When adding a new template, its status is always under construction and it will immediately be placed in the under construction folder. As described before - a template contains a specific set of documents. The number and types of documents depend entirely on the type of project you are developing and how you prefer to split up the information. Documents in a project template contain textual information and other data, that is compiled mainly by using paragraphs from the paragraph library. The benefit of using library items is that if a certain paragraph's wording needs to be changed as a result of a new legal requirement, or an address changes or any other item that is used in multiple documents or templates, then it only needs to be updated once in the library. All documents and templates using this item will now automatically be up to date as well for future use. Projects in progress will not be updated, as they were created before the change was made.
To add a template click Create a new template from the Library main menu.
Enter the template name, language (if have the option) and a template description and click the Create template button.
Select a category, item type and evaluation type from the dropdown lists.
Once the template has been created the Template overview screen will appear with the following sections:
-
Properties tab - Displays the properties of the template.
-
Roles - Add/Edit roles to access the template.
-
Documents - Create your template by adding document which will be used in a tender.
-
Evaluations - Set up evaluation phases that will be used when creating tenders
-
Vendors - If your license has the vendor templates module then when at least one vendor has been added the document tab will change to green.
-
Tools - Various edit and searching tools.
-
Project flags - Add project flags to the template.
Document types typically include:
-
AFE (Approval for Expenditure or CAPEX). This document is typically an internal document that contains the Financial justification for the project.
-
Consumable spares. Use as document for vendor to enter recommended spare parts list. This document has a special format that cannot be changed.
-
Executive summary. The executive summary allows you to enter a brief summary of the tender process and results and also contains a pricing comparison of the short-listed vendors' bids.
-
Hidden document. This document can be used for internal documents such as the AFE documents, bid summaries, etc. These can then be hidden from the vendors and other internal roles.
-
Inspection Protocol. This document is to be used if you have purchased the iNspect module and wish to have an inspection document to which you may link all the inspections.
-
Specification document. Typically used to define technical specifications
-
Tender document. All normal commercial and legal documents
You can create your own document types in the administration section of iSpec for more information on document types see the create document types section.
If you have the Advanced evaluation system module licensed then you can set the Evaluation properties in your template, for more information on the advanced evaluation system click this link.
To allow other template editors (authors) to work on your template, you must give them access to do so click the roles tab then use either the quick links to assign roles or use the Advanced role manager to manually select your users.
If the vendors are using vendor templates then you can also give them access to the tender from the vendor access panel. For more information on vendor templates see the Vendor template section.
