Quantity takeoff services
Measured quantities with every counted item marked on the drawing, for contractors who price from their own rate library.
What quantity takeoff covers
A quantity takeoff is the measurement without the pricing. If you already hold your own rates, buying quantities alone is often the better commercial decision: you get the measurement discipline and the marked sheets, and your rates stay yours.
Everything is measured in Planswift and marked on the sheet in colour as it is counted, with the running total carried into a legend on the drawing. That is what makes the quantities auditable rather than asking you to trust a spreadsheet.
Turnaround
24–48 hours on a single-trade takeoff
Who it is for
Subcontractors, fabricators, suppliers and contractors with an established rate library.
Quantity takeoff
- Quantities by system, location and unit
- Wastage shown as its own column so you can adjust it
- Colour-marked drawings with a count legend on the sheet
- Counts reconciled against schedules where they exist
- Scope gaps and drawing discrepancies flagged in writing
- Optional pricing against rates you supply
- Planswift source file so your team can extend the model
The deliverable.
Consistent whatever the engagement, so it drops into how you already work.
Excel quantity workbook by division and location
Colour-marked PDF set with legends
Assumptions and exclusions list
Planswift source file on request
Common quantity takeoff mistakes
These are the errors that turn up most often when work of this kind is checked. None of them are exotic, and all of them are cheaper to find before the number goes out than after.
For a longer list with examples, read nine takeoff mistakes that only show up on bid day.
- Scale calibrated from a printed scale bar on a PDF that was reduced to fit the page
- Measuring the sheets in the folder rather than the sheets on the drawing index
- Sheets at different revisions measured as though they were one issue
- Work counted twice, or not at all, where one trade package meets another
- Symbols counted instead of devices, where one symbol stands for two items
Common questions on quantity takeoff
A takeoff is the measured quantities. An estimate applies labour hours, wages, material rates and the markup lines that turn cost into a bid. The measurement underneath is identical, so a takeoff can be priced later without re-measuring.
Yes. Send your rate library or historical costs and the quantities are priced against them, which is usually more accurate than published averages for your market.
On request, yes, at no extra charge. Source files are not withheld as leverage for future work.
Yes. PDF, DWG, RVT and scans all work. Scans are calibrated against at least two dimensions on each sheet, because a scanned sheet is rarely stretched evenly.
Work that usually sits alongside this
Most engagements combine more than one of these.
By trade, by sector, and further reading
Trades this applies to
- Concrete estimating & takeoff servicesDivision 03
- Electrical estimating & takeoff servicesDivision 26
- Drywall & metal stud estimating servicesDivision 09
- Earthwork & excavation estimating servicesDivision 31
- Framing & carpentry estimating servicesDivision 06
- Plumbing estimating & takeoff servicesDivision 22
Estimating by sector
- Residential construction estimatingHomes, villas & apartments
- Commercial construction estimatingOffices, retail & warehouses
- Industrial & process estimatingProcess, structural & plant MEP
- Civil & sitework estimatingLand clearing to final grade
Further reading
- Quantity takeoff vs material takeoffTakeoff
- Nine takeoff mistakesTakeoff
- Waste factors by materialReference
Tell us what you need priced.
A fixed fee, a firm delivery date and a written scope statement, usually back the same working day.
Fixed project fees · Written scope before work starts · Unlimited revisions within scope