Concrete estimating
Concrete estimating that shows how it got there.
Send a PDF plan set. Get back a complete concrete bid package in 48–72 hours: takeoff workbook, priced proposal, marked-up plan set, RFI list and PM task list. Every quantity states how it was derived and names the sheet it came from.
What a TopOut concrete package contains
Five files, all editable, on your letterhead and at your rates.
- Takeoff workbook (.xlsx): quantities by element and by operation. Each row names its sheet and how it was derived.
- Priced proposal (.docx / PDF): your lump sum, your scope and your exclusions, ready to send.
- Marked-up plan set (PDF): the counted sheets, bubbled where each quantity came from.
- RFI list (.docx / PDF): the questions the drawings left open, written to send.
- PM task list (.xlsx): what your PM runs the job from after award.
Nothing is locked. Change any number before you send it.
What we take off, by element
The list, with the unit each element is counted in. The unit is where scope goes missing: formwork factored from volume instead of measured by face, drop caps folded into the deck, a two-face wall counted once.
- Foundations — footings, grade beams, pits
- Pad and continuous footings, grade beams and pile caps by mark, from the schedule. Elevator and sump pits carried as walls plus a slab.CY · SF · LF · EA
- Slab on grade and thickened slabs
- Gross area at the scheduled thickness. Thickened edges and interior thickenings on their own lines.CY · SF · LF
- Elevated decks and mat pours
- By level, at the thickness the section shows. Ramps, toppings and openings on their own lines; opening bulkhead measured as edge form.CY · SF · LF
- Columns and pilasters
- By mark and level, stopped at the soffit so the deck above is counted once.CY · SF · LF · EA
- Shear walls
- By mark and level, both faces formed unless the detail says otherwise. Length × height is checked against the stated face area, and a disagreement is reported.CY · SF · LF
- Perimeter and retaining walls
- One-side or two-side form as the section shows. A one-side form against shoring is its own line.CY · SF · LF
- Drop caps and column capitals
- Their own line. Folded into the deck or the column, a drop cap is counted twice or lost.CY · SF · EA
- Stairs and topping slabs
- Cast-in-place flights and landings, and topping over deck or precast, each its own group.CY · SF · LF
- Reinforcing — rebar and post-tensioning
- From the schedules, by bar size and by element, post-tensioning separate. Unscheduled reinforcing comes back as a declared allowance on its own line.LB · TON
- Scope boundaries — masonry, embeds, hardware
- CMU, embedded items and hardware are assigned to the trade that carries them, in writing.Named in writing
And by operation, against every element
Each element is also carried by operation, so formwork is a measured contact area rather than a percentage of volume:
- Formwork: contact area, by face, in SF.
- Reinforcing: mild steel and PT, in LB and TON.
- Placement: volume, in CY.
- Finish: surface area receiving a finish, in SF.
- Prep: subgrade, vapor barrier, edge and blockout prep, in SF.
- Joints: construction, control and expansion joints, in LF.
We measure the work. Your rate sheet prices it.No man-hour, crew-day or productivity figure appears anywhere in the takeoff. Every line is a unit you can put a number against.
How we get to the number
Every quantity in the workbook states how it was derived, one of four:
- Measured: off the drawing. The row names the sheet.
- From schedule: computed from a schedule the set publishes. The arithmetic is ours, the inputs are the engineer's.
- Allowance: the drawings are silent, so a stated figure sits on its own line with its basis. Keep it, change it or strike it.
- Open: unknown. Carried at zero and put on the RFI list.
When a line is not measured, the row says so. The workbook also keeps “this element carries no formwork” apart from “nobody has looked at this element yet”, which is why the open-items list at the back is short.
What the takeoff refuses to doA dimension it cannot parse, a unit in the wrong case, a total that does not tie to its parts: each one stops the run and is reported. A silent repair produces a number that looks fine and cannot be found later.
An estimator reads the whole thing before it leaves. The software counts; the estimator decides what the gaps mean. The method, shown on a real foundation plan, is in the concrete capability PDF.
The five files
The package itself, in the order you open it.
Cast-in-place concrete, CSI Division 3, on one bid. Workbook first.
Demonstration package. The job, drawings, marks, quantities and dollars below were invented for this page. None come from a client and none are a price for real work; we never publish or excerpt a client's plan set or bid documents. What is real is the structure of each document and the DERIVATION field on every workbook row.
1 · Takeoff workbook .xlsx
One row per element, the sheet it came from, and how it was derived. MEASURED: the dimension is on a sheet. FROM SCHEDULE: our arithmetic on the engineer's inputs. ALLOWANCE: the drawings are silent, so a stated figure sits on its own line for you to keep or strike. OPEN: unknown, carried at zero, on the RFI list. A dash in the sheet column means the set does not carry the item. Formwork and open items sit on their own tabs.
| Mark | Description | Sheet ref | Qty | Unit | Derivation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FF-1 | Pad footing, 6'-0" sq. x 24" deep, 34 locations | S2.10 | 90.7 | CY | FROM SCHEDULE |
| FF-2 | Pad footing, 8'-0" sq. x 30" deep, 12 locations | S2.10 | 71.1 | CY | FROM SCHEDULE |
| CF-1 | Continuous footing, 24" x 18", 612 LF | S2.11 | 68.0 | CY | MEASURED |
| GB-1 | Grade beam, 18" x 36", 248 LF, garage line B | 3/S5.02 | 41.3 | CY | MEASURED |
| EP-1 | Elevator pit, 12" walls and mat, 6'-0" deep | 5/S5.02 | 2 | EA | MEASURED |
| SOG-1 | Slab on grade, 5" over vapor retarder, garage | S2.10 | 28,450 | SF | MEASURED |
| TS-1 | Thickened slab, 16" x 24" at interior bearing | 7/S5.02 | 386 | LF | MEASURED |
| POD-1 | Podium transfer deck, 14" one-way slab, Level 2 | S2.20 | 24,900 | SF | MEASURED |
| ED-1 | Elevated deck, 8" flat plate, Levels 3 to 5 | S2.30 | 71,400 | SF | FROM SCHEDULE |
| DC-1 | Drop cap, 10'-0" sq. x 10" below deck soffit | 2/S5.04 | 46 | EA | FROM SCHEDULE |
| TOP-1 | Topping slab, 2-1/2" at podium terrace | S2.21 | 3,180 | SF | MEASURED |
| C-1 | Column, 24" x 24", garage to Level 2 | S3.10 | 38 | EA | FROM SCHEDULE |
| C-2 | Column, 18" diameter, Levels 2 to 5 | S3.10 | 22 | EA | FROM SCHEDULE |
| SW-1 | Shear wall, 12" thick, garage to roof, one face | S3.20 | 9,860 | SF | MEASURED |
| PW-1 | Perimeter wall, 10" thick, 12'-0" high | S3.21 | 742 | LF | MEASURED |
| FW-1 | Wall formwork, contact area, both faces | S3.20, S3.21 | 37,528 | SF | MEASURED |
| ST-1 | Stair flight, cast-in-place, 11 risers, 4'-6" wide | S6.01 | 6 | EA | MEASURED |
| RB-1 | Reinforcing, #4 bar, slabs and thickened edges | SG2.01F | 18,600 | LB | FROM SCHEDULE |
| RB-2 | Reinforcing, #5 bar, footings and grade beams | SG2.01F | 26,400 | LB | FROM SCHEDULE |
| RB-3 | Reinforcing, #8 bar, column and boundary cages | SG3.01F | 31,700 | LB | FROM SCHEDULE |
| RB-4 | Reinforcing accessories, chairs, ties and laps | — | 4,900 | LB | ALLOWANCE |
| PT-1 | Post-tension tendons, elevated decks Levels 3 to 5 | S2.30 Note 6 | — | LB | OPEN |
| SUBTOTAL, CY ROWS ABOVE, 271.1 CY · SF, LF, EA AND LB ROWS TOTAL ON THEIR OWN TABS · PT-1 IS OPEN AND CARRIED AT ZERO | |||||
2 · Priced proposal .docx · PDF
Your letterhead, your logo, and the lump sum extended at the unit rates you sent. No rate in it is ours. The black bar is where a real package carries your identity.
Your company name and logo here · Cast-in-Place Concrete
We propose to furnish all labor, material, equipment and supervision to form, place, finish and cure the cast-in-place concrete shown on the S-series drawings and described in the attached scope of work: spread and continuous footings, grade beams, the elevator pit, slab on grade, garage and podium columns, shear and perimeter walls, the Level 2 transfer deck, elevated decks at Levels 3 through 5, topping and cast-in-place stairs, complete and in place.
LUMP SUM: $1,284,500.00 · one million two hundred eighty-four thousand five hundred dollars. Base bid; the alternate below is not carried.
- QUANTITIES: The attached takeoff states for every line whether it was measured, taken from a schedule, or carried as a stated allowance. Nothing in this bid is a quantity we could not show you the source of.
- REINFORCING: Furnished and installed per the schedules on SG2.01F and SG3.01F, by bar size and by element. Placing drawings and bar-bending schedules are by the fabricator.
- STATED ALLOWANCE: One allowance is carried, for reinforcing accessories, chairs and tie wire. It appears on its own line and may be struck without repricing the balance of the bid.
- FORMWORK: Measured as contact area by face, not factored from concrete volume. Shoring and reshoring are included for the decks shown. Formwork, shoring and reshoring engineering is by others.
- CONCRETE SUPPLY: Ready-mix at the mix designs shown on S0.01 is included. A change in design strength or admixture after award is a change in scope.
- TAXES AND LABOR BASIS: California sales and use tax on material is included. Priced as private open-shop work; prevailing wage and project labor agreement labor are not included.
ALT-1, POST-TENSIONING: Tendons at the Levels 3 through 5 elevated decks are a deferred submittal per Note 6 on S2.30 and are excluded from the lump sum. See RFI-002. We will price this alternate on receipt of the tendon layout.
Pricing held thirty days. Addenda issued after the date above are subject to review.
3 · Marked-up plan set PDF
Every counted element gets a bubble carrying the mark in the workbook, so when you check a quantity you are looking at the same sheet the estimator was. Where an element is bubbled on one sheet and dimensioned on another, the row records the sheet the quantity came from and says FROM SCHEDULE.
4 · RFI list .docx · PDF
Every set has gaps. Found in the bid period they cost a question; found after award they cost a change order. These four came out of the takeoff, and each names where we looked. Questions that could be closed by reading the set were closed.
Bid-Period Requests for Information
- RFI-001 · S2.10 vs 3/S5.02: The footing schedule on S2.10 gives FF-2 as 8'-0" square by 30" deep. Section 3/S5.02 shows the same mark at 8'-0" square by 36" deep. Confirm which governs. The difference is 14 CY of concrete across twelve locations, plus the excavation and the mat reinforcing under it. Checked: the footing schedule, all sections on S5.02, the general structural notes on S0.02, and the geotechnical report.
- RFI-002 · S2.30, Note 6: Note 6 states that the post-tension tendon layout is a deferred submittal. No tendon quantity, profile or effective force appears on S2.30, in the deck schedule, or in Section 03 30 00. Confirm whether the tendon package is carried by this subcontract or supplied directly by the post-tensioning supplier. The row is open in the takeoff and carried at zero until this is answered. Checked: the full S2 series, the specification, the deferred-submittal list on the permit set cover, and Addendum 2.
- RFI-003 · S3.20 vs A2.02: Shear wall SW-1 is shown 12" thick on S3.20 and 10" thick on architectural plan A2.02 between grids B and C. Confirm the thickness. The two readings change the wall volume, the formwork contact area and the boundary-element cage. Checked: the wall schedule on S3.20, all architectural plans and sections at that location, and Addendum 2.
- RFI-004 · S2.21 vs A9.04: The podium terrace topping is called out at 2-1/2" on S2.21, while the waterproofing assembly on A9.04 shows 3-1/2" of cover over the membrane at the same location. Confirm the topping thickness and who sets the finish elevation. Checked: S2.21, the A9 series details, Section 07 14 00, and the roof plan.
5 · PM task list .xlsx
Generated off the same line items as the takeoff, so what your PM works from is what you bid. Open rows and allowances carry through, so a bid-period question is still on the list the week the deck gets formed.
| Item | Task | Ties to | Sheet ref | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Mix design submittals, footings, walls and decks | FF-1, SW-1, POD-1 | S0.01 | Before first placement |
| 02 | Reinforcing shop drawings and bar list | RB-1 to RB-3 | SG2.01F | With mix designs |
| 03 | Close RFI-002, post-tension package ownership | PT-1 (open) | S2.30 Note 6 | Before deck submittals |
| 04 | Obtain sealed formwork, shoring and reshoring drawings | POD-1, ED-1 | S2.20 | Before Level 2 forming |
| 05 | Check pit dimensions against the elevator submittal | EP-1 | 5/S5.02 | Before pit excavation |
| 06 | Embed and anchor-bolt layout with the steel fabricator | POD-1 | S2.20 | Before podium pour |
| 07 | Subgrade and vapor retarder acceptance | SOG-1 | S2.10 | Before slab on grade |
| 08 | Pre-pour inspection request, footings and grade beams | FF-1, FF-2, GB-1 | S2.10 | Each placement |
| 09 | Cylinder set, slump and temperature record | All placements | S0.01 | Each placement |
| 10 | Sawcut control joints within the specified window | SOG-1 | S2.10 Note 3 | Day of placement |
| 11 | Agree construction and cold-joint locations with the GC | POD-1, ED-1 | S2.20 | Before each deck pour |
| 12 | Confirm or strike the RB-4 accessories allowance | RB-4 (allowance) | — | At buyout |
| 13 | Log as-placed quantities against the bid takeoff | All line items | — | Monthly |
Where the RFIs come from, and why they're short
The RFI list falls out of the takeoff: every place the drawings left a question is already an open item on the row that needed it. Two kinds:
- Missing from the total. An element with no source, a dimension the set never states, a scope the drawings exclude in a note. Named, and left out of the number.
- Carried with a caveat. A quantity that moves if a schedule is revised, a convention adopted because the set is silent, two sheets that could both be read as the same element. In the total, with the disclosure beside them.
An RFI that can be closed by reading is not an RFIEvery candidate is tested against the whole set first, specifications, geotechnical and civil sheets included, and the sheets are read a second way because text search is blind to a scanned detail. Only the questions that survive go on the list, and each says where we looked.
Where convention and the drawings already agree, the proposal carries a written exclusion rather than a question. Asking a GC who installs something invites the answer: you do.
What we exclude, and why we say so up front
An exclusion list that arrives with the bid is your scope of work. One that arrives after it is a change-order argument. These are the defaults; your proposal prints the ones that apply to your job.
Included
- Takeoff of everything listed above, by element, operation and sheet
- Formwork contact area measured by face
- Reinforcing off the schedules, by bar size and by element
- A priced, send-ready proposal at your unit rates, with your scope and exclusions written in
- An RFI list drawn from the gaps and conflicts in the set
- A PM task list for the job once it's awarded
- Addenda re-priced against the takeoff already built, quoted as an addition
Not included
- Mix design, engineering and sealed calculations
- Any PE stamp (nothing we produce is sealed)
- Formwork engineering, shoring and reshoring design
- Rebar placing drawings and bar-bending schedules
- Material procurement, ready-mix supply and buyout
- Placing crews, pumps, cranes and field supervision
- Testing, special inspection and cylinder breaks
- Crew productivity or man-hour assumptions
- Pricing for scope not shown on the drawings you send
Where the drawings are silent on something the job will clearly need, it comes back as an RFI and an allowance you can keep or strike.
Every line traces back to a sheet
Every row carries the sheet and detail it came from, S2.1A, 5/S5.02, beside the element, operation, unit and derivation. A GC asks where the shear-wall formwork came from and you answer in seconds. An addendum lands at 4 p.m. and only the rows that touch the affected sheets get re-priced.
Why every row names its sheetAn unreferenced quantity is an opinion. A referenced one is a claim anyone can check against the drawing: your PM, the GC's estimator, or you the night before the bid.
What we need from you
A PDF plan set and your rate sheet. The set as a file or a link: Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, a GC's plan room. Any size, no portal. The rate sheet because we carry no rates of our own, and a proposal cannot be priced without one. Three more things help:
- Your rate sheet. Concrete per CY placed, formwork per SF of contact by type, reinforcing per LB or TON, finishing per SF, pump and pour, markup. Send a past estimate and we read your rates out of it.
- The bid form and invitation. They name the alternates and bid items the GC expects.
- Addenda issued so far.
- The county and awarding agency, so prevailing wage or a project labor agreement is flagged before you price.
Turnaround and rush
48 to 72 hours from when the plan set and your rates land. A 24 to 48-hour rush is +35%. Tell us the bid date and we confirm delivery before starting; if a date is not workable we say so then.
We work from offices in San Jose and San Diego across every county in California, and we take out-of-state sets. Addenda after delivery are re-priced against the takeoff already built and quoted as an addition.
What it costs
Your first concrete package is half price. After that, one price per bid package, quoted before we start:
- Starter, $550–750. A single scope: a foundation package, a slab on grade, one podium deck.
- Standard, $950–1,400. A typical commercial bid. One building, footings through decks, with reinforcing.
- Complex, $1,800–2,900. Multi-building or phased work, or concrete spread across the structural, civil and landscape sheets.
Add 35% for a 24 to 48-hour rush. Send the set and we tell you the band before any work starts.
Why this costs more than a $200 takeoffA concrete quantity list sells online for $150 to $400, and the arithmetic is often fine. What arrives is a spreadsheet. Firms that also write the proposal, the RFIs and the scope publish no price; the one published figure we found for a complete bid package was $1,500 to $5,000. This is that package, from $550, with the number on the page.
Questions concrete subs ask
Do you price the job, or just count it?
Both, at your rates. We measure the work and extend it at the unit rates you send. We carry no rate book.
How accurate is it?
We don't quote an accuracy percentage; a percentage without the method behind it tells you nothing. Every row names its sheet and states how it was derived, and every gap is on the RFI list. Pick a row and check it against the drawing.
What if the drawings are incomplete?
They usually are. Where the set is silent, the gap comes back as an RFI you can send as written, plus an allowance on its own line to keep or strike.
Is formwork measured or factored?
Measured, as contact area by face. Factoring from volume goes wrong exactly where the money is: one-side forms against shoring, tall walls, coffered decks.
What happens when an addendum drops?
Send it. Every row is tied to a sheet, so only what the addendum touched is re-priced, and the delta is called out.
Union or open shop?
Whichever the job is, at your rates. Give us the county and awarding agency and we flag prevailing wage or a project labor agreement before you price.
Is my plan set confidential?
Never shared, never used to bid against you, deleted on request.
Send one concrete plan set. See what comes back.
Email the set with the job name and the bid date, or call and talk it through with an estimator first.