Preconstruction, takeoff and estimating

In short

What an estimating assistant can and cannot do to a drawing set — where automated quantity extraction is dependable, where it quietly is not, and how a number gets from takeoff into an estimate somebody is willing to sign.

5 pages

definitions

A takeoff condition is a measurement rule, not a highlighted areaThe coloured region on the sheet is the output of a condition, not the condition itself. The condition is the record that says what was measured, in what unit, with what adjustments, and where the number goes next.definition8 min
Bid alternates are several estimates wearing one cover sheetAn add or deduct alternate is a second estimate, not an adjustment. It has its own quantities, its own sub scope, its own duration and its own general conditions, and it has to survive into award as its own object.definition8 min
The allowance line: what it is, and what it quietly defers to laterAn allowance is not a placeholder number. It is a decision somebody has agreed to make later, with a date attached — and the estimate rarely records either the decision or the date.definition8 min
What a unit cost library needs to carry before it can price a second jobContractor cost libraries rarely fail on the number. They fail on the missing context that says when the number applies — crew, production basis, boundary, market and date.definition8 min

diagnostic

Every length in the takeoff is wrong by the same percentageCounts are right, lengths are proportionally wrong, areas are wrong by the square of the same factor. That signature points at scale — and the ratio you measure tells you whether one calibration fixes it or nothing does.diagnostic10 min

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