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Quantity take-off

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The process of measuring and counting the quantities of work and materials in a project directly from its drawings, models and specifications.

A quantity take-off (QTO) is the measurement exercise that sits underneath every bill of quantities and every detailed estimate. Estimators or quantity surveyors work through the documentation drawing by drawing, applying a set of measurement rules — a published standard method of measurement or an internal convention — so that "one metre of wall" means the same thing on every project and to every bidder.

The distinction from a material take-off is scope. A quantity take-off measures items of work — excavation, formwork, welding, painting — including the labour they carry, and it feeds pricing documents. A material take-off lists the physical materials to be purchased. The two overlap but are consumed by different people for different purposes.

Take-off is where the most repetitive manual effort in estimating lives. It is counting and measuring at scale, it must be redone in part or in full for every design revision, and two experienced people measuring the same drawings routinely arrive at different quantities because they interpreted the documents, not just read them. Most disputes about an estimate are ultimately disputes about a take-off.

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