The quantity has no trail
A takeoff done in one tool and typed into the estimate leaves a bare number. When the reviewer asks where 1,240 came from, the answer is a different file on someone’s laptop.
Estimating
Quantity takeoff for a construction cost estimate
If you are looking for takeoff that reads quantities off a PDF plan by itself, this is not that. What Fidrel does is narrower: on an estimate line you can take a length, an area or a count from a drawing sheet someone has measured, or from an IFC model, and the line then remembers where the number came from and warns you when the source changes. Quantities arrive in metric units. This page says what that means in practice.
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The gap between a takeoff and an estimate
The drawing changes and the estimate does not
An addendum moves a wall and the sheet is revised. Unless something tells the estimator that the measured sheet changed, the estimate keeps the quantity from the old drawing.
A scale that nobody checked
A quantity taken from a sheet is only as good as its scale. A number measured on a sheet whose scale was typed, not calibrated, should not look as certain as one that was.
What this is, and what it is not
This is not automatic PDF takeoff. Fidrel does not detect walls, rooms or fixtures on an uploaded plan and count them for you. A quantity comes from one of two places: a drawing sheet on which someone has made measurements in Drawing Studio, or an IFC model whose quantities Fidrel can read. If you need a tool that traces a PDF and totals areas, you need a dedicated takeoff program. If you want the estimate to point at the measurements that back it, this is the part that does that.
BIM take-off
From a drawing sheet
Only drawing sheets that are shared with the project and carry measurements appear. When a sheet has no dimensions, rooms or areas to scale, Fidrel says so. For each figure, the picker tells you how far the scale can be trusted: calibrated on the sheet, stated but not checked, or taken from the DWG file and not checked. Choosing Area, Length or Count lets you pick the measured items and add them together.
Taking a quantity onto an estimate line
Step 1
Open the cost item
Select the cost item in the estimate while the estimate is open for changes. Below the quantity, choose Quantity from a drawing or model. After the estimate is approved the source can no longer be changed.
Step 2
Take it from a drawing sheet
Choose a drawing sheet, then Area, Length or Count, and tick the measured items you want. Fidrel lists the dimensions, rooms and areas marked on the sheet, adds up your picks and offers Use with the total.
Step 3
Or take it from an IFC model
Choose a model, pick a line by object type, type or level, and then the figure you want, such as count, length, area or volume. The model must be a prepared model in the project, and one that is too large cannot be measured here.
Step 4
Check the source line
The line now shows the quantity, where it came from and the page. If the drawing changes, it says so, with Take off again to redo it. If you type over the number, it shows the source’s value and Use the source’s quantity.
From an IFC model
A model line offers a count, and a length or an area when the IFC file states one, and a volume taken from the file or worked out from the geometry. When the model has no quantity sets, the panel says so rather than guess. Model counts and volumes are only what the BIM takeoff provides, grouped by object type, type or level. Taking a figure does not change the model. There are no assemblies and no takeoff item library; every line is picked by hand.
Metric units, and why that matters
Quantities are handed over in meters and square meters from drawings, and also in cubic meters from models. Taking a quantity sets the line’s Quantity and its Unit from the source. Fidrel does not convert them to feet, square feet or cubic yards, so a line priced per square foot has to be repriced per square meter, or converted by you. The estimate takes quantities up to three decimals.
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No. Quantities come from measurements marked on a shared drawing sheet in Drawing Studio, or from a prepared IFC model, and you choose which ones to take.
Meters and square meters from drawings, and also cubic meters and counts from models. Fidrel does not convert them to feet or yards.
The estimate line warns that the drawing has changed since the quantity was taken off, and Take off again lets you redo it.
The picker states whether the scale is calibrated on the sheet, stated but not checked, or taken from a DWG file and not checked.
Yes, from a prepared model in the project. You get a count for a group, and a length, area or volume where the file or geometry provides one.
No. You pick the figure for each line, and the line then holds it with its source. Nothing is filled in across the estimate automatically.