tbvs - das Tiefbauverwaltungssystem - features

tbvs is an acronym of the German word 'Tiefbauverwaltungssystem' (management system for underground engineering) . The program allows the user
to do cost accounting and to do (mobile) bill of quantities in network construction. The free and open source available software is multi-client capable
and combines the fields planning, cost accounting and project management.

Technically spoken it is a client-server system which is developed in an object oriented programming language.

After three years development the software has the release 1.1 since june 2010.

tbvs addresses itself to all companies dealing with civil and underground engineering in general and especially to electric power companies which are
dealing with network constructon.

Eenergy supply companies all over the world are investing great amounts of money in the construction, enlargement and maintenance of their networks for gas, water and electricity. As this costs billions of dollars it is in the interest of the utilities to carry the building contracts out as fast as possible. It is necessary to estimate the costs as detailled as possible, to calculate the budgets as accurate as possible and to do a quantity survey as easy as possible. A quick calculation and a well-trimmed measurement are very important as lots of utilities delegate a great amount of the tasks in underground engineering and assembling as awarding authority to contracting companies.

The program tbvs supports exactly these vital actions and allows the user to make quick and clear calculations, detailled measurements and accurate biddings and billings.
tbvs accompanies the user through the whole cycle from the planning of a construction site, from the calculations and measurements up to the point of the billing. The individual projects can be split hierarchically into three levels - in segments, stages and sections. The individual booking can be assigned to one of the three modes for underground engineering, assembling or can be classified as material. The clearly laid out application windows can be opened intuitively. Calculations and measurements can be opposed each other comfortably..

Multiple data entries are annoying, boring and proning to errors. In order to avoid them the software supports so-called user-definable models. These models contain calculation specifications which can be executed again and again for any construction site. The models are displayed as formulas from the program and automate the data input. The user merely fills out the formula and enters the masses of the positions out of the specifications which are mentioned in the model. Then the program calculates automatically which positions are to be used for the actual section.

Additionally allows tbvs a mobile measurement : The data for the measurement are therefore copied to the mobile computer. The copied projects are now locked and can not be changed by other users until the mobile computer copies the measured data back on the server machine.

But there are lots of more features. For example includes tbvs, which has no problems with lots of data, several integrated modules :

The material preplanning is a module to plan material in advance allows to book precisely timed the material which is designated for the construction sites.
Another module is the eClient-module which facilitates the calling for tenders for several service providers. The companies which participate the tender can then add comfortably prices to the service items of the tender via internet. The user of tbvs can then transfer the online determined prices in the database by at merely a push of a button.
The tender module facilitates tenders for several companies. Subject of the tenders are individual branches of a project or whole specifications. The participating companies enter there prices for the positions comfortably via the eClient-module. After the tender period is over the prices are transferred in the database so that tbvs users can use them.
The program includes a management tool for bills, too
Then there is a management tool for user definable models with versionizing integrated into the application, which now is able to assign the right version of an user definable model originally used to a specific section.
The project management module consists of some dozens of formuls in which the user can enter precious data applying to the actual project.
tbvs manages six different types of prices, namely ordinary company prices and their history, project specific prices and their history, annual contract prices and tender prices. Even after years the application is able to assign the right prices to the bookings, which is not the rule for programs of this genre.
The patching tool disburdens the main user, the system and the database administrator as it patches automatically the system's database to the most recent version.
A generator module for test data allows now the simulation of big amounts of data and allows to draw conclusions from the response time of the program package.