From the plan set to priced lines, in eight steps.
Already use another takeoff program? Import OST, Bluebeam, PlanSwift, STACK or CSV. Bid Terminal still checks it against the plans and specs.
1 · Opens the right sheet Live
Pick your trade and it opens the sheet to measure first: the ceiling plan for ceilings, the finish plan for flooring.
2 · Shows where to take off Live
The sheets to measure and every room tagged for your scope are marked, with a checklist of what's in it.
3 · Draft my sheets Demo
A first pass on each sheet from the plan's own lines. Spaces that aren't yours are left out. You approve, fix, or skip review.
4 · Fill and draw Live
Click in a room. Fill stops at walls, crosses grid lines and ignores leader arrows. Area, linear, count and volume, with typicals × N.
5 · Count the legend Live
Box the symbol legend. Every match on the plan becomes a count to approve. Box one symbol and it finds the rest.
6 · Find and compare Live
Find any tag on any sheet. Put a second sheet side by side. Group sheets by type, discipline or addendum.
7 · Ready to send Live
A score out of 100 with the biggest risks: no scale, a replaced sheet not redone, schedule rooms not taken off, guessed heights, drafts not approved, ratios off.
8 · Send to the bid Live
One tap. Lines arrive with waste, boxes and pieces, split by building, phase and floor if you want, and the bid prices them.
Conditions build themselves
The legend, schedule and specs fill in each condition, and the tiles are laid out on the room.
See auto conditions and layout →Auto takeoff that understands architectural context Demo
Picture-based takeoff traces shapes in an image. Bid Terminal reads the drawing's own lines, the finish legend, the elevations, the schedules and the notes. So it knows a vanity from a wall, and N.I.C. from your scope.
The floor stops at the vanity. Drywall splits where the wall type changes. Rated doors get closers and labels. Lintels go over every masonry opening. Tapered insulation follows the slope arrows. N.I.C. stays out of your number. And every quantity has a Show me.
This plan reading already runs in Takeoff when you draw or fill a room. Auto takeoff is built on the same reading.
Flooring and base
- Floor stops at the cabinets. Reads the elevations to tell base cabinets from wall-hung and open vanities. Floor comes out under base cabinets only. Beta
- Knows where integral cove goes. Reads the plans and spec for integral or flash cove and its height. Cove runs on drawn walls only, skips doorways and floor-to-floor edges, and stops where the elevations show casework. Counts cove LF, cap strip, cove stick and corners. Beta
- Base comes off at casework, and a toe-kick base line goes on. Beta
- Walk-in coolers cut out of the room's floor. Beta
- Every finish tag is its own condition, named from the finish legend (CPT-1 to CPT-13, SV-1 to SV-8). Live
- Hatch to area in one click, even with fixtures and words sitting on the pattern. Beta
- Stairs count treads, risers and nosings.
- Columns come out of the floor and the base wraps them.
- Moisture mitigation when the slab and spec call for it.
- Walk-off mats at entries on their own line.
Ceilings
- Soffits cut out of the ceiling and put on soffit underside for the drywall crew. Beta
- "Open to structure" rooms leave the ceiling count and stay on for paint to the deck. Beta
- Light fixtures snap onto the tiles, so 2x4 and 2x2 tile counts come out right. Live
- Seismic clips, posts and splay wires from the design category.
- Clouds get perimeter trim instead of wall angle.
- Height steps change hanger length and lift labor.
- Kitchen and clean rooms get the right tile.
Walls, doors and finishes
- Wainscot, FRP and paint stop at the casework. Beta
- Existing-to-remain walls left out (the light gray ones). Beta
- Door schedule read for you. Cased openings get a frame only, and fire ratings go on the frame. Beta
- EIFS and plaster trim at every opening, from the openings in the wall. Beta
Every trade
- "Typical of 4 units" multiplies; enlarged plans count once.
- Demo and future-phase work kept out of the base bid.
- Heights from the finish schedule; lift days when work goes over 12 ft.
- Occupied or night work adds its labor factor.
Drywall
- Wall type changes partway along a run split the LF.
- To deck vs. above ceiling sets the height and head detail.
- Slip heads get deflection track; STC walls get batts and sealant.
- Impact board and Level 5 by room; blocking at grab bars and TVs.
Paint and wallcovering
- Factory-finished frames aren't painted.
- Exposed deck goes to a dryfall spray line.
- Epoxy paint in wet rooms, accent walls on their own line.
- Wallcovering repeat waste, and none behind cabinets.
Tile
- Wall tile height from the elevations.
- Shower niches, benches, curbs and membrane up-turns.
- Depressed slabs get a mortar bed.
- Edge trim at every open edge and outside corner.
Doors and hardware
- Rated doors get closers, labels and rated glass.
- Accessible entries get operators and push buttons.
- Electrified hardware gets power transfers.
Specialties and casework
- Partitions counted by stall, ADA stalls on their own.
- Accessories, corner guards and room signs from the plans.
- Casework LF and tops read from the elevations.
Insulation and firestop
- Sound batts only where the wall type calls for them.
- Firestop at every penetration through a rated wall.
- Head-of-wall joints with their UL system.
Masonry
- Lintels at every opening.
- Bond beams and grouted cells from the wall schedule.
- Control joints placed at the spec spacing.
Roofing and waterproofing
- Tapered insulation and crickets from the slope arrows.
- Parapet flashing and coping vs. edge metal.
- Overflow drain pairs and tear-off layers.
- Waterproofing splits to dampproofing at grade; waterstops at cold joints.
Fireproofing, EIFS, steel, concrete, MEP
- Exposed steel gets intumescent; beams, columns and deck by thickness.
- EIFS, stucco and panel split by hatch.
- Galvanizing at the exterior; slab edges, depressions and pads.
- Look-alike fixtures and wall-hung carriers on their own lines.
Scope words on the plan
- N.I.C. and "by others" stay out of your totals. Beta
- "Add alternate 2" goes to alternate 2, not the base bid. Beta
- Roof plan words count themselves: crickets, curbs, roof drains, scuppers and pipe boots. Beta
- Flags what's missing: a fireproofing UL design, or a guessed waterproofing depth, roll size or coverage, until you set it. Beta
Finding things
- Find any tag on any sheet, including scanned sheets, CAD letters drawn as lines, pasted pictures and words with a line through them. Live
- Box one symbol, count them all. Live
- Turn CAD layers off to read a busy sheet clean. Live
Checks and sorting
- Show me on every number, straight to the spot on the sheet. Live
- One-tap RFI from a conflict it finds. Live
- Same clicks, same numbers. Corners land on the drawn corner, so two estimators get the same total. Live
- Break out by building, phase and floor. Beta
Every trade's math, from what you draw Live
Being tested
- Ignores clutter at any wall angle. Furniture, dimensions and text are skipped when you fill or draw, on angled walls too. Being tested
More it reads
- Look-alike fixtures told apart.
- Dampproofing vs waterproofing at grade.
- Rated walls from the life safety plan.
- 2D material looks on the sheet.
- One record for every room. The finish, ceiling, height and base from every sheet and schedule, kept together for each room.
- Walls by partition type. Reads the wall type tags and the partition schedule, so each wall knows its studs, board layers and rating.
- Follows the sheet links. Detail and section callouts are tied to the spot on the plan they describe.
- Notes stay with the quantity. Keynotes and plan notes ride along with the items they change.
- Each sheet knows itself: its scale, its level and what kind of sheet it is.
- Your fixes teach it. Every correction you make is saved to train the next auto takeoff.
Tools built for the whole bid, not just the takeoff
Stay in Bid Terminal, or keep yours
| What you get | Standalone takeoff tool | Your takeoff + Bid Terminal | Bid Terminal Takeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knows your scope from the specs and drawings | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shows you where to take off | No | No | Yes |
| Conditions built from the legend and specs | You build them | Names matched after import | Yes |
| Trade math as you draw | Some | After import | Yes, live |
| Takeoff checked against plans and specs | No | Yes | Yes, as you draw |
| Price moves as you draw | No | No | Yes |
| Export and re-enter | Every bid | One upload | Never |
| Your fixes train the next draft | No | No | Yes |
Already on another takeoff program? Keep it. Bid Terminal reads the file and still checks it against the plans and specs. Draft the whole job is in demo now: watch it take off a sample job.