Flooring takeoff software, built into your bid desk

What does the takeoff tool measure?

Everything a flooring takeoff needs, by finish code. You draw a shape on the plan and IntelBid does the arithmetic from the shape and the sheet's scale, so a quantity can never drift away from the shape it came from.

• Area, by clicking corners or a rectangle in two clicks, in SF. Each area also reports its perimeter in LF.
• Deduct, an area taken back out of a finish's total: fixed casework, a large column, an equipment pad.
• Linear, for base, cove and transitions, in LF. Give a run a height and it also reports wall area in SF.
• Count, for floor boxes, drains and thresholds, in EA.

Each finish code (CPT-1, LVT-1, RB-1) totals on its own in the Measures table, with a breakdown by sheet. The whole takeoff exports as a CSV: totals per code, then per sheet with the scale each was measured at.

How does room fill work?

On a digital plan set, hold W over a room and it lights up with its area, perimeter and base, which is the perimeter less its openings. Click and it's measured as the finish code you're working in. It reads the drawing's own lines: the heaviest pens are walls, gaps in a wall are openings, and a room tag names the shape.

It is deliberately cautious. If a space isn't closed it says so and offers finer lines instead of guessing, and on a scanned sheet, which has no lines to read, it tells you and you measure by hand.

How does it handle scale?

• Read from the title block. The scale note is read off the sheet and shown as a suggestion until you confirm it.
• Picked from the standard scales, or calibrated by clicking both ends of a dimension you know and typing its length.
• Viewports. An enlarged plan or a detail on the same sheet gets its own scale, and shapes drawn inside it use it.
• No scale, no quantity. A shape on a sheet with no scale is left out of the totals and flagged, never estimated.

Can I bring my Bluebeam tool sets?

Yes. Import a tool set exported from Bluebeam (a .btx file) and its measuring tools come across as area, linear and count tools with their names and colors. Highlights, clouds, stamps and text aren't measurements, so they don't come, and IntelBid tells you how many it left out. Importing the same set again updates it.

Then save a client's finish codes once as a set for the whole company and add it to that client's next bid in one click. My Tools keeps your most-used tools on the number keys.

What else is in it?

• Snap to the drawing's own lines and to shapes you've already drawn. Shift straightens a line, and Alt places a point without snapping.
• Markup: highlighters, text, callouts, clouds and arrows, and a label or a note on any shape.
• Pages: extract or insert pages by range ("1-3, 7, 10-") and save the new PDF into Bid Docs. The original is never touched.
• Copy and paste shapes across sheets, plan files and bids. Each keeps its finish code. Undo and redo throughout.
• A magnifier, rulers in real feet, and shortcuts you can rebind.

Measure your first sheet in five steps

1. 1
   Open the plan

   In the bid, open Bid Docs and click the purple ruler beside a plan PDF.
2. 2
   Confirm the scale

   Accept the scale read from the title block, or calibrate on a dimension you know.
3. 3
   Set up a finish code

   Name it the way the finish schedule does, or add a client's saved set.
4. 4
   Measure

   Area, rectangle, linear or count, whichever the plan calls for. Deduct what the floor doesn't cover.
5. 5
   Read the totals

   The Measures table under the sheet adds up every finish code, with a breakdown by sheet. Take it to a spreadsheet as a CSV, or extract the sheets into Bid Docs and file them as a QTO for Auto Draft.

What are its limits?

Worth knowing before you rely on it:

• It's for office seats. Field seats never see Bid Docs, so they never see the takeoff.
• The takeoff tool is for desktop for now.
• Room fill and snapping read a plan's vector lines, so they work on digital plan sets. A scanned sheet still measures by hand.
• A takeoff is kept in the browser on the computer where it was drawn, with a backup file you can download. Tool sets are saved to your company.
• Auto Draft reads a takeoff from a QTO PDF in Bid Docs, so extract the measured sheets there and file them as a QTO first. It can't read a drawing that is only on your screen.