Workflow 4: Materials & Quantities for Cost and Inventory
The last workflow turns the drawn panels into a quantity take-off you can price and order from. ConstructiVision counts the materials; pricing, purchasing and stock stay in your own estimating and purchasing systems, which read the take-off as a spreadsheet file.
Overview
The Materials List is counted from the drawn panel, not from the dialog settings alone: what you see on the drawing is what gets counted, so the list matches the drawing you issue. It does not look up prices, track stock or raise purchase orders.
Key Steps
- Draw the Panel First — a panel that has been set up in the dialogs but never drawn has nothing to count yet, and the command says so.
- Run the Materials List — from the ConstructiVision menu or the Site & Tools toolbar. It writes
matlist.csv next to the panel drawing, with the columns Category, Material, Quantity and Unit, ready to open in Excel or any spreadsheet.
- Read What It Counts — from the components placed on the drawn panel:
- Weld connections, each named from the project's embed catalog
- Pick points and brace points, grouped by insert size
- J bolts, grouped by bolt size
- The panel's finished face area, in square feet
- Concrete volume, in cubic yards, with openings and recesses already deducted
- Collect the Project — in AutoCAD the list is made one panel drawing at a time, and the per-panel files combine cleanly in a spreadsheet. In ConstructiVision Web, the Materials List totals the whole project (concrete, weight, finished area and form area, reinforcing steel, chamfer, pick and brace points, weld connections) and downloads as one CSV named after the project. The CSV download is free: exports never spend a token.
- Price It in Your Own System — apply your unit costs, labor rates, equipment and overhead in your estimating spreadsheet or software.
Not Counted Yet
- Lineal-footage form items on a single panel: chamfer strip, reveal strip, edge form, treated lumber and brace extensions. The list names them rather than guessing a quantity.
- Anchor bolts on a wood ledger or top plate, which are drawn as marks on the bar with their spec and spacing in its call-out.
- One combined list across many panels from Batch Utilities, which is being reconnected.
What Gets Created
- A
matlist.csv take-off beside each panel drawing
- A project-wide materials CSV from ConstructiVision Web
- Quantities your estimate can price, with the same embed names as the panel sheets
Key Benefits
- Accuracy — quantities are counted from the drawn panel, so they match the drawing you issue
- Nothing Hidden — an embed missing from the project's catalog is still counted and flagged "(not in catalog)", and an item that cannot be counted yet is named
- Same Names Everywhere — the take-off and the panel book name every embed identically
- Fresh Every Run — the list is rebuilt from scratch each time, so it never carries stale rows; redraw after an edit, then run it again
Where the Take-off Fits Your Estimate
- Materials — from the take-off: concrete volume, weld connections, pick and brace inserts, bolts, and face area. You add the prices.
- Labor, equipment and overhead — form setting and stripping, finishing, casting-bed use, cranes and site costs come from your own rates and records, not from ConstructiVision.
Integration with Other Workflows
Materials & Quantities completes the core ConstructiVision workflow. It counts the panels drawn in Design & Detailing and uses the embed catalog from Project Setup, so the take-off and the Documentation sheets describe the same panels. The CSV then goes to whoever prices and orders the job.
What ConstructiVision Does Not Do
ConstructiVision does not hold unit prices or supplier catalogs, track stock or deliveries, raise purchase orders, or track budgets. Those stay in the systems you already use; the take-off is the input they need.
Complete Cycle — You've now walked through all four core ConstructiVision workflows! Begin with Project & Panel Setup for your next project to establish the foundation for success.