What is a takeoff in construction?
A takeoff, or quantity takeoff, is the list of quantities measured off a set of plans: linear feet of wall, square feet of floor, counts of fixtures and openings. Estimators price those quantities to build a bid or estimate. Doing it on screen from a PDF instead of with a scale ruler on paper prints is called a digital takeoff.
Formula
Measured quantity x (1 + waste factor) = order quantity, then order quantity x unit cost = line item
Worked example
A 20 x 24 ft garage slab taken off a floor plan.
- 1.Area: 20 x 24 = 480 sq ft of slab
- 2.Perimeter: 20 + 24 + 20 + 24 = 88 linear feet of form edge
- 3.Volume at 4 in thick: 480 x (4 / 12) / 27 = 5.93 cu yd
The takeoff is 480 sq ft, 88 linear feet of forms and 5.93 cu yd of concrete before over-order.
Measure it in MetreMate
Upload the PDF plan, set the scale with Auto Scale or from a known dimension, then use Area, Measure, Perimeter and Count to pull the quantities. Build your bid from those numbers.
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