HOMEBUILDER: NEW PHASE IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE

Article Overview:

• This guide assumes that you are working with a fully implemented version of HomeBuilder in Business Central and have a reasonable understanding of the system.

• The links in the document can be helpful but may not work well if you have more than one Business Central log in.

• This guide is organized into four clearly defined stages with a summary including links first:

• ONE PAGE PROCESS FLOW
• DETAILED FLOW INCLUDING IMPORT/EXPORT OPTIONS
  

  • Stage 1 - Create Phase (Foundation)

  •  Stage 2 - Build Models, Model Items, Customers, Contacts and Lots

  • Stage 3 - Assign Vendors to Vendor Contracts and Models and Customers to Lots

  • Stage 4 - Create Planning Lines and Schedule Work

ONE-PAGE PROCESS FLOW

For those who have done this before and just want a list of clickable links to take you into the right Business Central page (see disclaimer above)

Create Phase

Create Models

Build Model Items

Create Customers

Create Lots

Assign Model & Customer

Site Model on Lots

Vendor Contracts & Pricing

Schedule Lot Workflows

DETAILED FLOW INCLUDING IMPORT/EXPORT OPTIONS

Stage 1 - Create Phase (Foundation)

Create the Phase first. This establishes the project container that all models, lots, pricing, vendor contracts, and workflows depend on.

Create Phase (First Task)

• Create the Phase record
• Add address information and any other relevant Phase setup

Business Central: HomeBuilder Phases

Stage 2 - Build Models, Model Items, Customers, Contacts and Lots

Once the Phase exists, complete the following "Stage 2" setup tasks. These can be done in any order.

Create Models

• Create one Model for each Model - Elevation mix e.g. MARS-A, add a description and anything else that you think is relevant e.g. Sq Ft.
• Mandatory:
  • House Areas (must have at least the House Area "ALL"). Additional House Areas are useful but only used down the road for Selections and Inspections.
  • Lot Types (if visible, if the button is hidden it will have been turned off in HomeBuilder Setup)
  • Applicable Workflows

Business Central: HomeBuilder Models

Build Model Items by Pushing Base Contract Items to Models

• Recommended: Instead of using the link, go straight to the cue "Base Contract Items". Select the Items that will be used to make up the Planning Lines and click → Push to Models. Select all relevant Models and click "Push Items". Only select the items that are required, do not push items that will not be used.
• Note: This also builds Model Budgets, Phase Items, and Vendor Contract placeholders
• Recommended: Ensure Trade Types are populated before pushing

Business Central: HomeBuilder Construction Items to Push

Create Lots

• Always create at least one Lot manually (if not all lots) before using the export/import tool.
• If you wish to use the Export/Import tool
  • Export Lots to Excel from the HomeBuilder menu → Reports/Exports → Export Lots.
  • Update Excel, save and then import from the same menu but Import Lots.

• When you know it (typically later in the build phase) add the following:
  • Installments
  • Closing Dates
• Recommended to use numbering that sorts nicely e.g. "L001" rather than "1"

Business Central: HomeBuilder Lots

Stage 3 - Assign Vendors to Vendor Contracts and Models and Customers to Lots

Assign Vendors to Vendor Contracts and Enter Pricing

• Open Phase → Vendor Contracts to see one line per Trade Type or click on link below
• If your items are setup with a Trade Type and no Vendor you will see one line per Trade Type with no Vendor assigned. If you are missing entries, make sure that the item has a Trade Type, add if missing and push it to Models again.
  • Enter the Vendor Numbers that won the bid for this Trade Type and the system will setup everything.
  • You may be asked questions as you add vendors as the systems confirms what it is doing.
• You will see that the Current Prices button becomes available, ready for you to enter pricing
• Click on the Re-populate button if pricing records are missing

Business Central: HomeBuilder Vendor Contracts

Link Customers and Contacts to Lots using import/export routines - see below for manual option

• Create a template in Excel ready to fill in and import. Export Lot Purchasers to Excel from the HomeBuilder menu → Reports/Exports → Export Lot Purchasers
• Populate Phase and Lot numbers
• Do NOT populate Customer Number, Customer Name, or Contact Number - the system will assign these automatically
• Populate Contact Name, Address, Phone, Email etc.
  • If you have more than one purchaser per Lot, enter two or more lines in Excel with the same Phase and Lot number.
• Save in Excel then Import Lot Purchasers from the HomeBuilder menu → Reports/Exports → Import Lot Purchasers to create Customers and Contacts automatically

Assign Models and Customers to Lots if not done with import/export

• Each Lot must have a Model and a Customer
• Use an Inventory Customer if no homeowner exists
• Tip: Use Edit List for fast bulk updates

Business Central: HomeBuilder Lots

Stage 4 - Create Planning Lines and Schedule Work

Site Models on Lots to generate Planning Lines, then schedule workflows to prepare for execution.

Site Model on Lots

• Individually or Multi-Select Lots → Actions → Site Model on Lot
• The system creates Planning Lines based on Model Items and Vendor Contract pricing at time of siting
• If pricing is updated later in the Vendor Contract, you have one extra step from the Current Pricing page of the Vendor Contract "Push to Lots"

Business Central: HomeBuilder Lots

Schedule Lot Workflows

• Open Lot Workflows → Edit List
• Enter Start Dates (if scheduling from start date)
• Select Lots and Schedule Workflows

Business Central: Construction Workflows for Lots

Definition of Process Completion

Lots are now linked to Customers and Models, with Planning Lines created based on Vendor Contract pricing at the time the Model was sited. You are now ready to create Work Orders or Purchase Invoices from Planning Lines.