Aside from the application itself, ConstructConnect Takeoff, takeoff in the very simplest terms is:
- Cumulative measurements of construction objects (Takeoff Items in our program) for the purpose of estimating the costs associated with building those objects ("the takeoff for Project X is done")
- Individual measurements for a single construction object ("a piece of takeoff represents a door a wall or some area 'Takeoff Item' such as carpeting or concrete")
- The act of taking those measurements. For our purposes by drawing on an electronic representation of the blueprints or plans using Takeoff Items that represent various construction objects ("I need to takeoff Project X and get those results to the estimator for bidding")
Other names for "takeoff" include:
- Take off (the materials necessary to build a specific construction object)
- Measurements
- Quantity Surveys
- Construction Estimate (although takeoff only represents part of an estimate, to create a full estimate or bid or tender, you must apply pricing (labor, materials, etc.) to your measurements)
Before modern takeoff applications an estimator would get out his or her paper plans an estimating rule and colored pencils. Using these tools the estimator measured the plans and transferred those measurements to a ledger or maybe a spreadsheet to add up the "take off" for all the plans in a project. Obviously doing this manually is time-consuming and prone to errors.
Using ConstructConnect Takeoff you still measure your plans but in a much more efficient and accurate way. Our motto is "If it is colored it is counted." which makes verifying your cumulative quantities much easier.
The next Chapters focus on using the Takeoff Tab to create Takeoff Items (Conditions) to represent various building objects, then using those Takeoff Items to draw takeoff editing takeoff. We also cover drawing Annotations, which are just markups on your drawings that make them easier to use but do not affect takeoff results.
First up, we will dive into the Takeoff Tab, it's controls, tools, toolbars, etc.
 Exporting the Plan Organizer Grid to Excel | A Detailed Look at the Takeoff Tab  |
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