Guide
What is a quantity take-off?
By 3D Design Studios ·
A quantity take-off is the measurement of everything a project needs, taken from the drawings: areas of wall and roof, lengths of trim and gutter, numbers of doors and fixings. It is the first step in pricing any job, and the step where most pricing mistakes start.
Take-off, estimate and bill of quantities
- A take-off measures the quantities: how much of each item
- An estimate prices those quantities with labour and material rates
- A bill of quantities (BoQ) sets the measured items out in a formal structure, usually following the RICS New Rules of Measurement (NRM2), so several contractors can price the same list
How NRM2 fits in
NRM2, published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, sets out how building work should be measured and described in a bill of quantities, so everyone counts the same thing the same way. Specialist subcontractors pricing their own package rarely need a full NRM2 bill, but following its conventions (what is measured net, what is enumerated, how openings are treated) keeps a take-off consistent and easy to check.
What a good take-off includes
- Quantities grouped the way you price them, with units stated (m², m, nr)
- A marked-up copy of each drawing, coloured to show what was measured
- Net quantities, with any waste allowance shown separately
- A list of assumptions and anything unclear in the drawings
- Separate lines for specification differences, such as fire-rated or acoustic partitions
Where take-offs go wrong
- Missing the linear items: trims, closers, flashings, beads and edges
- Measuring plan area instead of true slope area on pitched roofs
- Treating different specifications as one item
- Hidden waste factors that cannot be checked
- Measuring from superseded drawings
Manual, digital or outsourced
Most UK subcontractors now measure on screen with software such as Bluebeam or PlanSwift rather than a scale rule. Outsourcing take-offs makes sense when tender volume outgrows your estimating team: you send drawings, receive marked-up quantities, apply your own rates and keep control of the price.