Scopes and estimates are written room-by-room, so you want to help the AI engine understand the rooms on the job.
Use Standard Room Names
Start by using rooms as intended - avoid room names like “before and after”, “day 1”, or anything along those lines. This is not a clear way to label the file, and is not optimal for scoping. You can organize information like that within notes. Set up the job using typical room names; "kitchen", "living room", etc.
Every Space with a Door is a Separate Room
For the most accurate scope, any room with a door should be set up as a separate room in Encircle. That goes for walk-in closets, en-suite bathroom, as well as multi-purpose rooms.
Avoid "slashed" room names like "Entryway/Laundry" or "Laundry/Mudroom" - choose one name. If a space has a utility closet inside it, create a separate room called "Utility Closet".
This ensures that measurements, floorings, and baseboard linear footage are calculated specifically for each space.
Room Naming Convention
For recurring rooms, best practice is to use a primary identifier followed by a number for all other rooms. Label the main bedroom as "Primary" or "Master Bedroom". Subsequent rooms should follow a pattern like "Bedroom 1," "Bedroom 2," etc. This allows you to easily match them to "Closet 1," "Closet 2," or "Hallway 1 Closet" in both Encircle and Xactimate. For example:
- Primary/Master Bedroom
- Primary/Master Closet
- Primary/Master Bathroom
- Bedroom 1
- Closet 1
- Bathroom 1 (if en-suite)
- Bedroom 2
- Closet 2
- Bathroom 2 (if en-suite)
- Hallway 1
- Hallway Closet 1
- Hallway 2
- Hallway Closet 2
- Bathroom 1
- Bathroom 2
Match Your Floor Plan to Your Rooms
To help ensure consistency and accuracy in your scope, it's best for your room names in your job file to match the room names in your Encircle Floor Plan. A recommended workflow looks like:
- Create rooms in Encircle for every space
- Walk the property and create your Floor Plan.
- When you receive it back, use the Quick Editor to update room names as needed
- Generate the Scope once all room names match
If rooms are mismatched, the AI engine does its best to reconcile them, using visual recognition of fixtures, materials, built-ins, or other unique traits to match them where it can. But you can help out by quickly updating your floor plan.
Most users today are already renaming rooms in Xactimate when importing the floor plan, so think of it like you are just doing this step earlier on.
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