---
title: "How To Add A \"System Comp\""
description: A System Comp is a smart comp. Instead of one record, it looks across all your project records of the estimate's project type and takes the best value it can find for each cost code.
---
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# How To Add A "System Comp"
A Project Comp is one historical project record from your database, and every cost code in it is priced from that one project. A System Comp is a smart comp. Instead of one record, it looks across all your project records of the estimate's project type and takes the best value it can find for each cost code. Filters decide which records it may draw from, and a method decides how it picks the value.
Use a System Comp when no single past project is a good match for the whole estimate, or as a benchmark beside the Project Comps you picked by hand. It sits in the estimate like any other comp, with its own column in the "Detailed Budget", and its values count toward the comp average the same way a Project Comp's do.
To add a "System Comp" follow these steps.
You can add one while you create an estimate. On the "Select Comps" step, press the "Add Comp" button below the list of comps. It opens a menu with two choices: "Add Project Comp" picks a historical record from your database, and "Add System Comp" adds a System Comp. Select "Add System Comp".
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/185f5aae180681c900d2fe37d9d66a6e4a2f75430bfc950477ab5a09642b8f8e/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30312d6164642d636f6d702d6d656e752d3161663631323663376264322e706e67)
The "Add System Comp" window opens. Type a "Label". It becomes the comp's column header, so name it for what it holds, i.e. "Completed Hospitals - Median".
Choose a "Method". For each cost code the comp ranks every source that matches your filters and keeps the top ten. The method decides which value it takes from them:
"Zebel Selected" — the best-ranked source. This is the default.
"Min" — the lowest of the top ten sources.
"Median" — the middle of the top ten sources.
"Max" — the highest of the top ten sources.
"Average" — the mean of the top ten sources.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/063d8d1d552e00fab0d3daa1b3ed59f8ad5b3c7204caaff0d15108b63dc148b1/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30322d666f726d2d6465326635643038313538392e706e67)
Under "Filter sources", narrow the records the comp may draw from. These are the filters you know from the project list: "Project Type", "Construction Type", "Project Status", "Buyout Date", "Location", "Union Status", "Record Type", "Construction Scope", "Design Data", and any custom filters your company has set up. Press a filter and tick the values you want. The number beside "Filter sources" counts the filters you have set, and "Clear Filters" removes them all. Only sources that match every filter are ranked. With no filters, every source is.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/3e305b3693ca648c1546d8dfc2cf3d061f7dc82a4bd0410f41dc89d98675aa30/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30332d66696c7465722d3938396466383132616162612e706e67)
Press the "Add System Comp" button. The System Comp joins the list of comps with a sparkle icon, the words "System Comp", its method and its number of filters. Press "Continue" to carry on creating the estimate.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/bc1959f18c30704ff97b9cff73fb06d0f22063774b770504a389432678dbf975/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30342d73656c6563742d636f6d70732d3866376566613336373936382e706e67)
You can also add a System Comp to an estimate that has already been generated. Navigate to the estimate and select the "Settings" tab, then select "Comps" in the menu on the left. Press the "Add Comp" button in the upper right corner, select "Add System Comp", and fill in the window the same way.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/9eddebf1a30bd6a7df1333780586b19a2cba049e3e014bada58d1df80359c366/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30352d636f6d70732d706167652d3063306265346261633835382e706e67)
The System Comp has its own column in the "Detailed Budget" on the "Budget & Inputs" tab, headed by its label and its number of filters. Each cost code has a switch, like a Project Comp's, so you can leave a value out of the comp average. A cost code that no source could price shows "–".
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/5953d7960464b2e88f93b0390efb3704ad13864e22b0b9446d876ac746c4334a/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30362d64657461696c65642d6275646765742d6330323232653163356365382e706e67)
Hover the column header to see the comp's method, its "Total Direct Cost" and the filters it uses.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/40559fc09ebe5034d43f4602349bfded62cd1adfa564657d494f5e434dbd083b/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30372d717569636b2d766965772d6166323765613631343834612e706e67)
Hover a value to see where it came from: the range of the sources ranked for that cost code, the record the value was taken from, its original cost, the regional adjustment and escalation applied to it, and the resulting "Calculated Unit Cost".
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/c2abf8dd57954778238ace6915f3f035e9d5c8c476418b33a882ba9c0c237bb7/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30382d76616c75652d6632343665336164383339342e706e67)
On the "Summary" tab, the System Comp has a card below the "Comps" map showing its "Total Direct Cost". It has no pin on the map. It draws on many records, so it has no single location.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/38d96420ab1ad5edd7ed5f5f39ee47693c557de60e7bb29aacf184e7b9f9ed0a/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d30392d73756d6d6172792d3866376163356163656465302e706e67)
To change a System Comp later, go back to the estimate's "Settings" tab, select "Comps", and press the "three dot" menu on the System Comp. "Edit System Comp" opens the same window, where you can change the label, method and filters before you press "Save System Comp". "Delete System Comp" removes it from the estimate.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/1629df48fafde8a4494014ed00999c11512b6bf04b69e1758019ac26cfdf7c59/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d31302d636f6d702d6d656e752d6330616632346132393532382e706e67)
A System Comp keeps the values it found when it was added. To pick up new records and prices, choose "Re-sync Values" from the same menu. It ranks the comp's sources again from the current unit cost history. Tick "I understand this will change the comp's values and can't be undone" and press "Re-sync". The label, method, filters and the cost codes you switched off are kept, but the prices in its column will change and there is no way to undo it.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/353e8523edbad7de384a43e2e2fede69c718b18f1d46aa489dbd7a36a2ec93f1/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d31312d726573796e632d3637303733343261303237312e706e67)
How a System Comp ranks its sources is set once for your whole company. Press the "gear" icon in the menu on the left to open your company settings, then select "System Comps" under "Configuration". The "Scoring Weights" are "Recency", "Bought Out", "Location", "Size Similarity" and "Project Type", and the "Score Split" shows each one's share of a record's score. They are relative, so they do not need to add up to 100. Change them and press "Save Weights", or press "Reset To Defaults" to go back to the defaults. Viewers can see the weights but cannot change them.
[](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/c4315bcce90d0e18bb7f8ff7d2ee4f2bad0bce8a041a9fb3ba76d8532dd7e0f4/68747470733a2f2f34353937313731372e6673312e68756273706f7475736572636f6e74656e742d6e61312e6e65742f68756266732f34353937313731372f68656c702d63656e7472652f686f772d746f2d6164642d612d73797374656d2d636f6d702d2d73632d31322d73657474696e67732d3366386561623566663864302e706e67)
Please note that saving new weights does not change estimates you have already made. They apply to new estimates, and to an existing one when you re-sync its System Comp.
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