Lastly, a construction material takeoff is used as an ordering template for a project. If one contractor’s material costs are significantly higher or lower than another, it can highlight an error in the material pricing or serve as a red flag for that contractor’s pricing strategy. Material takeoffs also serve as a benchmark that can be used as criteria to evaluate bids by separate contractors. Ofen, a material takeoff is produced and then adjusted many times depending on design changes or efforts to reduce costs. Material takeoffs help contractors accurately assess projected material costs for a project.
The importance of a construction material takeoff offsets the time investment. While many contractors or estimators that produce takeoffs manually have streamlined their workflow to increase efficiency, the process itself is time-consuming from beginning to end. Producing a takeoff by hand requires a specialized skill set, particularly if the project is large or complex.
As the size of a project increases, the complexity of producing a construction takeoff scales alongside it. For very simple or small projects, a subcontractor may be able to quickly assess the required materials and costs and provide a material cost estimate with little time involved. A construction takeoff is most often produced as part of a detailed cost estimate. The construction takeoff estimate is combined with other components of an estimate, including labor costs, operational costs, or storage costs, and used to produce a final detailed cost estimate for a project.Ĭonstruction takeoffs are complex and can be very time-consuming. From this, a total material cost estimate for a project is produced. Put simply, a construction takeoff is intended to detail all of the materials required to complete a construction project as well as their associated costs. Each of these terms refers to the same process.
Construction takeoffs may be referred to by a number of terms, including material takeoff, material “take-off”, or quantity takeoff.
#On screen construction takeoff software software
A construction material takeoff is used by the estimator or contractor to understand what materials they need for a project and how much those materials will cost. An essential part of producing a detailed cost estimate for a construction project involves determining total material costs.