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Update 10/01/24
Reference data has changed. Items, materials, associations, and worksheets are now contained in collections. Your existing reference data has been consolidated into a collection titled [Your Business] reference. You can find it on the Reference Data tab under Collections.
Appia reference data lets you store information about the items, materials, contractors, and calculations you regularly use, and to create custom fields and options for certain areas of your Appia business. This page provides a general overview of reference data. To understand the individual types of reference data in detail, see the pages linked in the related resources panel.
Click to expand the following sections and learn more.
Overview of reference data
Reference data is like your business's own library of information that you can customize, standardize, and reuse wherever items, materials, contractors, worksheets, and custom options/fields are found throughout Appia.
Reference data is made up of the following information types. From the Reference Data page, you can switch between these areas using the individual tabs.
- Collections | Item and material details, worksheets for automatic calculations, and item/material associations including usage rates.
- Contractors | Details about the contractors you work with, including their ID/license number, DBE status, and contact information.
- Lists | Nineteen areas of Appia where you can add custom fields or options, like daily report fields, change order types, or material suppliers.
Reference data is optional in most cases, but there are certain areas where reference data information is required:
- Your project's prime contractor must be in your reference data to advance a project to construction.
- New project items must be in your reference data to be added to certain areas of an under-construction project.
Reference data can be searched, including advanced search options, and exported to CSV file.Expand the following sections to learn more.
Information types found in reference data
Collections
What it is
A group of items, materials, worksheets, and associations between the three.
When you open your reference collection, you can switch between these four areas using the individual tabs.
- Items | Item details including its description, unit, unique ID, and optional information for fuel and asphalt factors.
- Materials | Materials to be associated with items. Details include a description, unit, and optional ID and requirements.
- Worksheets | Worksheets include 11 pre-set calculations to be associated with items, including square footage, cubic yards with shrinkage, and binder emulsion. When worksheets are enabled at the project level, items with an associated worksheet are automatically calculated.
- Item Materials | Associate items and materials to calculate their usage rate.
Why it's used
Required | To add an unattached item to an under construction project or to introduce a new item via change order
- The item must exist in the reference data before you can add it as an unattached item or introduce it via change order in an under construction project.
Optional | Save time and reduce human error
- Item codes, units, and details are standardized and reusable.
- Associated materials and requirements are automatically attached anywhere the reference data item is used.
- Worksheet calculations are standardized and automatically performed.
- Project item lists can be quickly built with material and worksheet associations included.
Contractors
What it is
A catalog of the contractors you work with. Here's the information you can enter for each contractor:
- Contractor ID (required) | Unique value to identify the contractor; often their license number
- Organization (required) | Unique business name
- Contact information | Contact person's name, phone number, email, and fax number
- Location | Address and state
- DBE/MBE/WBE status | Disadvantaged, minority-owned, or women-owned enterprise designation
Why it's used
Required | To advance a project to construction
- A prime contractor must be assigned before a new project can be advanced. Contractors can only be selected from those listed in the reference data.
Optional | Track costs by contractor
- Associate items and personnel to specific contractors for more granular tracking and reporting.
Lists
What it is
Lists include 19 areas that you can customize within Appia. Note that when you add a custom field or drop-down option to your Lists, the field or option will appear in all instances of its type across all projects. List items are always optional when they appear.
Here's an overview of the 19 list options, grouped by type of customization. For more details on each list type, see the full guide to reference data lists.
Custom fields
Custom fields appear as free-entry text fields that prompt the user to enter the requested information. Custom fields can be added for change orders, daily reports, and daily diaries.
Types
Custom types appear as options in a drop-down selection menu in the associated area. Custom types can be designated for new projects (fund and work types), daily reports (personnel and equipment types), change orders (change order types), and to organize attachments (attachment groups).
Location designations
Custom location designations appear as options in the location section when creating a new project. Location options can be designated for counties, corridors, districts, divisions, municipalities, regions, and states.
Material designations
Material options can be designated for forms, manufacturers, and suppliers.
Why it's used
Required | No required use of lists; where list options appear, they are never designated as required
Optional | Collect more detailed, custom information in your projects
- Remember that any custom lists that you create will appear in the relevant location across all projects.
Search and export reference data
You can search for anything in reference data (except lists) from the appropriate tab using either a basic search or the advanced options.
Basic search
Enter a full or partial term in the search bar. You'll see all of the relevant items, materials, contractors, or worksheets that match the search criteria.
Advanced search
To use the advanced search options, expand the search menu (using the three stacked lines) and enter a search term into the appropriate field. Advanced search includes all of the information fields associated with the selected reference data.
The following reference data types are available for export to CSV:
- Items
- Materials
- Contractors
To export these reference data types, go to the appropriate tab and click Export. Depending on your browser settings, the export may automatically begin (and, typically, will be saved to your Downloads folder) or you may have the option to select the download location on your local device.
Access and permissions
The ability to view and edit reference data is limited by Appia role type. The following table outlines the access and permissions granted to each role.
Expand to view the information table.
| System Admin | Sr. Project Manager | Project Manager | Inspector | Reviewer | Read Only | |
|
View See ref. data info |
Y | Y | Y | N | N | Y |
|
Edit Add, edit, and delete ref. data info |
Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
|
Use Pull ref. data info into projects and functions they have access to |
Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N |
Setup via import or manual add
This section gives a general overview of how to import or manually add reference data information. For details on a specific type of reference data setup, see the individual topics linked in the related resources panel.
Most reference data can be imported via CSV or Excel file, with the exception of Worksheets.
To import reference data, you'll go to the appropriate tab and click Import. From there, you'll choose a CSV or Excel file from your local device and click Upload File. You'll then configure the import by mapping the columns of your file to the fields of the selected reference data type. If you experience any errors during import, a detailed error message will let you know which lines contain errors and why.
Most reference data can be manually added, with the exception of Worksheets.
To manually add items, materials, or contractors to your reference data, go to the appropriate tab and click Add. From there, you'll see all of the available data fields for the selected reference data type. Enter the information as required along with any optional designations. Click Save. When you return to the main screen, you'll see the item, material, or contractor displayed.
To manually add list options, go to the Lists tab and find the list type you want to modify. Click Edit. You'll then have the option to add custom options to the list type. When you're finished, click Save. When you return to the main screen, you can expand the list type to see your additions.