Typical takeoff refers to takeoff that repeats multiple times in a project - anything from an entire Building or Floor to a single wall can be Typical takeoff, depending on the situation.
For example, if you were taking off a multi-story building, there could be an elevator lobby that is the same on every floor or just some of the floors. Or maybe, there are units (rooms, apartments, suites, etc.) that occur numerous times in your project.
There are two different Typical Takeoff features that make accounting for recurring objects or groups of objects quick and accurate:
- Typical Groups - sort of an advanced "Copy and Paste". You define a Typical Group and then place Markers throughout your bid to instruct the program to make a copy of that Typical Group and put it wherever there is a Marker. You can show or hide the takeoff at each Marker - very handy if you are going to print out your plans and takeoff and send to the field or a supervisor.
- Typical Areas - a matrix of Bid Areas and multipliers that allows you to calculate final quantities from a single instance of takeoff. You only see the takeoff once - the program does all the multiplying in the background and shows you the results in the Takeoff Items Pane and on the Summary and Worksheet Tabs. Useful to get a "quick and dirty" estimate of takeoff quantities. You can then go back and replace the Typical Areas with Typical Groups if you want to see takeoff objects.
Should You Use Typical Groups, Areas, or Both?
That is a great question and comes down to whether you need to see all the takeoff or if multiplied quantities are all you need.
Each type of Typical Takeoff allows a user to takeoff something once and apply it two, three, or five hundred times or more in the same bid. Typical Takeoff can save you hours, if not days, of repetitive work.
You can combine Typical Groups and Typical Areas in one bid. For example, if you are taking off a multi-story hotel and Floors 3-10 are identical. You could setup the different units as Typical Groups and place takeoff all instances on one Page, then assign everything on that Page to Typical Areas that could multiply-out the remaining floors. This can make taking off floors of repeating (typical) rooms/suites/units super fast! You still see an entire floor of takeoff objects, for your field to reference, but you do not have to put Markers on each Page.
We will cover Typical Groups, Areas, and using both together, in the articles that follow, starting with Typical Groups.
Typical Takeoff Example
We are going to use the same example for the rest of this Chapter to demonstration Typical Groups, Typical Areas, and using both together.
Our example is a high rise condo, and we are acting as a contractor who installs carpeting, floors, and wall coverings, etc. We are being contracted to install carpets and flooring in the suites on each Floor and to tile the floor and install wall coverings in the elevator lobbies.
Floors 1, 2, and 3, are unique, although the some of the same condo units used on Floors 4-22 occur on each, their common areas and the number of units on each is different. Floors 4-22 are identical and also use several of the same units. The elevator lobbies for Floor 4-22 are identical (all 8' deck height), but the elevator lobbies on Floors 1-3 have a deck height of 10'.
We are going use Typical Groups to account for a single instance of each of the suites, and then place a Typical Group Marker anywhere each suite occurs on Floors 1-3.
We will use Typical Areas to account for the Elevator lobbies.
And we will use a combination of Typical Groups and Typical Areas to takeoff off Floors 4-22 on the "typical floor plan" Page.
Invest a Little Time Now, Save a Huge Amount of Time Later
Typical Groups, Typical Areas, and combining them can seem a little confusing at first, but we encourage you to review this User Guide and view the linked videos. There is nothing that will save you quite as much time preparing your takeoff than using Typical Groups and Typical Areas. Once you master these, you will save hours, if not days, performing the takeoff on your project.
If you have questions about using Typical Takeoff, contact our Customer Success team and we will be happy to show you how to use it.
Multi-Condition Takeoff: Counts Only