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Templates

How to save project structures as templates and reuse them across projects — saving setup time and keeping takeoffs consistent.

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Written by Magnus Nilsen

Templates

Templates let you save the structure of a Sparkel project — its takeoffs, items, labels, and organisation — so you can reuse it as a starting point for future projects. For contractors who work on similar building types repeatedly, templates eliminate the need to rebuild the same takeoff structure from scratch every time.

What gets saved in a template

When you save a project as a template, Sparkel saves:

  • All takeoffs and their names

  • All items within each takeoff, including names, units, and dynamic quantity formulas

  • Labels and their assignments

  • The overall project structure and organisation

What is not saved: BIM model links, shapes, linked elements, and supplier information. Templates save the structure, not the project-specific data. To understand what items and units to include in a template, see The Quantity Table.

Saving a project as a template

  1. Open the project you want to save as a template.

  2. Go to the project settings or the project overview menu.

  3. Click Save as template.

  4. Give the template a descriptive name — for example, "Residential concrete structure" or "Commercial facade — standard bid".

  5. The template is now available for all future projects in your workspace.

Creating a new project from a template

  1. From the company overview, click New Project.

  2. Enter the project name.

  3. In the template selector, choose the template you want to start from.

  4. Click Create.

The new project will have the full takeoff structure from the template, ready for you to upload a model and start linking elements or drawing shapes. For a guide to the full project setup process, see Setting Up Your First Project.

When to use templates

Templates pay off most when:

  • You bid the same building type repeatedly (residential blocks, commercial offices, industrial buildings)

  • Your company has a standard way of structuring bids or procurement packages

  • You want to onboard new team members with a consistent starting structure

  • You want to ensure item naming is consistent across projects for reporting purposes

A good practice is to refine your template over time as you learn what works. After completing a project, update the template to reflect any improvements you made to the item structure.

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