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BCIS Elemental Abstract Template


What does the template do?

Many Quantity Surveyors will have used a spreadsheet to prepare an elemental analysis from a bill of quantities or priced schedule. BCIS has produced a simple Excel template to do just this but with the addition of a button which will save the analysis as an XML file which can then be used in a variety of other applications.

The BCIS Analysis XML schema provides a sound base for the exchange of cost analyses between different applications within your organisation as well as between organisations. It can hold basic details such as job title, reference and area; the elemental costs, element unit quantities and element specification; as well as projects descriptions, contractual information, etc.

If the project tender documentation has been prepared using one of the BQ packages which can export analyses in XML format then it is easy to create an XML file containing the element costs and one or two other pieces of information. This can be edited to add additional details using the BCIS Analysis XML Writer (which could also be used to create an analysis XML file from scratch if you have the elemental analysis on paper). From here the XML file is ready to be sent to BCIS for publications or used internally in your cost planning application.

If you are starting from a priced bill or schedule then the new Excel template produced by BCIS may help. It is laid out as a simple abstract sheet and sums the element costs and contract total. When the abstract is complete a button on the spreadsheet can be used to write the element costs to an XML file. Just like the file exported from the BQ packages, the XML analysis can then have extra information added using the BCIS Analysis XML Writer, ready to be sent to BCIS and used in your other systems.

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Installation

The following steps are required before using the template:

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Using the template

Follow these steps:

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Revised: 8-Nov-2006

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