Design Unit Properties
General Properties
Bentley OpenUtilities Designer uses the following set of properties for defining compatible units as well as macro units. An asterisk (*) indicates a cost-related property that is used in Bentley OpenUtilities Designer's cost calculations.
- ID-the unique alphanumeric identifier for the unit.
- Name-the alphanumeric name of the unit.
- Type-the unit's ownership type (public or private).
- Labor Type*-the type of labor used in working with the unit. If the unit is assigned as a variable-rate unit, the Labor Type setting determines the labor rate used by Bentley OpenUtilities Designer in calculating costs. Labor rates are defined for labor types during configuration.
- Work Type*-the type of work environment in which construction takes place. The Work Type setting, in conjunction with the assigned unit's life-cycle status, reflects the man-hours required by the unit (for variable-rate units) or labor effort (for fixed-rate units) and thus determines the unit's labor costs.
- Hourly Labor Rate*-the labor rate (in dollars per hour) for the selected Labor Type setting. This value is used in calculations for variable-rate units only and does not apply to fixed-cost units.
- Scrap Value*-the allowed discount for returning the materials that make up the unit. This value, which is subtracted from the design's total cost, is used in cost calculations only if the unit is assigned with a life-cycle status of Proposed Remove and if the credit has been enabled. For more information, see Including Scrap and Salvage Values in Cost Calculations.
- Salvage Value*-the allowed discount for returning the unit's materials back into stock. This value, which is subtracted from the design's total cost, is used in cost calculations only if the unit is assigned with a life-cycle status of Proposed Remove and if the credit has been enabled. For more information, see Including Scrap and Salvage Values in Cost Calculations.
- Linear-indicates whether the unit is linear. The default value of the Quantity property for a linear unit is based on the length of the work spans or span features to which the unit is assigned. The Quantity default for a nonlinear unit is 1.
- Retired-indicates whether the unit has been designated as retired (obsolete).
- Retired Date-the date on which the unit was retired.
- Description-a description of the unit.
- Owner-the user who owns the unit. By default, the owner is the same as the creator, but ownership can be transferred.
- Creator-the user who created the unit. System-generated.
- Modified-the date on which the unit record was last modified. System-generated.
- Created-the date on which the unit record was created. System-generated.
Values for compatible unit properties are entered on the New Compatible Unit dialog box. This dialog box also provides access to a customized dialog box for additional unit attributes if your company has defined a set of custom attributes for compatible units.
The properties of an existing unit are displayed on the Compatible Unit Properties dialog box.
Life-Cycle Status of Units and Default Cost Properties
Additional properties are typically defined for the unit's various life cycles-i.e., installation, removal, transfer, and abandonment. In calculating a design's costs, Bentley OpenUtilities Designer applies the appropriate set of default costs for the assigned unit based on its life-cycle status. For example, installation costs are applied to units assigned with the Proposed Install status, removal costs are applied to units with the Proposed Remove status, and so on.
The unit's life-cycle status is determined by the design element to which it is assigned:
- If the unit is assigned to a work location, the unit's life-cycle status is driven by the Life-Cycle Status global attribute of the active job default. For more information on global attributes, see Job Defaults.
- If the unit is assigned to a feature, the unit's life-cycle status is inherited from the feature's current life cycle.
Each life-cycle of a unit can have the following set of cost properties. An asterisk (*) indicates a value that is calculated by Bentley OpenUtilities Designer.
- Plant Account-the company's code for the account to which the assigned unit's costs will be charged.
- Fixed Cost-the fixed labor cost for the unit when assigned with a particular life-cycle status and with a fixed labor rate. The Fixed Cost value is based on each unit of measure (per box, per foot, etc.) and the selected Work Type.
- Man-Hours-the number of hours required for the unit when assigned with a particular life-cycle status and as a variable-rate unit.
- Labor Cost*-the labor cost for the unit when assigned with a particular life-cycle status and as a variable-rate unit. The Labor Cost value is calculated as follows: Labor Cost = Hourly Labor Rate × Man-Hours.
- Equipment Cost-the equipment cost incurred for the unit when assigned with a particular life-cycle status.
- Material Cost*-The cost of the materials that make up the unit when assigned with a life-cycle status of Proposed Install. This value is the sum of each material's Cost value (multiplied by its quantity or length).
- Total Cost*-the total cost for the unit when assigned with a particular life-cycle status. If the status is Proposed Install, the Total Cost value is the sum of the unit's installation Labor Cost, Equipment Cost, and Material Cost. If the assigned unit has any other status, the Total Cost is the sum of the Labor Cost and Equipment Cost.
These properties are displayed and edited on the Installation, Removal, Transfer, and Abandon pages of the Compatible Unit Properties dialog box. The corresponding pages of the New Compatible Unit dialog box can be used to define these properties for new units.
For more information, see Understanding Cost Calculations.
Cost properties for the various life cycles (Compatible Unit Properties dialog box)