Questions answered

Who, what, where, why... and how do I?

Product and company information
1. What makes Candy different? The conceptual framework of the package is strongly focused around the various professional and engineering occupations of the people who are involved in construction, viz. estimators, quantity surveyors, planners, project managers, business managers, clerks, etc. So, instead of being determined by the design of computers, Candy is strongly focused on the occupations and requirements of its users. 2. What's in it? Candy is an integrated Project Control System specifically designed for construction industry professionals and their assistants, so the various "personalities" of Candy include Estimating, Valuations, Critical Path Planning, Forecasting and Cash flow modelling, etc. This means that you set up Candy according to the type of work that you do. There is also a variety of construction related tools such as Material Costing, Drawing Register, Sub-contract database, Allowable Cost Reconciliation, Information Schedules and Time-Location charts. All of these components interact in exactly the way that the various personnel interact, so that the flow of information within the company is bounded and complete. 3. Who are we? The original CCS management and Candy software team put down roots in 1978. The modern company was constituted in the early 1990's and is almost exclusively comprised of experienced, construction industry professionals and computer programmers. 4. Who are our users? Candy is installed in the offices of thousands of users around the world, and across the entire range of the industry, among them large multinationals, consultants, and small contractors. The scalable nature of Candy is its big strength. It has been used on some of the world's most prestigious construction jobs worth billions of dollars and some worth $50,000 or less. 5. Why do we rent Candy? Candy is licenced on a monthly basis. Construction is a highly cyclical industry. In 'down-times' you don't want software packages sitting idle - you can switch off your rental licence until work picks up again. The rental includes free-of-charge support and free upgrades to each new version. The only up-front cost is a small first-time installation fee. 6. Where can you find us? Our distribution network is serviced by Candy offices, distributors and toll-free telephone support in Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (Dubai). 7. Communication We pride ourselves on encouraging interaction with our clients, so as to both supplement our own research into changing methods, and share the combined knowledge of the industry through our software. 8. Immediate expert support? All of our clients have access to a permanent telephone help desk that offers expert assistance to users needing to perform complex or unfamiliar tasks. System experts are also available by email and fax. 9. Training? Courses on various Candy topics are run regularly and can be arranged to be on-site or at the users' premises. 10. On-going development? The system is continually being adjusted and extended to comply with changing conditions in the construction industry, new computer technology and user requirements.

Answers to specific questions

This section is under construction. Eventually this FAQ will cover all of the typically asked questions of all the Candy modules. >>> refers you to a future PDF document explaining the feature more fully.

Client Schedule Input

10. Can I enter alpha/numeric Client's page number? Yes - alphanumeric up to 8 characters long 11. Can I enter alpha/numeric Schedule item number to match client's schedule? Yes - alphanumeric up to 20 characters long. A specification reference number, up to 20 characters long, can also be entered against schedule items. 12. Can I enter alpha/numeric Schedule headings to match client's schedule? Yes - unlimited text 13. Can I enter full client's schedule description to match client's schedule? Yes - unlimited text 14. Can I enter client's schedule unit to match? Yes - 6 characters in length 15. Can I enter client's schedule quantity with decimalisation? Yes - referred to as the "Bill" quantity, decimals as entered or changed as required 16. Can I enter calculated actual quantities that are expected at the end of the contract (to be used for tender loading etc)? Yes - referred to as the "Final" quantity, decimals as entered or changed as required 17. Can I enter Provisional Sums and Prime Cost items (Token items)? Yes - also "attendance or profit as a percentage on item above". Specialised facilities exist to enter and report on Provisional sums and Prime cost items.

18. Can we select columns for easy schedule input? Yes - there are a large number of different columns and combinations of columns available for the user to create documents to suit his requirements 19. Is it possible to adjust column widths on the screen Yes - and to specify default widths to use when displaying a new document 20. Can certain columns be locked columns when scrolling horizontally? Yes default for documents that have horizontal time-related forecasts or graphic representation that require independent horizontal scrolling. Certain column combinations are locked or frozen by default when horizontally expansive data is analysed or viewed in conjunction with the key data. 21. Can we enter Sub total points in the schedule? Yes - Section heading totals, page totals, carried forward/brought forward amounts, collection pages, etc 22. Can the order of items be swapped? Yes - drag and drop or keyboard hot keys 23. Is it possible to change the paging of items? Yes Copying items or pages, renumbering items or pages, bubbling items between pages 24. How do I insert items and pages? Yes - Drag and drop, keyboard hot keys, Go to and insert page and specialised menu items 25. Is navigating through schedule pages easy? Yes - Single and multi-page modes. Navigate using scroll-bar, page navigation keys, or keyboard hot keys. Documents can be collapsed into their section headings and opened selectively at required position. 26. Is there a facility to re-number schedule items? Yes - variety of methods and styles of item renumbering 27. Can I import schedule from a diskette or excel? Yes - schedule import from Excel, delimited files, copy and paste, text files. Also, direct import from popular Bill of Quantities creation software. 28. Can I import a scanned schedule? No - however we will import text files created by standard scanning software 29. Is there a facility to copy items from a library or previous jobs? Yes - Drag and drop, copy and paste, by specified page range, Recall stack and ALT documents (specialised documents for rapid copying) 30. Can I locate items in a library job and copy them to a new job quickly? Yes - Library documents run concurrently with schedule and location of library items by code, "Go to", filter, find and sort. 31. Is there a modern keyboard and mouse interface for most operations? Yes - Hotkeys also available for keyboard intensive operations such as schedule entry and pricing 32. Can a client's description have an internal pricing description? Yes - Schedule accommodates both client descriptions and internal pricing descriptions >>> 33. Is there a facility to input the schedule in a foreign language? Yes - provided the character set conforms the ANSI standard. 34. Spell checking of the schedule? No

Take off from drawings to create schedule of quantities

35. Can I enter details of dimension positions? Yes - Remarks and location codes available against measurement fragments 36. What about entry of actual dimensions to calculate quantity? Yes - Pre-defined dimension columns and quantity formula fields in Take-off module and specialised Quantity Calculation Sheets for individual schedule items >>> 37. Are the dimension totals visible on screen? Yes - in our Take-off module, Bill Writer module, quantity-calculation sheets and on the schedule itself 38. Can I use a digitiser to input dimensions from drawings? No 39. Is there a printout of take off dimensions with totals? Yes - Print Take-off, sections of the Take-off, Quantity Calculation sheets and selected Quantity Calculation sheets 40. Can I have a dimension sheet for each Client's schedule item? Yes A Quantity Calculation Sheets exists for multiple quantities per item >>>

Resource details
41. What modes of input are there for resource description, unit, cost? Manual entry, import, copy and paste and clone 42. Is there a unique resource code for each resource? Yes - 8 character alpha-numeric 43. Can I enter a resource without a code? No. Candy relies heavily on resource codes. 44. Is there a facility to group or summarise resources into buying or cost codes? Yes - Various methods and specialised summary codes available 45. Is there a facility to view resource group totals on screen? Yes - "Group-by" specified code with totals >>>

46. Is there a facility to group resources into categories of production such as skilled man-hours? Yes - User-defined production codes and conversion factors. Summarise selective production codes into man-hours. Man-hours per schedule item also available >>> 47. Can I view the resource analysis on screen? Yes - Resource usage and value by selected quantity, Resource analysis by bill item. Any report can also be previewed or spooled to screen >>> 48. What is the speed of re-calculation of resource changes? Very fast in version 2.00. Data size and change affect dependent but up to 10 times faster than previous Candy version. 49. Can I enter new resources quickly while pricing? Yes - Entry on resource list, duplication by code changing and cloning, specialised (subcontract adjudicator) 50. Can I enter a resource on a schedule item make-up sheet without resource list? Yes - New resources can be created on the schedule item make up sheet (Worksheet) directly or existing resources can be edited directly while on the make-up sheet >>> 51. Can I create and view Sets (composite complex or teams of resources)? Yes, 9 levels of Complex resource are available. Complexes easily created by drag and drop, copying and cloning. On screen "drill-down" of complex resources and specialised Complex resource reports >>> 52. Can I annotation the Sets (composite resource) calculation? Yes - Complex resource worksheet detail can be annotated on the worksheet, per worksheet line or using a resource remark on the resource list >>> 53. Is their flexibility in the resource build-up calculations? Yes - Rate modifications such as currency exchange rates, tax multipliers, discounts and surcharges exist for simple resources. Free format worksheets allow flexibility in calculation and documentation of complex resources.