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The short version
Estimating has two vocabularies. The takeoff side measures the work: SF, LF, CY, EA, scale, counts and conditions. The bid side prices and protects it: addenda, alternates, allowances, exclusions, plugs, qualifications and leveling. Most expensive mistakes happen where the two meet, when a quantity was right and the scope around it was not.
For the measuring side in full, start with How to do a takeoff in Bluebeam Revu. For the bid side, read How to catch scope gaps in sub quotes.
The units on a takeoff
| Unit | Means | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|
| SF | Square foot | Slabs, flooring, drywall, roofing, paint |
| SY | Square yard (9 SF) | Carpet, paving, some site work |
| LF | Linear foot | Walls, base, curb, pipe, conduit, footings |
| CY | Cubic yard (27 CF) | Concrete, excavation, fill |
| EA | Each | Doors, fixtures, devices, pile caps |
| LS | Lump sum | Mobilisation, a whole scope priced as one |
Terms, A to Z
A
- Addendum
- A formal change to the bid documents issued before bids are due: revised sheets, revised spec sections, answers to questions, a moved bid date. Every addendum is part of the job, and the bid form usually asks you to acknowledge each one by number. Read the guide.
- Allowance
- A fixed amount the documents tell every bidder to carry for something not yet designed or selected, such as hardware or a finish. The owner settles the real cost later and the difference is adjusted up or down.
- Alternate
- A separately priced change to the base bid that the owner may accept or reject, listed on the bid form as an add or a deduct. Alternate 1 might be a second roof membrane or a different flooring product.
- As-builts
- Drawings marked up during construction to show what was actually built, including field changes. They matter at bid time on renovation work, because they are often the only record of what is behind the wall.
- Assembly
- A group of items priced together as one unit, so a wall type or a slab carries its framing, board, insulation, labor and accessories in a single line. Take off the wall in LF and the assembly works out the parts.
B
- Bid bond
- A surety bond submitted with the bid that guarantees you will sign the contract at your bid price if you are awarded it. The amount is set by the bid documents, usually as a percentage of the bid.
- Bid day
- The day bids are due. Sub quotes arrive late, the last addendum gets checked, plugs get carried and the number is finalised in the last few hours. Read the guide.
- Bid form
- The owner’s form you fill in to submit a price: base bid, alternates, unit prices, addenda acknowledged and signatures. A bid that leaves a line blank or misses an addendum can be thrown out.
- Bid leveling
- Laying sub quotes side by side on the same scope so they can be compared fairly, marking each item included, excluded or silent and putting a number on the holes. The low total is only the low price once the scope is level. Read the guide.
- Bid/no-bid
- The decision whether to spend estimating time on a job at all, based on fit, the owner and GC, the documents, the schedule, the risk and how busy you are. Read the guide.
- Buyout
- The work after award of signing subcontracts and purchase orders against the budget. Savings and overruns against the bid show up here first.
C
- Change order
- A signed change to the contract’s scope, price or schedule after award. It is how a missed scope gap or an owner change gets paid for, or does not.
- Condition
- The word some takeoff tools use for a takeoff item: a named thing you measure, such as an area, a linear run or a count, with its own properties. In Bluebeam Revu the same job is done by a measurement markup with a subject. Read the guide.
- Contingency
- Money carried in the estimate for risk you can see but cannot price yet. It is not an allowance: the owner did not tell you to carry it, you chose to.
- Count
- A takeoff quantity in each, made by marking every instance of a symbol on the sheet: receptacles, fixtures, doors, footings. A count is only right when you have looked for the instances that were not marked. Read the guide.
- CSI MasterFormat
- The standard numbering for specification sections, organised in divisions from 00 to 49, so 03 is concrete, 09 is finishes and 26 is electrical. Estimates and sub scopes are usually organised the same way.
- Cubic yardCY
- The unit concrete and earthwork are bought and priced in. 27 cubic feet make one cubic yard, so a 4 inch slab of 1,000 SF is about 12.3 CY before waste. Read the guide.
D
- Detail
- An enlarged drawing of one condition, such as a footing, a head or a parapet, keyed from the plans by a callout. Details carry the dimensions and materials the plan does not, and they are where a lot of scope hides.
- Division 01
- General Requirements, the first division of the specification. It sets the rules for the whole job: submittals, temporary facilities, cleaning, closeout, testing, and the procedures that cost money on every trade. Read the guide.
E
- EachEA
- The unit for anything priced by the piece: a door, a fixture, a device, a pile cap. Counts come out in EA.
- Estimate
- The priced version of the takeoff: quantities times unit rates, plus labor, equipment, subs, general conditions, overhead and profit. The takeoff says how much work there is; the estimate says what it costs.
- Exclusion
- A line in a quote or proposal saying what is not included. Read exclusions before the price, because each one hands a piece of scope back to somebody. Read the guide.
G
- General conditions
- Two meanings. In the contract, the standard terms that govern the job. In the estimate, the GC’s time-based job costs: supervision, trailer, temporary power, cleanup and the like, usually priced per week or per month.
- General contractorGC
- The firm that holds the prime contract with the owner and hires the subs. Subs bid to the GC, and the GC bids the total to the owner.
- Gross area
- The full area inside a boundary before anything is taken out, such as the whole floor of a room including where casework sits. Compare net area.
- Guaranteed maximum priceGMP
- A contract where the contractor is paid actual cost plus a fee, up to a ceiling. Costs above the ceiling are the contractor’s problem, and savings under it are usually shared or returned.
H
- Hard bid
- A competitive, fixed-price bid on complete documents, where the low responsive bidder usually wins. Every gap in your number is yours once the contract is signed.
I
- Invitation to bidITB
- The notice asking you to bid a job, with the bid date, where to get the documents, the pre-bid meeting and the submission rules.
L
- Linear footLF
- The unit for anything priced by length: walls, base, curb, pipe, conduit, footings. Linear measurements in a takeoff come out in LF.
- Lump sumLS
- One fixed price for a defined scope, without a unit breakdown the owner pays against. Also the unit you write against a line priced as a whole, such as mobilisation.
M
- Markup (on a drawing)
- Anything drawn on a PDF sheet: a cloud, a note, a highlight, or a measurement. In takeoff software a measurement markup carries its quantity, so the drawing and the number live in the same file. Read the guide.
- Markup (pricing)
- The percentage added on top of cost for overhead and profit, and sometimes bond and insurance. Markup is figured on cost; margin is figured on the selling price, and mixing the two up is an expensive mistake.
- MEP
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing: the trades and drawing sheets (M, E, P) that are usually bid by specialty subs.
N
- Net area
- The area left after the openings, casework, shafts or other deductions are taken out of the gross area. Which deductions apply is a scope decision for each trade. Read the guide.
O
- Overhead and profitOH&P
- The share of the price that pays for running the company and the return on the job. Change orders usually say how much OH&P a contractor may add.
P
- Payment and performance bonds
- Surety bonds posted after award. The performance bond guarantees the work gets finished; the payment bond guarantees subs and suppliers get paid. Their cost belongs in the bid.
- Plug number
- A number you carry for a scope with no usable quote: your own quantity at a defensible unit price, or another sub’s price for the same work. Write down where every plug came from. Read the guide.
- Pre-bid meeting
- A meeting, sometimes with a site walk, where the owner and design team explain the job to bidders. Anything said there only counts once it is issued in an addendum.
- Preconstruction
- The work before construction starts: estimating, budgets, design reviews, value engineering, scheduling and buyout. Often shortened to precon.
Q
- Qualification
- A statement in your proposal that clarifies or limits what your price includes, such as the drawings it is based on or an assumption about access. It protects you only if it is written down and specific.
- Quantity takeoff
- Measuring the quantities of work off the drawings: areas in SF, lengths in LF, volumes in CY and counts in EA. It is the first step of an estimate and the one the rest of the number depends on. Read the guide.
R
- Request for informationRFI
- A written question to the design team about something the documents do not make clear. Before bids, the answer usually comes back in an addendum. Read the guide.
- Retainage
- A percentage held back from each payment until the work is complete, set in the contract. It ties up cash on every job, which matters when you price the work.
- Revision
- A reissued sheet with changes, marked with a revision number, a date and usually a cloud around what changed. Always take off from the current revision.
S
- Scale
- The ratio between the drawing and the real thing, such as 1/8 inch equals 1 foot. Every measured quantity depends on it, so set it and check it against a known dimension before you measure. Read the guide.
- Schedule (drawing)
- A table on the drawings listing items of one kind, such as doors, fixtures, finishes or panels, with their types and properties. A schedule is the independent source a count should agree with.
- Schedule of valuesSOV
- The breakdown of the contract price into line items that progress payments are billed against. A front-loaded SOV gets pushed back by owners and lenders.
- Scope gap
- Work the contract documents require that no quote in your bid covers. It does not show up in any total, which is why it gets found by reading quotes against the spec. Read the guide.
- Scope of work
- The written description of what a sub or a contractor is responsible for, item by item. A clear one is the cheapest protection against change orders and arguments. Read the guide.
- Spec section
- One section of the project manual, numbered by MasterFormat, such as 09 29 00 for gypsum board. It says which products, standards and procedures the work must meet.
- Square footSF
- The unit for anything priced by area: slabs, flooring, drywall, roofing, paint. Area measurements in a takeoff come out in SF.
- Square yardSY
- Nine square feet. Carpet, paving and some site work are still bought and priced in SY, so check which unit the sub quotes in.
- Sub quote
- A subcontractor’s price for their scope, with their inclusions, exclusions and the addenda they priced. It is an offer, and it is only as good as what it says it covers. Read the guide.
- Submittal
- Product data, shop drawings or samples sent to the design team for approval before work is installed. Division 01 sets how they are handled, and that process takes time you should price.
T
- Time and materialsT&M
- Work paid at agreed labor rates plus the cost of materials, usually with a markup. Common for extra work where the scope is not known until it is done.
- Typical
- A note on a drawing meaning the same condition repeats wherever it applies, such as a detail marked TYP. Take it seriously: it can turn one detail into 40 locations.
U
- Unit rate
- The price per unit of work, such as dollars per SF or per LF, including whatever the rate is defined to include. Quantity times unit rate is the basic line of an estimate.
V
- Value engineeringVE
- Proposing a cheaper way to deliver the same function, such as a different product or system. Price every VE idea as a separate line so the owner can accept or reject it on its own.
W
- Waste factor
- The extra percentage added to a measured quantity for cutting, breakage, overlap and order sizes. Add it to the material you buy, not to the measured area, so the takeoff stays checkable. Read the guide.
Questions people ask
What does takeoff mean in construction?
Takeoff is measuring the quantities of work off the drawings before you price them: square feet of slab and flooring, linear feet of wall and pipe, cubic yards of concrete, and counts of doors, fixtures and devices. It is called a takeoff because you take the quantities off the plans. It comes before the estimate, which turns those quantities into a price.
What is the difference between a takeoff and an estimate?
The takeoff says how much work there is. The estimate says what it costs. An estimate takes the takeoff quantities, multiplies them by unit rates for material, labor and equipment, adds sub quotes, general conditions, overhead and profit, and arrives at the number you bid.
What is the difference between an alternate and an allowance?
An alternate is a separately priced option the owner may choose, listed on the bid form as an add or a deduct to the base bid. An allowance is a fixed amount the documents tell every bidder to carry inside the base bid for something not yet selected, which is adjusted to the real cost later.
What does GMP mean in a construction contract?
Guaranteed maximum price. The contractor is paid actual cost plus a fee, up to a ceiling agreed in the contract. Costs above the ceiling are the contractor’s to absorb, and savings below it are usually shared with or returned to the owner, depending on the contract.
Is markup the same as margin?
No. Markup is a percentage of cost added on top; margin is the share of the selling price that is profit. A 20 percent markup on 100 dollars of cost gives a price of 120 dollars, which is a margin of about 16.7 percent. Bidding a markup when you meant a margin underprices the job.
Caliente Vision
Caliente Vision keeps these terms tied to your project
On a live bid, these words are not definitions, they are documents: which addendum changed which spec section, which sub quote excludes it, which RFI is still open and which plug is still carried. Caliente Vision reads the drawings, the spec, the addenda and the sub quotes your team already has, connects them, and flags what does not line up. It drafts the question, and the estimator approves before anything is sent. Caliente Vision finds, connects and checks. Estimators decide.
For the takeoff itself, Caliente AI works in Bluebeam Revu today: say the scope, and our AI model reads the sheet and places native, editable markups, asking before it writes.