What is a takeoff in construction, and how the quantities become a priced job

Work order total

$863.16

Labour

$510

Parts, marked up

$288

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A takeoff is the measurement step of an estimate: reading a drawing or a site and taking off the quantities of each material and each operation, before any price is attached. It is called a takeoff because the numbers are taken off the drawing. Everything that follows in the estimate depends on it, which is why estimators treat the takeoff and the pricing as two separate disciplines, and why the most expensive estimating mistakes are almost always measurement mistakes rather than pricing ones.

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Measure in the units you buy and the units you pay

Take off concrete in cubic yards, drywall in sheets, framing in linear feet by size, paint in square feet, and labor in hours by operation. A takeoff recorded in the units of purchase and payment converts to a price and to an order without a second calculation.

Record where every quantity came from

Against each quantity, note the drawing, the room or the elevation it came from. When the scope changes, and it will, the quantities affected can be found and re-measured rather than the whole takeoff being redone or, worse, adjusted by feel.

Keep the takeoff when the estimate becomes a job

The quantities are what the material order, the subcontractor scope and the progress claim all refer back to. A takeoff that is thrown away when the price is sent means the job is run on the price alone, and the first question on site, how many sheets were allowed, has no answer.

What is a takeoff in construction: common questions

Is a takeoff the same as an estimate? No. The takeoff is the quantities. The estimate is the quantities multiplied by your rates, with waste, overhead, margin, tax and terms applied. Two estimators with the same takeoff can produce very different prices, and that difference is a commercial judgment rather than a measurement one.

Who does the takeoff on a small job? Usually the owner or the person who will run the job, which is an advantage: the person measuring knows what will be awkward on site. The risk is that it is done quickly between other work, which is exactly when whole elements get missed.

What is digital takeoff? Measuring on screen from a PDF or a model, with the software adding up lengths, areas and counts as you click. It is faster and less error prone than a scale rule on paper, and it keeps a record of what was measured, which is the part that matters later.

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