The handling of electronic data exchange has long been an integral part of the European construction process. In Germany, the so-called GAEB interface has been established for the exchange of service specifications and offers in the area of invitations to tender. All common software solutions in the construction sector must support this interface, which allows, among other things, for the direct exchange of data between planners and tradesmen for service specifications and an electronic tendering. If European construction companies wish to participate in private or public tenders in Germany, they must always use the GAEB file format and provide their offers as a GAEB file.
The client
As part of the tender, the client’s architect first creates the service specifications in his/her tendering programme. Then the architect sends the service specifications in GAEB data format to the companies that are eligible to carry out the relevant trade. In the process, the architects in Germany also can always request to receive the offer back as a file. They do not want to manually type in the offers for a price comparison in the form of a price comparison list, but rather they want to import the prices and data into their software quickly and easily from a GAEB file.
The construction company
The construction company now has to open the GAEB file and must be able to record the prices for the many items as easily as possible. If the service specifications items consist of many individual services, the pricing on the part of the company has to be reworked, which is usually time-consuming. Many of the construction companies use their own solutions for this that are based on spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel. In Excel, for example, separate calculation options can be carried out for material requirements, as well as wage and time allotments, and the price calculation can thus be significantly simplified.
Intermediary between GAEB and Excel
Using the GAEB-Online 2016 software from the company gaeb-online from Walzbachtal, GAEB tenders can be sent directly to Microsoft Excel®,for example, at the click of a mouse for further calculation. However, the Windows programme GAEB-Online 2016 is also easily compatible with any other Office package, such as OpenOffice® or LibreOffice®. As a result, the processors can perform all calculations as usual in their usual spreadsheets without elaborate and manual reworking or convenience constraints.
Importing prices
Once the calculation is completed, the unit prices are returned to the tender from Excel® via GAEB-Online 2016 and then are used to create an electronic quotation file for the architect. In this case, GAEB-Online 2016 automatically provides the correct file format, regardless of whether the architect has created his / her service specifications in the formats GAEB 90, GAEB 2000 or GAEB XML.
Also works without installing
With the product GAEB-Online 2016 USB, there is also a new solution that can be used without installation on a computer. The programme is completely installed on a USB stick and is ready for use directly on any Windows computer with a USB connection. The product GAEB-Online 2016 USB makes it possible to calculate offers in GAEB format independently of a specific workstation and allows mobile work on the road, at the home office or at the customer’s premises.
Try with no commitment
The GAEB-Online 2016 programme can be downloaded from the Internet and tested without obligation before buying. The programme can be used with Windows 7 or a newer version. In addition to the mobile version on a USB stick, a special terminal server version for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 or Microsoft Windows Server 2012 is also available for working in a team. A detailed online guide and a clearly arranged manual in PDF format help to learn more about the software. The GAEB-Online 2016 programme as well as the online guide and the PDF manual are only available in the German language. Further information can be found on the website http://www.gaeb-online.de
Ulrike Braun of gaeb-online sells software on the topic of GAEB tenders. In recent years electronic data exchange has become inseparable from the working world of skilled craftsmen. In the areas of tenders and offer preparations, the GAEB interface has become established for the exchange of service specifications and associated offers. Almost all current, commercial software solutions and tender programmes in Germany work with this interface which, among other things, permits simple data exchange between planner and workshop. GAEB-Online products are already used by more than 5,000 customers for rapid calculations with MS-Excel®, for example, and for electronic tender submissions in the GAEB DA84 format.
Kontakt
gaeb-online
Ulrike Braun
Kraichgaustraße 15
75045 Walzbachtal
+49 7203 346506
info@gaeb-online.de
http://www.gaeb-online.de
