Schedule of Rates Management
Complete workflow for road authorities managing official rate books, publishing new versions, and maintaining rate governance across contractors.
Your Role
As a road authority or client organization, you're responsible for maintaining the official Schedule of Rates that contractors use for pricing maintenance work. Your rate books are the authoritative source — contractors subscribe to your published versions.
Key Principle: Published Versions are Immutable
Once a rate book version is published, it cannot be edited or deleted. This ensures that contractors who have linked to a version always see consistent rates. To update rates, create a new version — the old version remains available for audit purposes.
Create a Rate Book
Set up a new rate book for your organization. This will contain all your maintenance item rates.
Steps:
- Go to Organization Settings → Rate Books
- Click "New Rate Book"
- Enter name (e.g., "JKR 2026 Road Maintenance")
- Add description and effective date
- Save — this creates an empty draft version
Import Rate Items
Upload your existing rates from Excel, CSV, or PDF documents.
Supported formats:
- • Excel (.xlsx): Columns: Code, Description, Unit, Rate
- • CSV: Same column structure, UTF-8 encoding
- • PDF: AI extracts tables (review carefully)
Review Draft Version
Before publishing, carefully review all rate items in the draft version.
Review checklist:
- All item codes are unique
- Descriptions are clear and unambiguous
- Units are consistent (m², m, no., etc.)
- Rates are in correct currency and scale
You can edit draft versions freely. Make all corrections before publishing.
Publish the Version
When the draft is ready, publish it to make it available to contractors.
Publishing steps:
- Click "Publish Version" on the draft
- Add version notes (e.g., "Q1 2026 rate revision")
- Confirm — this action is irreversible
- Version status changes to "Published"
Manage Future Updates
When rates need to change (annual revision, policy update), create a new version.
Update workflow:
- Go to rate book detail page
- Click "Create New Version"
- System copies current published version to draft
- Edit rates as needed
- Review changes using version diff view
- Publish when ready
Rate Management Best Practices
- ✓ Use clear version notes explaining what changed
- ✓ Review all imported data before publishing
- ✓ Keep consistent item coding across versions
- ✓ Archive old versions for audit trail
- ✓ Communicate rate changes to contractors
- ✗ Publish without reviewing imported data
- ✗ Delete old versions (they may be in use)
- ✗ Change item codes between versions
- ✗ Expect contractors to auto-update immediately
- ✗ Make backdated rate changes
Understanding Version History
Editable version. Can import, modify, and delete items freely.
Immutable version. Contractors can link to this. Cannot be edited or deleted.
Older published version. Still accessible for audit, but not shown as current.
How Contractors Use Your Rates
When contractors create a Work Package, they link BQ items to your rate book. They can choose:
- • Snapshot mode: Rate is locked at time of linking (recommended for contracts)
- • Track-latest mode: Rate updates when you publish new versions
Contractors using track-latest will see an "Updates Available" notification when you publish. They must explicitly apply updates — rates don't change automatically on submitted claims.