Quantity Takeoff Services
Measured quantities from your drawings — linear feet, square feet, cubic yards and counts — with a marked-up PDF showing what was counted.
What Quantity Takeoff Services Covers
A quantity takeoff is the measurement step of estimating: counting and measuring every item on the drawings that has to be bought and installed. It produces quantities, not prices. You apply your own unit costs, or send the quantities to suppliers for pricing.
Contractors outsource takeoffs when they already know their costs but do not have the hours to measure a large drawing set before the bid deadline. The quantities are only useful if you can check them, so every item is color-coded on the PDF sheet it was measured from.
Who This Is For
- Trade subcontractors: Quantities for their own scope, such as concrete, drywall, roofing or electrical, to price with their own labor and material rates.
- General contractors: Independent quantities to check subcontractor bids, or to carry a trade without sub coverage.
- Estimators with their own software: Measured quantities in a format they can import or re-key into their estimating system.
Not quite what you need?
Need a supplier-ready bill of materials in purchase units? See material takeoff services.
Need quantities priced into a dollar estimate? See construction cost estimating.
What You Receive
Quantity workbook (.xlsx)
Each line has item description, drawing sheet reference, unit (LF, SF, CY, EA), net quantity, waste factor and gross quantity. Grouping by trade, CSI division, floor or building area is agreed before we start.
Color-coded PDF markups
Every measured area, run and count highlighted on the drawings, with a legend matching the workbook lines. Your team can verify any number by finding its color on the sheet.
Takeoff notes
Drawing revision used, scale checks, conflicts found between sheets, and items that were not measurable from the drawings provided.
See the sample deliverables page for what each file contains.
How It Is Produced
Define the scope and breakdown
We confirm which trades or divisions to measure, and how you want quantities split (by floor, phase, building or system).
Verify scale and sheet set
Scales are checked against dimensioned elements on each sheet before measuring, and sheets are checked against the drawing index for anything missing.
Measure
Linear, area, volume and count takeoffs in Bluebeam Revu or PlanSwift, each item on its own markup layer.
Cross-check
Plan quantities are checked against schedules, sections and details. For example, door counts against the door schedule, and footing lengths against the foundation plan.
Deliver
Workbook, marked-up PDFs and notes, with conflicts listed for your RFIs.
What to Send Us
- Drawing set as vector PDF (preferred), CAD, or a clear scanned PDF
- Schedules and details for the trades being measured
- Addenda issued to date
- Your preferred breakdown (by floor, area, phase, or CSI division)
Not Included Unless Requested
- Pricing: quantities only. See construction cost estimating if you need dollars
- Items not shown on the drawings provided, such as specification-only items, unless you ask us to list them
- Shop-drawing level detail (for example, rebar bending schedules), unless agreed in advance
Pricing & Turnaround
Single-trade takeoffs typically fall in the $150 – $350 per project range; multi-trade takeoffs for a full drawing set in the $400 – $950 per project range, depending on sheet count and complexity.
Every project gets a fixed quote after we see the drawings. Standard delivery is 24 to 48 hours from scope approval; large packages take longer and the date is set in the quote. Full fee tiers are on the pricing page.
Trades Commonly Included
Questions About Quantity Takeoff Services
What units do you measure in?
In the unit each trade buys and installs in. For example, CY for concrete, SF of wall or board for drywall, squares for roofing, LF for pipe and conduit, and EA for fixtures and devices. Tell us if you need a different unit.
Are waste factors included?
Net quantities and waste factors are shown in separate columns, so you can use your own waste percentage instead of ours.
Can I get quantities broken down by floor or phase?
Yes. Tell us the breakdown before we start; changing it after the takeoff is finished means re-measuring.
What if the drawings conflict?
We measure what is drawn, list the conflict in the takeoff notes (for example, a plan dimension that disagrees with the section), and state which one we used.
Prepared by the estimating desk at Construction Estimating Services (F&K Estimations LLC). Last updated September 2026.