Untitled design - 2023-10-23T233900.041

6 Best Concrete Takeoff Tips

 

Concrete Takeoff : Whether you’re preparing a formal bid or a fast quote for your upcoming concrete project, you need to nail your takeoff when estimating. It is possible to overestimate or underestimate the project if your material takeoff calculations and measurements are inaccurate.

Your labor cost estimates will be directly impacted by incomplete and inaccurate material amounts, which will also have an effect on your material cost estimations.

 

What is a Concrete Takeoff?

A takeoff is just an exhaustive inventory of all the materials required, together with their respective quantities, as determined by the drawings and requirements. Every type of concrete that is needed would be listed in a concrete takeoff, together with its compressive strength (in pounds per square inch) and required quantity (usually computed in cubic yards).

 

You’ll also need to take off any other materials needed to finish the construction, such as vapor barriers, formwork, rebar, reinforced welded wire mesh, prestressed cables, and anchor bolts, in addition to the concrete.

 

Review Plans & Specs

Make sure all measurements and takeoffs are exact so that when you calculate your quote, you aren’t using the wrong construction costs. Carefully go over the designs and specifications. Accurate bidding on a project requires exact measurements and quantities.To submit a comprehensive bid, digital takeoff software helps guarantee that the right measurements are taken.

Ensure that you are measuring from the appropriate location. Sometimes the project documentation will tell you not to utilize the written or computed dimensions given in the requirements, or to scale the drawings. This frequently happens when electronic documents are used because printing drawings at different sizes might cause the scale to be off, which could hurt your bid. Ask the architect for clarification if you are unsure about where to obtain your measurements.

Look for any discrepancies or oddities in the plan drawings and specifications, missing details, or other irregularities as you go over the documents. For instance, it’s possible that the foundation walls’ concrete specifications ask for 2,000 psi but, in reality, it should probably be twice that amount. Or, the project documentation might not include a vapor barrier for the building’s slab on grade. Once more, to obtain the right information if something appears incorrect, get in touch with the architect or engineer.

 

Understand the Scope : Concrete Takeoff

If you are the general contractor in charge of the entire project, the scope of work will be specified in the project documentation. You will probably need to perform takeoffs for every trade to guarantee the accuracy of the bids and estimates that your subcontractors submit.

In order to ascertain the extent of the concrete work necessary for the project, you, as a concrete contractor, must go over the designs and specifications. Examine the bid invitation carefully before submitting a bid to a general contractor to be sure you are bidding on the exact work they are requesting, which may or may not be more than you anticipate.

 

Make sure the general contractor isn’t subcontracting the site preparation, for instance, if you’re used to handling that task when working on concrete projects.

 

Check the Scale

Take note of the scale on each design sheet and whether different scales are being used for different features on the same sheet before beginning your concrete takeoff measurements. You’ll need this information when it comes time to take your measurements and accurately calculate your measurements and supplies.

You are responsible for keeping track of the scale for each section if you are doing your concrete takeoff manually. You can adjust the scale when utilizing digital takeoff software to make sure your measurements are precise because the software computes them automatically.

 

Take Your Measurements : Concrete Takeoff

After examining the blueprints and specifications, confirming the extent, and identifying or establishing your scale. Now is the moment to begin measuring. This entails printing off the necessary plan sheets, getting out the scale ruler, colored pencils, and highlighters, and doing manual takeoffs. Remember to measure the area and linear feet of the area where the concrete will be placed, as well as to count any goods you’ll need.

 

Depending on the materials you are taking off, all you have to do to receive measurements for the area using a digital takeoff solution is point, click, and drag your mouse to get the length, width, or linear feet. For concrete jobs, use takeoff software to save a ton of time while taking measurements and performing calculations. because the height or thickness of a slab can be adjusted to determine the required volume of concrete.

 Calculate Materials

After you have all of your measurements and counts, you can begin estimating the amount of supplies you’ll need and figure out how much it will cost. Multiply the length by the breadth of the area you measured, and then multiply the result by the height, or thickness, to get the volume of concrete you’ll require (L x W x H). This gives you the volume in cubic feet if your measurements are in feet; to get the quantity in cubic yards, divide that number by 27.

Once more, if you are utilizing a digital takeoff solution, all of this will be calculated for you; additionally, you may obtain your total material costs based on your takeoffs by adding your unit pricing. Whether you calculate material prices digitally or manually, make sure you have the most recent pricing from your supplier. It’s important to remember that prices have fluctuated recently, so you shouldn’t automatically assume that they are the same as they were when you recently completed the job.

 

Examine Your Work Again

Once you’ve finished your takeoff, go back and verify your estimates and measurements. It never hurts to have a second pair of eyes to go over everything and make sure all of your measurements and calculations for material amounts and costs are accurate.

While it could first seem like a pain, taking the extra time to accomplish this will increase the quality of your bid submission once you’ve integrated it into your workflow.

 

Concluding Remarks On Concrete Takeoffs

Your concrete takeoffs lay the groundwork for your estimates and bids. Data inaccuracies or incompleteness can affect your numbers. Accurate takeoffs allow you to determine the exact quantities needed for all of your concrete supply and products. They are also essential for figuring out how much labor and equipment your concrete job will require. You risk underestimating the project and possibly receiving one that won’t make a profit, or overestimating it and losing the bid. These problems could result from mistaking measurements or missing parts during flight.

PlanSwift by ConstructConnect is a wonderful example of takeoff software that may help you make sure the measurements you acquire for your estimates are accurate. In addition, it saves a ton of time compared to manual takeoffs. Since the effectiveness of these tools depends on the user, estimators must receive the appropriate training and feel at ease with the program.

Tags: No tags

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *