Resources
Getting started, features and good practice to be productive fast.
Last updated: 30 July 2026
This page gathers what you need to get started with the Tropic applications. It follows the order in which you actually begin using them, rather than the list of menus.
Tropic applications are PWAs: they run in the browser, with no installation. On desktop and tablet alike, an "Install" icon appears in the address bar and lets you pin them like a regular application.
No involvement from your IT department is required. An up-to-date browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox) is enough.
Every team member has their own account. Access is created from the work email address; the invitation received lets them set a password.
Start with Collaborators. Create people grouped by discipline — HVAC engineers, draughtsmen, electrical, BIM. That grouping is what will make assignments obvious later. Set the office they belong to if you work across several sites.
Then use Project leads to designate who steers each project, and Leave to enter known absences: they are taken into account in the workload plan.
From Projects, the "Add project" button opens the form: operation number, city, business unit, current stage, client and internal delivery dates, project lead and trade contributors.
The operation number is your internal reference: keep the same nomenclature as your other tools, it makes reconciliation easier.
On each project row, the economics icon opens the budget sheet: building type, planned stages with dates and durations, then amount per stage. The application automatically splits across HVAC, electrical, fire safety and BIM, and computes the days available per trade.
This entry is what feeds the total revenue, average progress and overrun tracking on the dashboard. A project with no economics stays visible in the schedule but does not appear in the financial indicators.
Three roles structure access: the team member sees the projects that concern them and updates their own progress; the department lead steers their department's projects and assigns staff; management gets a cross-cutting view of every business unit and of project economics.
The Database tab holds the items: reference, description, unit, unit price, installation time. A starter database is provided; you can extend it, or import your own from Excel.
This step conditions everything else. An outdated installation time or supplier price will carry through to every estimate: plan a periodic update.
The Cover page holds the file's identity: name, client, version, quote number, offer validity. That information is carried onto the quote produced.
If you are answering a tender, use Import BoQ rather than re-keying: the structure of packages and the item codes are taken as-is, which allows automatic reconciliation at submission.
In the Estimate tab, each line combines material and labour. The application computes the net cost, applies the coefficients and displays the sell price live. Packages, chapters and subtotals recalculate on every change.
Coefficients are set globally: a coefficient on material, one on labour, then a sell coefficient. See the guide Net cost, mark-ups and margin for the method.
The Bill of quantities mirrors the estimate hierarchy in sell price, with VAT and gross total. Word and Excel exports keep the formatting and can be sent straight to the client.
Common questions — installation, Excel import, security, trial — are gathered in the help centre.
Write to contact@groupetropic.com: reply within one business day. Recurring questions are added to this page.