Estimating by Project Type
You have a plan set and a bid date. The question is which estimating service fits the building type in front of you, and what you actually receive when you send the set over. This hub splits our work by end use: residential, commercial, industrial, public works and infrastructure, parking structures, gas station and C-store, and gym and fitness centers. Every service returns the same deliverable shape — Excel and PDF, organized by CSI MasterFormat division, with marked-up plan sets — and every service prices material and labor with ZIP-code-adjusted rates from RSMeans data. What changes between them is scope depth, not format. A parking structure takeoff leans hard on Division 03 and Division 05. A C-store estimate carries Division 22 fuel piping, Division 26, and canopy steel. Pick the child service that matches your drawings, then send the set through Get an estimate.
What this group covers and how the services differ
The seven child services are split by end use, not by trade. Residential covers single-family and multifamily. Commercial covers tenant fit-out and ground-up shell. Industrial covers process and plant work. Public Works & Infrastructure covers DOT and municipal bid forms. Parking Structure, Gas Station & C-Store, and Gym & Fitness Center each carry their own dominant divisions.
Every child service returns one file format: Excel and PDF, organized by CSI MasterFormat division, with marked-up plan sets. Pricing in every child service uses ZIP-code-adjusted material and labor pricing from RSMeans data. Quantity takeoff is performed in Bluebeam Revu and PlanSwift from the same plan set you upload.
What actually differs is scope depth. A parking structure takeoff is heavy on Division 03 cast-in-place and Division 05 structural steel, plus Division 07 traffic coatings and Division 32 striping. A C-store estimate carries Division 22 fuel piping, Division 26 power and lighting, and canopy steel under Division 05. A gym estimate carries Division 11 fitness equipment and Division 09 finishes at a density you will not see in an office fit-out. If you send a parking deck to the commercial service, you will get a commercial takeoff that misses the post-tensioning and the deck drainage. Match the building type to the service.
Turnaround is 24–48 hours for most projects, with rush available. If your bid date is inside 48 hours, say so when you send the set.
Service | Use it when | What you receive
Use this table to match your project to the correct child service. The deliverable column is the same shape across all seven rows — Excel and PDF by MasterFormat division, marked-up plan set, quantity takeoff with units. The trigger column is where the services separate.
| Service | Use it when | Dominant divisions | What you receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | Single-family or multifamily plans; wood frame, podium, or wrap | 03, 06, 09, 15, 22, 26 | Excel + PDF by division, marked-up plans, takeoff with units |
| Commercial | Tenant fit-out or ground-up shell; retail, office, restaurant | 03, 05, 08, 09, 23, 26 | Excel + PDF by division, marked-up plans, takeoff with units |
| Industrial | Process or plant work; equipment pads, piping, high-bay | 03, 05, 22, 23, 26, 40 | Excel + PDF by division, marked-up plans, takeoff with units |
| Public Works & Infrastructure | DOT or municipal bid forms with agency pay items | 02, 03, 31, 32, 33, 34 | Excel + PDF mapped to pay items, marked-up plans |
| Parking Structure | Cast-in-place or precast decks; post-tensioned or mild steel | 03, 05, 07, 14, 26, 32 | Excel + PDF by division, marked-up plans, deck quantities |
| Gas Station & C-Store | Canopy and fueling scope; USTs, dispensers, store build-out | 03, 05, 22, 26, 33 | Excel + PDF by division, marked-up plans, fuel scope |
| Gym & Fitness Center | Fitness equipment and finishes; locker rooms, courts, turf | 03, 09, 11, 15, 22, 26 | Excel + PDF by division, marked-up plans, equipment counts |
How to choose the right service for your bid stage
The right service depends on how far the drawings have progressed, not just the building type.
Schematic or early budget
Use the parent service and ask for a square-foot or unit-cost model with Division 01 general conditions carried separately. At this stage the structural and MEP systems are not fixed, so a full takeoff would be measuring lines that will move. A unit-cost model gives you a number you can carry into a pro forma without pretending to a precision the drawings do not support.
Design development
Switch to the building-type child service once the structural and MEP systems are fixed. Now quantities can be taken off the drawings rather than modeled. This is the point where a parking structure estimate should show post-tensioning tendon quantities by deck level, and a C-store estimate should show canopy steel by member.
Hard bid or GMP
The child service returns a division-by-division takeoff with counts, lengths, areas and volumes you can price directly into your bid form. Counts for fixtures, lengths for pipe and conduit, areas for finishes and roofing, volumes for concrete and excavation.
Public agency bid form
Use Public Works & Infrastructure. That service maps quantities to the agency's pay items rather than to a generic division structure, so your bid form and our takeoff line up.
Fast-track or phased packages
Ask for the estimate split by package so you can bid foundations before the envelope is complete. We will separate the takeoff by package boundary and note which quantities are still at risk from unfinished design.
Code-driven scope
Confirm the adopted code edition with the local building department before pricing fire protection, egress or energy scope. IBC, IRC, IECC, NEC, IPC/UPC and NFPA 13 editions vary by jurisdiction, and a sprinkler density or an egress width that is correct in one city can be wrong in the next.
Our process from plans to estimate
You send the plan set, specifications and any addenda through Get an estimate. We log the set, confirm the drawing index and note the disciplines present — architectural, structural, civil, MEP, fire protection. If a discipline is missing, we tell you before we start rather than after.
Takeoff is run in Bluebeam Revu and PlanSwift. Quantities are grouped by CSI MasterFormat division. Material and labor pricing is adjusted by the project ZIP code using RSMeans data. The estimate is issued in Excel and PDF with a marked-up plan set showing what was measured, so you can trace any line back to the sheet it came from.
Standard turnaround is 24–48 hours for most projects. Rush is available when your bid date is tight. If you are bidding multiple packages, tell us the package split up front so the takeoff is organized the way you will bid it.
What we need from you to start
Send the current plan set, the specifications, and any addenda. If you have a bid form, send that too — it tells us whether you need quantities mapped to agency pay items or to standard divisions. If you have a target budget or a prior estimate, send it; we can flag where our takeoff diverges and why.
Tell us the bid date and whether you need rush. Tell us the ZIP code the work is in, because that drives the material and labor adjustment. Tell us which service you think fits, and if you are not sure, describe the building and we will route it. A retail center with a parking deck is a common mix — we will split the takeoff so the deck is measured under the parking structure scope and the retail under commercial, rather than forcing one service to cover both.
What you receive
- Excel estimate organized by CSI MasterFormat division
- PDF estimate with the same division structure
- Marked-up plan set showing what was measured
- Quantity takeoff with counts, lengths, areas and volumes
- ZIP-code-adjusted material and labor pricing from RSMeans data
- Package split on request for phased or fast-track bids
Related services
Frequently asked questions
Which service should I pick if my project mixes building types, like a retail center with a parking deck?
Send it to the service that covers the larger scope and tell us about the mixed use. We will split the takeoff so the parking deck is measured under the parking structure scope and the retail under commercial. You get one file with both scopes separated by division, not two disconnected estimates.
What do I need to send you to get an estimate started?
Send the current plan set, specifications, and any addenda. Include the bid form if you have one, the bid date, and the project ZIP code. If you have a prior estimate or target budget, send that too so we can flag divergences.
How are quantities organized in the Excel file?
Quantities are grouped by CSI MasterFormat division, with line items carrying counts, lengths, areas or volumes as appropriate to the unit of measure. Division 01 general conditions are carried separately. Each line traces back to the marked-up plan set we issue with the estimate.
Is the takeoff priced with local material and labor rates?
Yes. Material and labor pricing is adjusted by the project ZIP code using RSMeans data. That means a concrete line in one metro will not carry the same labor rate as the same line in another. Tell us the ZIP code when you send the set.
Can you turn an estimate around before a hard bid date?
Standard turnaround is 24–48 hours for most projects, and rush is available when your bid date is tight. Tell us the bid date when you send the set so we can sequence the takeoff around it.
Do you handle public agency bid forms with their own pay item numbers?
Yes. Use the Public Works & Infrastructure service. That service maps quantities to the agency's pay items rather than to a generic division structure, so your bid form and our takeoff line up line for line. Send the bid form with the plan set.
Send your plan set and bid date
Tell us the building type and the ZIP code, and we will route your project to the right service and return an Excel and PDF takeoff by MasterFormat division.
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