Adding Item Code Groups

An item code group is selected by a subcontractor when creating their electronic docket in the SafeSite app, simplifying the data entry process. The subcontractor will not see all of the individual item codes within the item code group, these are only seen and used by engineers and head contractor administrators. The subcontractor simply needs to add their start and finish times in their docket and the item code group will make all of the appropriate calculations.

NOTE: Before an item code group can be created, all of the individual item codes must be created in the Virtual Super for the supplier. This support article provides details and user instructions for creating a new item code.

Create a New Item Code Group

A Virtual Superintendent user needs to have the Dockets Super User or Admin Manager permission to access to the Dockets Setup page, where item codes and item code groups are created.

• Go to the Dockets Setup page
• Select the Item Codes tab
• Press the Add Group button and a NEW Item Code Group dialog will open.

The new item code group dialog contains two tabs:

1. Item options
2. Rules

Item Options Tab

The item options tab is where the generic information for an item code group is entered.

Click image for larger view

Supplier: Select the supplier that the item code group is for.

Description: Provide a brief, meaningful description. This is what the subcontractor will view in SafeSite when selecting their chargeable item for the day.

Type: There are eight Types which allow item codes to by grouped together.

Frequently used Types:

• Labour group - Used to group labour item codes together to reflect the contract a labourer is working under, e.g., CW1 - has normal time, overtime and double time item codes that are applied depending on the duration the labourer has been working.
• Plant group - Used to group plant items together to reflect the contract applied to plant items, e.g., a 12 ton truck that automatically has 1 hour of travel time added.
• Dry Hire Plant group - Used, for example, to group together dry hire plant items with attachment items.

Infrequently used Types:

• Allowance group - Used to group more than one allowance together, e.g., Inclement weather allowance with multiple Item Codes depending on time of the day the work is completed. These groups are generally used as part of a labour group.
• Attachment group - Used to group more that one attachment together, e.g., GPS system and a specialised bucket. These groups are generally used within a plant group.
• Material group - Used to group material item codes together, e.g., grouping together various mixes of aggregates.
• Quantity group - Used to group quantity items together.
• Other Group - Select this option if the item code group does not clearly fit the available Types.

Category: Select the relevant Category from the list of options.

Active Yes / No: This determines if the item code group can be used for generating dockets.

• Active Yes: The item code group is able to be used for generating dockets.

• Active No: The item code group cannot be used for generating a docket.

  Setting Active to No is used if a group is no longer valid but you want to keep it in the system to ensure old dockets are still seen. 

Visible Yes / No: This determines whether a subcontractor can see this item code group in the SafeSite app.

• Visible Yes: the group can be seen and selected in the SafeSite app.
• Visible No: This is generally only used to hide the individual Item Codes that make up a group. The individual items cannot be selected but they can be used within an item code group.

Unit of Measure (UOM): The UOM selected determines the way that the Rules are calculated for the Item Code Group, as indicated in the top left corner of the Rules tab. In most cases, the UOM will be hours based.

Rules Tab

Once the item options data has been entered, it is time to combine the item codes using specific rules in the rules tab.

Depending on which UOM was selected in the item options tab, the rules are calculated based on billable hours, specified time period or quantity based.

• If the UOM is set to Hours, the rules can only be calculated by Billable Hours Based or Specified Time Period.
• If the UOM is set to anything other than hours, e.g., tonne, the rules can only be quantity based.

Billable hours: The total number of hours worked minus breaks, e.g., after 8 billable hours worked, switch to the overtime rate.

Specified time period: There are 2 specified time period options available to head contractors.

1) A specific time is manually entered, e.g., after 6pm switch to the nightshift rate.

2) A predetermined shift time is selected which allows the Virtual Super to auto-detect which rate to use based on the start/end time entered in a docket and a custom ICS calendar. This is enabled on a per project basis. Contact us at support@cloudscapelabs.com to discuss enabling this feature across your project. In the mean time, this article explains the feature in more detail.

Quantity based: For all other groups, where the UOM is not set to hours, e.g. daily, cubic metre or tonne - the shift rules are set by a Quantity based value.

For example, a plant group for a daily hire of 1 light tower set - if the person wanted to create a docket for 3 light tower sets, then they would set the quantity in the docket to 3.

IMPORTANT information for Quantity based item code groups

• It is only possible to add 1 base item code in the apply rules portion of the dialog
• Base item codes cannot be hours based
• Allowances/Attachments are only available for labour or plant based groups

Shift Rules and Add Rules

There are two types of rules which define the way your group is calculated:

1. Shift Rules
2. Add Rules

Shift Rules

Shift rules define which item code (rate) to use based on the date and the start and finish times entered in the docket.

To set the shift rules, select the base item code, then define how this will be calculated. Add additional item codes by pressing the Add button.

Defining how each item code is calculated differs between specified time period groups and billable hours based groups:

• For billable hours based groups, manually enter the billable hours range which determines which item code will be applied to the docket.

• When applying shift rules for specified time period groups, either select a shift time or manually enter the shift time. It is possible to use a combination of predetermined and manually set shift times in a specified time period group.

Use group duration setting for billable hours groups

Sometimes billable hours based groups are used as subgroups in specified time period groups. Checking the use group duration setting means that when this subgroup is applied to the docket, the billable hours will start at the subgroup's applied time, not the start time in the docket. This setting is only applicable when the billable hours based group is a subgroup to a specified time period group.

Show Advanced Options and Item Preview

For specified time period groups, there is an additional setting; show advanced options. This allows you to set the check order that the Virtual Super will look to apply the item codes to the docket.

The item preview calculator allows you to see how the group will calculate based on the date and the start/finish time entered before you save the group. To hide the preview, press the hide preview button.

Rule Type

The rule type setting tells the Virtual Super how much of the docket should be assigned to each shift rule. There are 3 rule type options:

• Distribute - only use this item code for the hours that fall within the shift time.
• Assign - assign the entire docket to this item code if the shift time rules match.
• Distribute remaining to - any hours that have not been assigned to an item code should use the base item code.

Based on

When manually entering a time range, set the based on rules which determine how each item code is applied to the docket.

• Shift start time - if the start time entered in the docket is within the time range, use this item code.
• Shift finish time - if the finish time entered in the docket is within the time range, use this item code.
• Shift overlaps - if the start and finish time entered in the docket overlap with the time range, use this item code.
• Majority of shift - if majority of the time entered in the docket falls in the time range, use this item code.

When viewing an item code group, it is helpful to think of each line in the shift rules portion as reading like a sentence. Use the labour group below as an example:

CHECK 1: Distribute the public holiday item code on a public holiday.

CHECK 2: Distribute the weekend item code on Friday between 17:00-00:00, on Saturday, on Sunday, and on Monday between 00:00-06:00.

CHECK 3: Assign (entire) hours to the nightshift item code based on the shift start time being between 12:00-04:00.

CHECK 4: Distribute the remaining hours to the day shift item code.

The Virtual Super will begin with check 1 and continue processing until all the hours in the docket have been allocated, at which point it will stop.

Minimum Billable Hours and Minimum Quantity

Depending on the details of a supplier contract, it may be necessary to add a minimum billable hours or a minimum quantity to an item code group.

For billable hours and specified time period groups a minimum billable hours value can be applied.

For quantity groups, there is a minimum quantity setting that can be applied.

These settings are used where a supplier contract stipulates that the chargeable item has a minimum billable hours or minimum quantity requirement, e.g. subcontractors are paid for a minimum of 6 billable hours for each shift regardless of how long they are on site.

When a docket is created using this group, the value set for the minimum billable hours or minimum quantity will be used to calculate the item codes in the shift rules and add rules. This does not apply to the additional attachments/allowances portion of a group.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If a minimum billable hours or minimum quantity value is set for a group, it will override any minimum values applied to the individual item codes within the group.

Ignore Minimum Billable Hours Value

Any hours-based item codes in the add rules section of a billable hours or specific time period group have an ignore minimum billable hours setting available if there is a minimum value set for the group. When this is checked, the item code will be calculated based on the duration and/or quantity value entered in the docket not the minimum value set for the group.

Add Rules Tab

You can also create add rules over and above the shift rules. These determine which allowances and entitlements should be used and when they should be included.

Add rules are typically used for the one-off allowances that are applied after a set time or over the duration of each shift.

The add rules are applied to a docket based on the following settings:

Duration options

The duration value represents the total billable hours worked based on the start and finish time entered in the docket.

• Hours - set a fixed number of hours to be charged for this item code. The number of hours set here is independent of the hours recorded in the docket.
• Same as group - the start time and end time entered by the subcontractor is used to calculate the total time and this is multiplied by the cost.
• Same as group, with limit - set a limit on how many hours the add rule will be added to the docket.
• Remainder of group - the duration is calculated using the after x billable hours value as the start time and the end time of day the subcontractor sets.
• Remainder of group, with limit - the duration is calculated using the after x billable hours value as the start time and a set end time, e.g. apply this allowance every hour after 6 billable hours and stop applying it after 8 billable hours.

Quantity options

The Quantity value represents how many people/plant the docket is for.

• Quantity - set a defined quantity value per docket, regardless of the quantity value entered by the subcontractor in the docket
• Same as Group - the quantity value from the docket, e.g. 2 people.
• Same as group, with limit - the quantity value from the docket up to x billable hours.

Add rules with conditions

It is possible to set a condition for item codes in the Add Rule portion of a group. When a condition is set, a subcontractor will be required to answer a Y/N question in the SafeSite app when they submit their docket. Depending on their response, the item code, typically an allowance, will be added to the docket or not.

For example, if a supplier contract requires that their employees receive a break allowance for working through a break after 8-10 hours of work, this can be configured using add rule conditions, as explained below.

In the add rules section of the item group, a break allowance is added with conditions toggled on and the following Y/N question: Did you take a break between 8-10 hours? If the subcontractor works longer than 10 hours, they will be asked the question when they submit their docket. If they reply Yes, the allowance will not be applied to the docket. If they answer No, the allowance will be applied to the docket.

Adding Additional Attachments/Allowances:

Once the shift rules and add rules are complete you can add additional attachments/allowances which the subcontractor can manually add when creating their docket.

Allowances are typically for labour dockets and attachments are typically for plant dockets.

Using the example labour item code group above, a subcontractor could manually add an inclement weather item code to their docket, if required.

NOTE: They will also see all other attachments/allowances for that supplier if the visibility = yes.

NOTES:

• The additional allowances/attachments are able to be selected as part of this item code group independent of their visibility setting. Meaning, each allowance/attachment can have the visibility set to no, and still be available as part of the item code group only.
• If allowances are unable to be applied based on the item code group type, the additional attachments/allowances section will not be visible in the rules tab.

Example item code groups

Below are the following three item code group examples:

1. Specified time period group
2. Specified time period group demonstrating the public holiday rule
3. Billable hours based group
4. Groups with subgroups (demonstrating the use group duration setting)

Example 1: Specified Time Period Group

In the graphic below, the item preview calculator demonstrates how this specified time period labour group is calculated based on the date and the start/finish times entered.

This graphic contains descriptions of each field.

The item preview demonstrates the following:

• Date entered is a Monday
• Start time entered is 11:00

The date and start time do not match the rules for the public holiday, weekend or nightshift rates, therefore the hours have been distributed to the day shift rate.

Example 2: Specified Time Period Group demonstrating the public holiday rule

The graphic below demonstrates how the public holiday rate is used based on the date and the start/finish time entered in the docket.

Example 3: Billable Hours Based Group

In the graphic below, the item preview calculator demonstrates how this billable hours labour group is calculated based on the date and the start/finish times entered.

Example 4: Groups with subgroups (group duration setting)

You can create an item code group containing subgroups (another item code group) in the shift rules section in order to best represent complex supplier agreements.

The example below demonstrates a specified time period group containing a billable hours subgroup. In order to allow this to calculate correctly in dockets, the billable hours group should check the use group duration setting. When checked, the Virtual Super will start counting the billable hours at the time the subgroup is applied to a docket, not the start time for the docket.

If you want to discuss the ability to create groups with subgroups, please get in touch with us at support@cloudscapelabs.com