Autodesk Takeoff Pricing

[Gregory Monty]

Accomplishingall of this will require you to learn how to successfully approach a takeoff in construction. Done well, construction takeoffs give you clarity on all the components of the project so you can make accurate estimates and move forward with confidence.

A construction takeoff is a process of listing and measuring the materials required for the project to calculate the cost to complete it. The construction takeoff is the first step in the estimation process and involves quantifying the materials necessary to start and execute the job.

Accurate construction takeoffs and quantification lead to more profitable projects. Precise information about materials and costs enables general contractors and subcontractors to allocate resources effectively and produce more competitive bids.

At both general contracting and subcontracting firms, construction takeoffs are typically done by estimators to determine the material, labor, and equipment costs to generate an accurate and competitive bid.

While each project is unique, estimators often rely on years of knowledge of what materials are required to complete the project. They also draw from their experiences from previous successfully completed projects to identify savings. Ultimately, their focus is to accurately quantify the materials and calculate construction costs to ensure that they have both a winning and profitable bid.

In practice, construction takeoffs are incredibly detailed documents that outline the specific types of materials required, along with their measurements and pricing. Estimators then enter each type of material, its description, measurement, required quantity, and price into a spreadsheet or better yet, an estimating solution.

The first step in the construction takeoff process is to get your hands on the project plans and documents. These will enable you to visualize the project to figure out what materials to use and their respective quantities.

Estimators pay meticulous attention to details within project documents to ensure that they have identified all the documents relevant to the scope they are quantifying and understand the specifications documented.

The next step is to calculate the costs for the items on your list. At this stage, you may need to rely on your industry knowledge to determine the cost of materials. In some cases, your suppliers may have provided their quotes, so you can use that information as well.

When the above-mentioned steps are complete, you can proceed with the rest of the estimation process. This factors in your other costs as well as your markup to come up with a final estimate and bid.

As we mentioned earlier, construction takeoffs can be done manually or digitally. The former involves examining physical documents and conducting material counts and measurements by hand. The latter can streamline takeoffs through automation and more user-friendly features.

In many cases, digital takeoff software can help automate some of the more tedious elements of construction takeoff. For example, machine learning capabilities like symbol detection on 2D drawings can help minimize the mundane and tedious task of individually taking off similar symbols such as light fixtures, outlets, columns, and doors.

Estimators are often asked to put together a high-level conceptual estimate for various reasons, such as determining feasibility and if a project is worth pursuing without spending considerable time performing a detailed estimate. Sometimes, it could be just to explore different material options to align with the project budget. Using unit cost capabilities within Autodesk Takeoff, estimators can quickly generate a rough budget for 2D and 3D takeoffs and see the cost change within their inventory as additional takeoffs are performed.

In addition to saving time, construction software also minimizes the effort required to complete certain tasks. For example, Autodesk Takeoff has 3D takeoff capabilities so you can easily access quantities from BIM models.

In addition to improving the visualization of the project to identify any gaps, it further streamlines the takeoff process so teams can devote more energy and resources to higher-level responsibilities.

The construction industry is known to have notoriously tight margins, which is why accurately priced data is critical. In addition to streamlining the process of cost calculations, digital takeoff solutions help eliminate the need to print out blueprints to perform manual takeoffs, which is both a costly and time-consuming task.

Easy access to historical project data also helps inform future bids, so estimators can generate more accurately priced estimates. Estimators are often working on multiple projects at a time. Therefore, by minimizing manual processes and reducing rework, estimators are empowered to perform takeoff in a fraction of the time.

Construction software is essential for firms with large estimating teams. Working with desktop-based takeoff solutions can be very challenging. Estimators have to save all their project files and takeoff to their local device, which makes it inflexible to work from anywhere they like and makes collaboration with other estimators on the team impossible.

When multiple silos exist, it becomes difficult to ensure everyone is working from the latest project documents and accurately accounting for all the changes made with a revision. This can result in costly mistakes that can cost companies to either lose the bid or win a job that may not be profitable.

Since everyone is working on the same platform, teams can stay aligned and experience fewer headaches and miscommunication issues. Estimating teams can even leverage project templates in Autodesk Takeoff to save time when starting a new project and improve standardization across their organization. Estimators can finally stop working in silos and create a consistent process across the organization.

Construction takeoffs can make or break the profitability and success of your projects. For this reason, the process needs to be as efficient as possible. Autodesk Takeoff helps you do just that by giving you and your teams access to powerful tools that improve takeoff speed, accuracy, and collaboration.

Use the software's 2D and 3D takeoff capabilities to get a complete view of your projects and easily capture their scope. Multiple estimators can simultaneously access the same project files to review and perform 2D and 3D takeoff, creating a synchronous workflow experience. Gain confidence in your calculations and generate more complex quantities by using formulas in Autodesk Takeoff. Unit costs can be applied to the outputs for both 2D and 3D takeoff to help establish rough budgets and conceptual estimates.

Autodesk Takeoff also serves as a common data environment that keeps your teams, documents, and information in one place. The software empowers estimators and other project stakeholders to collaborate better and produce high-quality estimates.

This white paper, prepared July 2022 by Vertigraph, discloses all of the 3D modeling, quantity takeoff software available for calculating excavation quantities. The quantity takeoff is faster, easier and much more accurate, compared with a manual takeoff, when any of these products are employed.

The cost of the programs vary significantly. Since pricing is rarely disclosed, this listing unveils the cost to license and maintain the programs. Nowadays, programs are licensed by an initial charge (aka perpetual license) with annual support/update fees or under a subscription where the support and updates are included in the annual subscription fee. If any brand of software is omitted, or if any information has changed or is incorrect, please let us know so that we can amend this white paper.

Based on the features disclosed on its website, the WinEx Master version appears competitive with most of the software listed here. Roctek offers two products for excavation takeoff: WinEx Grade and WinEx Master. The Master version has machine control features that are not available in the Grade version. Roctek provides a listing of authorized Dealers on its website. It appears many of the dealers no longer offer the software. One of its dealers, Michael Fiducia of Accordant disclosed pricing. The Roctek website is limited because it does not provide tutorials, pricing or evaluation software.

Vertigraph has prepared this white paper. As a result, please critically evaluate SiteWorx/OS with all of the other takeoff and estimating solutions. Based on the review of the takeoff software available, SiteWorx/OS appears to have all of the features required while being easiest to use and learn at the most affordable price. The Vertigraph web site is the most informative because working evaluation software can be downloaded, pricing is clearly displayed and demos/tutorials are readily available.

Agtek is known as the most expensive product in the industry. The founder and past president of Agtek has stated that Agtek will always be the highest priced product in the market regardless of the competition. If anybody raises their price, Agtek will raise the price even more he stated. He believes that the investment in takeoff software, by contractors who own equipment valued in the millions with over $20 million in annual revenues, should be at least $25,000. Even at this high price, the return on investment is substantial he stated. He may have a point.

Trakware appears to have several different websites that causes confusion since the information is not consistent between the websites. It appears is the newer of the three websites but this page does not provide tutorials or pricing. Cost to license the software was obtained from There is no information provided on the website about the required cost for support, training and updates.

Based on comments received from many users, EarthWork works OK but it is a dated product that does not have the look or feel of a modern Windows application. It appears the number of updates and enhancements are much more limited than most of the other takeoff applications. An old-school hardware dongle, which can be lost or stolen, must be plugged into a USB port in order to operate the software. Trakware claims the software is easy on the budget and is affordable. But the cost to license and the cost for support is not disclosed anywhere on its main website. In summary, it appears this program was originally designed in the DOS environment and many other programs are currently using newer, more modern, technology at a fraction of the cost.

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