These specs come from all over the country; they are not region-specific. The costs are unit costs meaning it is the cost for one unit (whatever the Unit of Measure is for that spec). Your specs should have unit costs that account for all costs involved in the work called for in the spec (labor, materials, etc) and is the unit cost you would expect a contractor in your community to bid for that specific spec.

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Housing Developer Pro is project management software designed specifically to help you automate and manage housing rehabilitation projects.

• Save time and money
  • Specs are already written for you: the Library of Specifications contains over 1,800 field-tested specifications for rehabilitation, from Green practices to accessibility issues to addressing lead-based paint
  • Generate reports in just a few clicks: work write-ups, cost estimates, bid documents, and more
  • Take HDP on-site: HDP is compatible with Tablet PCs
• Achieve and maintain consistency among projects
  • Share data: your staff can share an HDP database to keep specs and report documents uniform between all employees
  • Track all aspects of project progress: inspection, bids, construction draws, and change orders
• More effectively manage your projects
  • Tailor HDP to suit your needs: customize specs, unit pricing, inspection checklists, and reports to your liking and your rehab customers, contractors, programs and housing stock
  • Manage all of your housing programs’ projects in one place: projects for foreclosure rehab, NSP, owner-occupied rehab, emergency repair, etc.

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Another good resource is a local entity that does similar housing rehabilitation work and tracks its unit costs. It may be worth partnering with that organization or purchasing its cost data.

You can also purchase cost estimating books or CDs but these are not always accurate for community development work. If you start by referencing cost estimating books, you will still want to collect bids that are broken down by line-item and average your spec costs over time.

HDP4 includes a Spec Cost Update tool that calculates updated spec costs based on bids you’ve received at the line-item level of detail from your particular contractors. If you’re running HDP3, you can purchase the Spec Cost Update tool as an add-on.

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Community Development Software, LLC does not have hardware partners or relationships with hardware vendors. However, HDP users have given favorable reviews of tablets from Xplore.

HDP users have also had good experiences finding tablet PCs on websites such as Tech for Less, where you can find quality yet discounted tablets because they are open-box or factory refurbished.

Things you’ll want to consider for any tablet include: HDP’s system requirements, battery life, size and weight of the tablet, accessories available, and screen brightness in different lighting.

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Updating spec costs is not something we do because it is so specific to your area of the country, your housing stock, and your local contractors. However, HDP does have a Spec Cost Update tool that will calculate spec cost updates for you based on bids you’ve received in the past.

Learn more about the Spec Cost Update tool.

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When creating reports, if viewing the report electronically, you can export the report as a PDF that then can be viewed using a PDF viewer application that enables magnification. Or, if the report is to be printed, then export the report into either Excel or Word and reformat into a more readable document and print.

In versions HDP 3.5.12 and newer, bids are grouped under a Bid Request which identifies what work is available for bidding.

In previous versions of HDP, you had to enter bid properties for each bid, even if the properties were the same for all bids. The concept of a Bid Request allows you to enter bid properties just once because all bids submitted under a Bid Request will have the same bid properties.

An address will likely only require one Bid Request if the work will be done by a general contractor; an address may have several Bid Requests if the work needs to be broken down into different trades. For example, you might create one Bid Request for contractors bidding on the entire project, as well as one for specific trades that subcontractors will bid on.

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Open HDP and click on the Help tab at the top left, then click on “About HDP.” Just under the HDP logo at the top left will be a version number.

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To download HDP, you’ll need your Registration Number. This number is only used to grant you access to downloading HDP; you will not need it any other time. You can find your Registration Number in the email you received when you first registered on this website.

If you don’t already have a Registration Number, Register. If you do already have one but can’t find it, look up your Registration Number.

To license HDP, you’ll need your Transaction Number and Authorization Code. These codes are used to license HDP (convert your trial to a permanent version); you will need your Transaction Number again if you want to purchase the Spec Cost Updating add-on.

You can find your Transaction Number and Authorization Code in your purchase receipt email (if you purchased by credit card) or in your License Certificate by email (if you purchased by PO/check).

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