This is not a blog on how to copy from other estimates but one that asks why are you copying from other estimates? I see many HeavyBid customers whose workflow is this. Create all the Activities  (or Biditems) by going out to previous estimates and copy them into the current estimate. It is a slow process and one of the big issues is that estimators will copy from items that have not estimated previously therefore they really don’t know how the crew has been modified or if the materials are correct. Unfortunately, this workflow is sometimes a substitution for lack of estimating experience. Over time the mistakes propagate as the copied activity gets copied into an estimate and then copied again from the new location.  And it is a slow tedious process as the estimator has to look for the correct activity or biditem over a range of estimates.  A while back I was doing budget estimates for the Miami Water and Sewer Department (WASD) and was doing exactly as I outlined above. Then as the estimates increased I created a simple Activity Codebook and then a BidItem Codebook. My time to complete an estimate went from 12 hours to 4 and the accuracy and consistency were improved. Most companies don’t realize what the real cost is by not having a structured activity codebook but in just terms of estimator(s) time, it is a cost if they really calculated it would spur them to correct the situation.  So to summarize copying from other estimates is not the ideal workflow in HeavyBid but an investment is an Activity codebook and Biditem codebook will pay for itself many times over.