NirmaanOne Help
ConceptReviewed 2026-09-29

Estimate validity and the unit hold

A sent estimate holds its unit (and the parking slots it picked) for that buyer until its Valid until date; the hold starts on sending, can be extended with a reason, and an hourly job expires the estimate and frees the unit the day after the date passes.

Estimate validity and the unit hold

An estimate's validity is the date up to which the quoted price stands: the Valid until date on the estimate. From the moment the estimate is sent, the unit it prices is held for that buyer (status Reserved For Buyer), together with any parking slots picked on it, so nobody else can quote or book the same unit. When the date passes, the estimate expires and the unit goes back on sale. The hold exists so a unit can't be sold twice; the expiry exists so a dead quote can't keep stock locked.

How it works in NirmaanOne

Where the number of days is set

  • The organization's default is Default validity under Settings, Organization, on the Projects card in the Estimate validity and unit hold section: 1 to 365 days, 7 unless changed. Changing it needs the Edit permission on Organization Settings.
  • A project can override it with Estimate validity under Sales on its Settings tab (1 to 365 days, or blank to inherit the organization's; the hint shows the value in force, "Blank = 7 days (the organization's setting)."). The project's figure wins whenever it is set; clearing it goes back to the organization's.

The number of days is only a default for the Valid until date. On New estimate the field is pre-filled with today plus the days in force, and you can type any other date. If the field is left blank, the date is set on sending as today plus the days in force. The hint always says "(the project's setting)", even when the days come from the organization.

When the hold starts

A Draft holds nothing. The hold starts when you press Mark sent on the estimate, or Finalize pricing on a Draft (which skips the sent step). At that moment:

  • the unit becomes Reserved For Buyer for this opportunity; the change is written on the opportunity's timeline as "Unit <number> held for this buyer until <date>";
  • every free parking slot picked on the estimate becomes Reserved For Buyer too ("Parking slot <number> (<area>) held for this buyer");
  • an estimate whose Valid until date has already passed is refused: "The estimate's validity date <date> has passed; set a later date before sending it". Validity counts from the day the draft was created, so a draft that sat for longer than the default days needs a new date before it can be sent.

The unit is locked while this happens, so two estimates sent on the same unit at the same moment cannot both take it: the second one is refused with "Unit <number> is held for <name> until <date>".

What the hold does

  • No other buyer can price the unit: the unit picker on a new estimate lists only Available units, and a draft another executive priced on it before the hold began cannot be sent or finalized. The availability grid shows the unit as "On hold (sent estimate)" with the holder's name on hover.
  • The estimate page's Unit hold row reads "Held for this buyer until <date>; no other estimate can be sent on it."
  • The hold follows the opportunity, not one version: a new version on the same unit keeps it. A new version on a different unit releases the old unit when the draft is saved.
  • Booking turns the hold into Booked; the booking wizard says "Unit <number> is held for this buyer until <date>. Booking it lifts the hold."
  • An allottee buying the unit their offer allots gets no hold: the unit stays Allotted to them whatever happens to the estimate, and only free parking slots they pick are held.

Keeping the hold alive

Extend validity on the estimate (the Edit permission on Estimates; the estimate must be Sent, Finalized, Pending Approval, Approved or Rejected) takes a New validity date and a Reason. The date cannot be in the past. The change goes on the opportunity's timeline as "Validity of estimate v<N> moved from <old> to <new>: <reason>", and the hold runs to the new date.

Expiry

Every hour, at 15 minutes past, a background job looks for estimates in a holding status whose Valid until date is earlier than today (Indian time). Each one becomes Expired, its unit and parking slots go back to Available, and the opportunity drops back to Estimate (if another live version exists) or Lead. An estimate that an active booking was made from is never expired. So an estimate valid until 8 October expires on the first run of 9 October, at 00:15.

Two seeded workflow rules help: "Unit hold expiring in 2 days (system)" flags Sent estimates every morning at 09:00, and "Estimate expired: re-quote or close (system)" notifies the team and opens a task when one expires. The dashboard's "Estimates expiring soon" figure counts Sent estimates only, although finalized, pending, approved and rejected estimates expire the same way.

Other ways the hold ends

The unit and parking slots also go back to Available when the estimate is cancelled, when the opportunity is marked lost (every live version is cancelled), when the last live draft is deleted, or when a draft drops a parking slot it had picked.

Example

Your organization keeps the default of 7 days, but the project Sea Breeze Residency sets Estimate validity to 10 days.

  1. On Monday 28 September 2026 a sales executive prices unit A-1203 for Rakesh Shah and picks parking slot P-14. Valid until is pre-filled with 8 October 2026 (today + 10). The estimate is a Draft: A-1203 is still Available and P-14 is still free.
  2. On 30 September she presses Mark sent. A-1203 becomes Reserved For Buyer and P-14 is held; the timeline reads "Unit A-1203 held for this buyer until 2026-10-08".
  3. On 2 October a colleague tries to send a draft he priced on A-1203 for another buyer on 29 September (before the hold began) and is refused: "Unit A-1203 is held for Rakesh Shah until 2026-10-08".
  4. Mr Shah's loan is delayed. On 7 October she opens Extend validity, sets 20 October 2026 and the reason "Loan sanction awaited". The hold now runs to 20 October.
  5. Nothing more happens. At 00:15 on 21 October the hourly job marks the estimate Expired, A-1203 and P-14 return to Available, the opportunity goes back to Lead (it had no other live version), and the "Estimate expired" rule opens a task to re-quote or close.

Had the estimate been finalized, approved and booked by 15 October instead, the booking would have turned A-1203 and P-14 into Booked and the booked estimate would never expire.

Where you see it

Related

  • New estimateScreen

    Price a unit for a buyer: pick the unit and optional parking slots, load a unit pricing plan or add charges by hand, override rates with a reason, set the validity, and save the draft before moving on to the payment plan.

  • EstimateScreen

    One estimate version: its charges by group, payment plan, approvals, unit and parking hold and validity, with the lifecycle actions to send, finalize, request approval, approve or reject, extend, cancel, version and book.

  • Edit estimate (estimate wizard)Screen

    Continue an estimate in three steps: edit the draft pricing, draft or re-version the payment plan (lumpsum, installments, custom dates or construction-linked), then review and finalize, which locks price and plan and requests approval.

  • EstimatesScreen

    Every priced offer across projects, with an approvals inbox where approvers accept or reject estimates awaiting a decision and an all-estimates view with status and version filters.

  • Opportunity (Overview tab)Screen

    One buyer's enquiry on one project: who they are, what they want, the current estimate, the latest activity, documents and tasks, with the pipeline actions (estimate, assign, book, mark lost, reopen) in the header.

  • ActivitiesScreen

    The opportunity's timeline: calls, site visits and meetings logged by the team, alongside the locked entries the system writes for stage changes, estimates and bookings.

  • Book <unit> for <name> (booking wizard)Screen

    The three-step wizard that turns an approved estimate into a booking: review exactly what was approved, add co-applicants and their shares, set the booking date and book the unit.

  • StructureScreen

    Build and maintain a project's towers (wings), floors and units, generate them in bulk, and see every unit's status and designation at a glance.

  • ParkingScreen

    Set up the project's parking areas (basement, podium, stilt) and their numbered parking slots, see who holds each parking slot, and allocate parking slots to society members.

  • Edit projectScreen

    Change a project's facts on one page: basics, site address, land survey details and expected possession, and, on a redevelopment, the development agreement date and the fair value of the development rights. The settings the project inherits from the organization live on its Settings tab.

  • OrganizationScreen

    Your organization's profile and policies: name and invitation expiry, the two-factor requirement, the AI connectors switch, the help-assistant recording switch, the project defaults every project inherits (RERA gate, estimate validity, the two chargeable areas, carpet area offered, revenue method and trigger) and the effective-dated rules: the RERA escrow share that splits every sweep of a project's collection account, TDS on sales and booking cancellation.

  • RulesScreen

    Every automation rule in your organization, system and custom, with filters, the switch that turns each rule on or off, and shortcuts to edit, test, clone, see the run history of or delete a rule.

  • DashboardScreen

    The page you land on after signing in: shortcuts to common jobs, a queue of what is waiting on you, the headline figures and one card each for projects, sales, stock, receivables, construction and the RERA accounts.

  • Estimate versions, price lock, overrides and the approval gateConcept

    Every priced offer to a buyer is a numbered version of the opportunity: a Draft is edited in place, any later price change is a new version that supersedes the current one, the price is locked when finalized, and every estimate must be approved before it can be booked.

  • Opportunity stages, lead sources and system activitiesConcept

    An opportunity moves through Lead, Estimate, Approval and Booked (or Lost) only through the actions taken on it; every move is written to its stage history and its timeline, where locked system activities sit beside the calls and visits the team logs.

  • Parking areas and parking slotsConcept

    A parking area (basement, podium, stilt) holds numbered parking slots that are inventory like units: held by a sent estimate, booked with the unit, or allocated to an allottee from the project.

  • Booking: agreed total, applicants and sharesConcept

    A booking is the closed deal on one unit for one opportunity, made from the current Approved estimate: it fixes the agreed total, numbers itself by financial year, books the unit and parking, and names the primary applicant and the co-applicants with their ownership shares.

  • Set the organization's profile and project defaultsHow-to

    Fill in the organization's name, description and invitation expiry, decide whether RERA registration gates selling, set the project defaults every project inherits (estimate validity, the chargeable areas for buyers and for members and tenants, carpet area offered, revenue method and trigger), and check the RERA escrow share, TDS and cancellation rules.

  • Record land, RERA and the project's settingsHow-to

    Fill in the land survey details and expected possession, record the RERA registration (jurisdiction, certificate and validity) that lets the project be sold, and override the settings the project inherits from the organization on its Settings tab only where it differs: estimate validity, the chargeable areas for buyers and for members and tenants, carpet area offered, RERA escrow share, revenue method and trigger, plus its occupation certificate.