Repair Estimates

A repair estimate records the cost to repair a container: who assessed it (the survey), what needs fixing (its repair items), who approved the cost, and — once approved — the workshop work order created to carry out the work.

#Before you start

• The container must already be registered (see Containers) and currently in stock.
• The container needs at least one inward recorded against it (see Inwards) — a survey is always built from a container's latest inward.
• Liable parties (who is billed for a repair item) are managed under Settings → Modules → Containers → Liable parties — see Module settings. Surveyors and the estimate limit are configured by team admins under Module settings; the repair item catalogue itself lives in the Workshop module's Items list.

Access is controlled by permission:

• View — see the Repair estimates list and open estimates (all records, or only your own).
• Create — start a survey and estimate, whether from an inward or from the Repair estimates list. The same permission is checked either way. Submitting a survey also needs the Edit permission for the inward it is raised against, whichever route you start from.
• Edit — change an estimate's description, and add, edit, or remove its repair items. Items don't have a permission of their own; they're covered by the parent estimate's Edit permission.
• Delete — remove an estimate (all records, or only your own). Team owners and admins can always delete an estimate, regardless of this permission.
• Approve repair estimate items — a special permission that lets you approve items on any estimate you can view.
• Release approved estimates to the workshop — a special permission that lets you create a workshop work order from an estimate's approved items. You also need permission to update the inward the estimate belongs to.

#The Repair estimates list

Open Container Depot > Repair Estimates. Columns:

The list sorts by Estimate #, descending, by default. Use the search box to find an estimate, and the page size control to show 10, 25 (the default), 50, 100, 150, or all rows. Your search, sort, and page size are remembered the next time you open the list.

The create icon opens Add Repair Estimate. There is no import for estimates — see Current limitations below.

Liable parties are no longer managed from this list; see Module settings.

#Start a survey and estimate

You can start a survey either from an inward you've already registered, or by looking up a container directly from the Repair estimates list. Both create the same things: a survey, an estimate, and one repair item per line you add.

#From an inward

1. Open the inward (see Inwards) and start its survey.
2. Check the read-only Inward details panel at the top — container, in date and time, MLO, ISO, consignee, B/L number, in condition, in cargo, suitable cargo, manufacture date, vehicle number and surveyor, all from the inward.
3. Enter or confirm the Driver name (prefilled from the inward), Driver ID number, and Survey date.
4. Under Repair estimate items, add each repair item: Repair item, Liable party, Location, Memo/Damage, Material cost, Qty, Labour rate, and Labour hours. The line total (material cost × qty, plus labour rate × labour hours) is calculated for you as you type. The added items are listed in a table with the columns Location, Memo/Damage, Repair item, Party, Material cost, Qty, Labour rate, Labour hours and Line total. None of these fields are required.
5. Under Condition photos, optionally select one or more photos of the container's condition. Each uploaded photo can be removed again before you submit.
6. Select Create survey and estimate.

#From the Repair estimates list (container lookup)

1. On the Repair estimates list, select the create icon to open Add Repair Estimate.
2. Enter the Container number and select Look up.
3. If OCTO Ops can't find the container, it shows "Container not found."
4. If the container can't take a new estimate, it shows the reason instead — for example "The container is not in stock." or "Cannot create any additional estimates for this container." (see The estimates-per-container limit below).
5. If the container has no inward recorded at all, it shows "This container has no inward record yet — register an inward first."
6. Otherwise, the container's latest inward is shown read-only — Container, In date and time, MLO, ISO, Consignee, B/L number, In condition, In cargo, Suitable cargo, Manufacture date, Vehicle number and Surveyor — alongside a confirmation that the latest inward was found.
7. Enter Driver name, Driver ID number, and Survey date, and add repair items exactly as in the inward flow above.
8. Select Create survey and estimate.

Either way, on success a toast confirms "Survey and estimate created successfully" and you're taken to the inward's profile, where the new estimate now appears. If something goes wrong, OCTO Ops shows "Something went wrong!" with a more specific message when one is available, or "Please retry."

#View an estimate (the profile)

Open an estimate from the list. The page heading reads Repair Estimate: {container number}, and the breadcrumb ends in the estimate's ID.

• The header card shows the estimate ID and container number (the number opens the container's profile) with the estimate's status, then the estimate date, the inward it was raised on (its ID and date, opening the inward), and the surveyor recorded on that inward. A Total figure shows the sum of every item's line total. On the right, a table lists MLO, ISO, Cargo, BL #, Consignee, In condition (the condition recorded on the inward), Current condition (the container's condition now), and Description.
• Items — one row per repair item: Code, Name, Location, Memo, Unit price, Qty, Labour rate, Labour qty, Line total, and Status, with Edit and Remove actions. A Total row sums the labour quantity and line totals. If your team has turned on Display liable party at estimate in Module settings, a subtotal row for each liable party appears above the total.
• Work orders — the workshop work orders raised on this estimate's inward: ID (opens the work order), number of tasks, and status; "No work orders yet" when there are none.
• Uploads and images — the files attached to the estimate's inward, with a thumbnail, the file names, and an eye button that opens the file; "No uploads yet" when there are none.
• History — every recorded change to the estimate or its items, newest first: Timestamp, User, Event (created, updated, and so on), and Document (Estimate or Item). The eye button opens the fields that changed, with their old and new values; container, inward and repair item references are shown by number or name. "No history yet" when nothing has been recorded.

To add an item, open the toolbar's Actions menu and select Add item; the toolbar also carries the Edit and Print icons and, if you have permission to delete this particular estimate, a red Delete entry at the bottom of the Actions menu.

#Edit an estimate

Open the estimate and select the toolbar's Edit icon. The only thing you can change here is the Notes text. Above it, a read-only table shows the Container, the Inward, its in date and time, and the vehicle number, driver name and driver ID recorded on the inward. Select Save changes; a toast confirms "Estimate updated successfully" and you're returned to the estimate.

#Add and edit repair items

#Add a repair item

1. From the estimate's profile, open the toolbar's Actions menu and select Add item.
2. Fill in Repair item, Liable party, Location, Memo, Material cost (defaults to 0), Qty (defaults to 1), Labour rate (defaults to 0), and Labour hours (defaults to 0). None of these fields are required, and the line total updates as you type.
3. Select Add repair item. You're returned to the estimate.

#Edit a repair item

1. From the estimate's profile, select the Edit icon on the item's row.
2. Change any of the same fields, prefilled with the item's current values.
3. Select Save changes. You're returned to the estimate.

#Remove a repair item

Select the Trash icon on the item's row, then confirm "Remove this repair item?" by selecting Remove. A toast confirms "Repair item removed".

#Approve estimate items

Open the inward and use its estimate-approval screen (see Inwards). One table lists every item still waiting for approval across the inward's estimates — Estimate ID, Item, Location, Memo, Unit price, Qty, Total, and an Approved checkbox. Items that are already approved aren't listed.

1. Tick the items you want to approve — you can select items across more than one estimate on the same inward.
2. Enter Approval given by and the Approved date and time.
3. Select Approve items (disabled until at least one item is ticked).

A toast confirms "Estimate items approved successfully" and you're returned to the inward. Every approved item is stamped with who approved it (your account), the approval-given-by name you entered, and the approval date.

#Create a workshop work order

Once items are approved, open the inward's work-order screen (see Inwards). It lists the approved items that aren't on a work order yet, with their approval date; items already on a work order aren't listed, so they can't be ordered twice.

1. Tick the approved items you want to release to the workshop.
2. Select Create work order for selected items.

This creates one workshop work order for the container — named after the container number, with a memo combining the container's ISO type and MLO codes when both are set — and one work order line for each item you released, carrying that item's quantity and labour quantity. A toast confirms "Work order created successfully" and you're returned to the inward.

#The estimates-per-container limit

Team admins can cap how many repair estimates a container may have against its latest inward, under Module settings. Once the cap is reached, starting a new survey for that container is refused with "Cannot create any additional estimates for this container." — whether you start from the inward or from the container-lookup flow. If no limit is set, a container can have any number of estimates.

#Print an estimate

Open the estimate and select the toolbar's Print icon. The print shows:

• Submitted by — your organization's legal name and address (from Settings → Modules → System), and To — the MLO's name, code and address.
• Estimate #, Date and Customer (the inward's consignee); Container #, ISO, Manufacture date and In date; MLO, Ex vessel, Ex vessel date and BL #.
• An Items table: Code, Name, Location, Memo, L/P (the liable party's code), Labour rate, hours and total, Material unit price, quantity and total, and Sub-total, with a Total row. When Display liable party at estimate is on, a subtotal row for each liable party and the legend "U = Consignee / User, H = Handling, O = Owner, T= Transport" are added.

Every Container Depot print opens with a dark bar at the top that isn't printed: Switch to Dot Matrix (or Switch to Regular) changes the layout for the kind of printer you're using — dot-matrix mode uses larger monospaced type and ruled table lines — and the print icon opens your browser's print dialog. Prints use legacy OCTO Ops' own print layout and type, across the full width of the page. The team's default printer type is set under Settings → Modules → System. Below the bar, your organization's letterhead (logo, name, address and contact details, in one of three layouts) is printed when it's turned on for this document under Settings → Modules → Letterhead.

#Delete an estimate

You can delete an estimate if you have the Delete permission for Repair Estimates — for all records, or only ones you created — or if you're a team owner or admin, who can always delete.

1. Open the estimate.
2. From the toolbar's Actions menu, select the red Delete entry at the bottom (only shown if you're allowed to delete this estimate).
3. Confirm "Delete this repair estimate?" — "The estimate and its items are removed. An estimate already picked up by a workshop work order cannot be deleted." — by selecting Yes, delete it!.

Deleting an estimate removes it and every one of its repair items. An estimate that a workshop work order has already picked up cannot be deleted; approval status alone does not block deletion — an approved estimate that hasn't been picked up by a work order can still be deleted. If deletion is blocked, OCTO Ops shows an error: "This repair estimate cannot be deleted: it has a workshop work order."

On success, a toast confirms "Repair estimate deleted." and you're returned to the Repair estimates list.

#Business units

Only when your organization uses business units:

• A survey and its estimate take the business unit of the inward they are raised from; there is no business unit field. The estimate is numbered in that business unit's legal entity sequence and shows its prefix, for example PH-3.
• The Repair estimates list shows the business unit chosen in the header, with a Business unit column. Select the funnel icon to choose another business unit, {your organization} (main business) only, or All business units. A prefixed number in the search finds that legal entity's estimate only.
• The profile's details list shows the Business unit.
• The printed estimate carries the business unit's letterhead, and Submitted by names its legal entity and address. An estimate on your main business prints as before.

#Errors you may see

#Current limitations

• Estimates cannot be imported from a file; each one starts from a survey.
• Shipping-line notification emails (for example to CMA CGM) that were sent when the first work order was created against a container are not sent by OCTO Ops.
• A container's current condition is not checked before allowing a new estimate — only whether it's in stock and the estimates-per-container limit are enforced.
• The estimate limit is checked only when the survey page is opened; it is not re-checked when the survey is submitted.
• The printed estimate does not carry your organization's print header.
• The Work orders card's Assigned to and Progress columns are always blank — as they were in legacy OCTO Ops.
• The surveyor shown on an estimate is the one recorded on its inward; the survey form does not record a surveyor of its own.