Revisions

Revisions are central to Darwin’s philosophy of traceability.

An estimate changes over time because:

• design evolves
• prices move
• assumptions are corrected
• scope is clarified
• decisions are revisited

Why Revisions Matter

Without explicit revisions, teams lose the ability to explain:

• what changed
• when it changed
• who requested the change
• why the cost moved

Darwin’s Approach

Darwin is designed to support:

• sibling estimations for comparison
• request-driven changes
• linked workflow history
• preserved project context

Choose a Starting Point

A revision is another identified estimate; saving edits to an existing estimate does not create a new revision.

Action in project Estimations	Result	What to review
Duplicate	Another estimate to work on without changing the source	Scope, quantities, price basis, and margins
Import estimation	A copy of an estimate already saved in another Darwin project	Currency, distance, margins, quantity sources, and receiving-project prices
Merge	A new estimate combining at least two selected estimates; matching items’ quantities are summed	Sections, margin overrides, and prices; do not assume all source settings survive

Import estimation searches projects by name, code, or client and lets you choose an estimate. It does not read Excel estimates or create modules from them. Merge leaves sources separate and records which ones it used.

For requested changes, open the Work Request and create a revision when it is In progress or Approved and eligible. That action records the link, marks project price review pending, and completes the request. A Learning request closes with its own resolution outcome.

Check and Compare

1. Confirm the new code and retain the earlier revision.
2. Inspect resulting sections, margins, distance, and quantity contributions. Import and merge do not guarantee a complete copy of all commercial or pricing settings.
3. Save details and explicitly recalculate when prices or recipes need refreshing. Inspect the changes.
4. Open Comparison to choose the two revisions. Compare sell price and system breakdown; different currencies require resolving that difference before comparison. Comparison is a view and saves no decision.
5. Complete review and approval to establish or refresh the baseline; creating a revision does not do so.

Deleting an estimate requires confirmation and reference checks. Estimates used by approvals or proposals cannot simply be removed.

Best Practices

• create a new revision instead of silently rewriting prior work
• use the Estimation Comparison tool to view revisions side by side before major decisions (comparisons are a view only — nothing is saved or persisted)
• use work requests to explain revision intent
• preserve the relationship between revision, approval, and price context