' and one list item called 'Resource usage'.
Step 4 of 6
A table is displayed in which suppliers can be classified into groups such as labour or material. The column headings are Group, Maximum units, Standard rate, Overtime rate and Cost/use. This helps later, for example, if we want to find all the labour suppliers. Labour can be selected under the heading 'Group'. 
The table shows 'The Landscapers' in the first row. The other rows are blank. Under the heading Maximum units the quantity required is five trees. Under the heading Cost/use the cost per item is shown as $60.
Step 5 of 6
The table from step 4 is shown again with the drop down menu highlighting 'Resource usage'.
The program then calculates the estimated cost related to this contractor for the specified task. Go to the main menu and select 'View' then 'Resource usage'.
Step 6 of 6
This table focuses on three column headings: Resource name, Cost and Actual cost. The Landscapers is listed under Resource name with an estimated cost of $300.
Later on in the project you could use the program again to enter the actual cost. The program can calculate the difference between the estimated cost and the actual cost. The builder can also use this computer program to monitor the project cost.  
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