RIB CostX

NEW

• Major internal technology and product architecture updates in order to provide better security, maintainability, and extensibility for iTWO benchmark into the future.

• Extended the Data fields and tables available through the OData interface for use in external applications such as PowerBI. The changes are:
  
  1. A new level field against each estimate element which provides the level of the estimate element based on the level of the corresponding code field in the code library. This change makes it easier to group elements in PowerBI without needing to manually join tables and code library csv files.
  

  
  
  2. The Clients table is now provided in the OData, to allow the client name and other relevant information to be included in PowerBI dashboards and reports.

Improved

• Better performance throughout including reduced time to load pages and faster data loading.
• Improved Project Geocoding user experience. Geocoding is shown when Viewing / Editing Project and it now auto-fills the Latitude and Longitude up to 5 decimal places. Better error and warning handling is also provided.
• Security enhancements. As part of the architecture updates, a number of the underlying technologies have been updated. This provides improved security but it also means that Internet Explorer 11 is no longer supported from 2.1 onwards. Please check the system requirements in the iTWO benchmark Help for alternative browser options.
• Error messages displayed to the user under various conditions have been improved.
• Improved field validation and checking provided for various entities.

NEW

• Updated name, branding and colour scheme to address new RIB corporate identity.

  

NEW

• The introduction of a faster and more advanced report writer, offering a range of new options for viewing and exporting information. Improvements to the underlying engine mean that iTWO benchmark users can now generate complex reports up to five times faster than was previously possible.

  The Report Writer still supports Estimate, Average Estimate, Cost Benchmark, Functional Analysis and Functional Benchmark reports, with the first page of the chosen report showing on screen as soon as it is generated, while the remainder of the report continues to load. This provides a more streamlined workflow for report previewing, especially for those creating very large reports.

  

  From here, users can click the new Toggle Multipage Mode button in the toolbar to view multiple pages on the screen at once, as well as zoom in and out to change the page sizing as required. A Full Screen option that can easily be toggled on and off has been added, while new export options are also available in addition to the wide range of supported export formats.

  The export settings for various export formats can be easily configured from this new sidebar, providing many useful new options for each format. For example, this might include setting the image quality for PDF exports to reduce file size, or setting CSV file encoding to Unicode (UTF-8) to support characters from any language.

  




• A new visual representation for excluded rows and values in historical estimates, with refinements made to improve clarity. Version 1.6 of iTWO benchmark introduced the ability to remove unnecessary data from calculations, and the latest update has refined the appearance of this feature.

  Users wishing to exclude a cell can hover their cursor over the cell in question, where a red border will appear. Once clicked, the text value will be displayed in red and highlighted with a strikethrough, to indicate that it is excluded from calculations.

  
  

  The same process is available for excluding entire rows, where the user can hover their cursor over the entire row and see everything but the Code column outlined in red, before clicking to exclude all data.

  
  

  In both cases, values in the parent row of the excluded row are also highlighted in red. This means that users can quickly identify which groups contain excluded rows to support complex cost benchmarking.

• The ability for both System Administrators and User Administrators to assign or change roles, including their own. This change allows for an easier setup and management process for assigning roles, all of which have a specific set of permissions.

  All projects within iTWO benchmark must have either a System Administrator or a User Administrator designated. Either of these roles can access the Users page, click the Select a Role button and make changes as required. This process has been streamlined to be as simple and intuitive as possible for project coordinators.

Improved

• Several speed and performance improvements have been applied since Version 1.7. Users are now able to retrieve data from the server quicker than before, particularly on complex pages. Users will also note enhanced database query performance, especially for large or complex queries.

NEW

• The addition of Custom Functional Templates, allowing users to create their own metrics to effectively analyse the function of a wider variety of project types. With Version 1.7, it’s a simple process to create and store functional templates that are directly applicable to each organisation’s unique project analysis requirements.

  System Administrators can create Custom Functional Templates by defining the Key Project Information and Functional Details required to be entered for each project, and the metrics derived from them that then appear in the Functional Information Summary. The ability to define the information entered, and the calculations applied to that information, means all manner of project metrics can be included in the Functional Information Summary. This data can be arranged in user-defined groupings to provide a clear insight into the functional costs and design aspects of each project.

  What’s more, this customisable, user-defined template is utilised as the basis of Functional Benchmarking between projects, to provide relevant and actionable information for project managers. Notable project metrics can be easily displayed in pie chart format in a Functional Analysis Report by simply dragging and dropping the data selections as shown below.

  

  This new functionality supports enterprises that deal in benchmarking and conceptual estimating for a wide scope of major project functions. Managers now have the option to select one of our 25 in-built System Templates such as Residential or Shopping Centre, or else build a custom template that suits the specific function of the development at hand.




• The ability to import code libraries in Excel format to iTWO costX^®. Prior to Version 1.7, only CSV format was supported for importing code libraries to iTWO benchmark. With this release, users will be able to select their preferred Excel file type for a smoother workflow.

  Once the user has selected their chosen code library in the File Upload area, a preview of the data to be imported will display as shown below. From here, multi-level code libraries can be expanded or collapsed to verify data before the file is uploaded.

  

Improved

• Adjustments have been made to the security timeout feature for a better user experience. Previously, users were sometimes prompted to verify their credentials too often during long active sessions.
• A sequencing issue for code libraries has been rectified, where the order of items was sometimes listed incorrectly.
• Support for 4K monitors has been improved.
• Various performance enhancements have been applied for a more consistent user experience.

New

• The ability to exclude rows for all selected historical estimates, allowing users to quickly eliminate items or groups in the estimate that are not applicable to the current project. With Version 1.6, iTWO benchmark users can simply click on a row to exclude it from the calculations and associated reports, or click on an excluded row again to reinstate it.




In the above example, the red highlighted section shows that Demolition has been excluded, and all values are displayed with a strikethrough to indicate they will not be included in the totals.

Parent group rows are also highlighted, making it easy to identify which groups contain excluded child rows even when groups are collapsed. If all child rows are excluded the parent group row displays in red, but if only some child rows are excluded and some are not, then the group row is shown in pink.




• The option to exclude individual cells from benchmark calculations, ensuring that abnormal items for particular projects or cells with zero values do not impact the calculation of averages.

As with excluding rows, the chosen cell will be highlighted in red and the value displayed with a strikethrough.



Once a cell is clicked it becomes excluded, and the benchmark cost is instantly recalculated without that cell’s value contributing to the average. If the cell in question also contains child cells, these will be excluded as well.




• A new Aged Care template for use when creating a Functional Analysis. Aged Care is a rapidly-growing sector in many countries worldwide so, in addition to the twenty-five pre-existing purpose-built templates for analysing different project types, iTWO benchmark 1.6 incorporates a further Aged Care functional template.
  To select the Aged Care template, simply navigate to the Key Project Information section and choose Aged Care from the Template Type drop-down list.