A construction material takeoff is an essential component of any new construction project. It is the laborious process of estimating the quantity, type, and size of materials needed to complete a construction project. This comprehensive list is used by contractors and construction companies to determine the total cost of a project, create budgets, and make accurate bids. Let’s explore everything you need to know about construction material takeoffs.
A construction material takeoff (aka MTO) is a detailed list of all the materials needed for a construction project for any given scope of work. This includes all materials, big and small, from roof trusses to nuts & bolts. To create the material takeoff list, an experienced estimator analyzes the project’s drawings and specifications and identifies all materials required for the scope of work. You cannot write a bid without doing some form of a takeoff. It is the critical, fundamental first step in executing a construction project.
Construction material takeoffs are essential for creating competitive bids, keeping your pipeline full.
Your quantities are the largest factor in calculating your price. If your quantities and measurements are off, your price is off. Being artificially high can cost you the job, and possibly tarnish your reputation. Being artificially low can have major financial consequences. Winning a project without the budget to cover its costs is not a pretty picture, but more on that later.
Imagine you’re building a new house, and your contractor’s proposal has a line item for the roof priced at $50,000 for 5,000 SF of shingled roofing. Now, imagine if your contractor had an extra zero in the quantity, your roof just became a $500,000 expense due to a simple error. You’re not even calling this guy back! What a nut! Of course, this is an extreme example, and the team usually corrects errors like this before they reach the client. However, smaller quantity errors easily fall below the radar, throwing off your budget expectations and costing you the job.
Conversely, imagine you as the contractor turn in a bid for $1,000,000 and you’re awarded the job as the apparent low-bidder. The job gets underway, you order materials, and your Project Manager panics, realizing they’re WAY short on trees! Some 50+ large trees didn’t make it into your bid and budget. You retrace your estimator’s steps, re-reviewing multiple plan sets, rummaging through dozens of spreadsheets, emails, hand-written notes, and, as a result, discover that the estimator overlooked the addition of these 50 trees in an ASI. Guess what? You still owe your client those trees… for a gut-wrenching additional $50,000+ in cost.
These are the types of lessons that have led many contractors to Takeoff Monkey — to take this material takeoff process off their plate!
Performing a takeoff, no matter how critical your numbers are, is mundane, laborious, extraordinarily time-consuming, and mind-numbing work. Research even suggests that these repetitive tasks can take a toll on morale and impact employee mental health. Staring at black & white lines and symbols on a computer screen while fielding phone calls, emails, and questions from your colleagues is enough to drive anyone bonkers. Meanwhile, you’re losing valuable time that could be invested elsewhere.
In the commercial world, you have to bid on a lot of projects to keep your pipeline full. That means performing a lot of material takeoffs. So, how do you keep up? You’ve got a Senior Estimator on staff with a wealth of knowledge and experience, but do you really want them to spend 80%+ of their time pointing and clicking at a screen? Isn’t that a resource better spent making deals with suppliers, submitting finalized bids, or spending time with your clients? Maybe your boss’ kid just graduated college, and they stuck you with giving them a job. Are takeoffs the perfect task for a greenhorn? Probably not, not without extensive oversight and review by a senior team member. Otherwise, their innocent little mistakes could cost you dearly.
Where do you turn? To Takeoff Monkey, of course! Performing takeoffs is what we do, and all we do! We exist to help you accelerate your sales process without blowing your budget. Our entire team has worked in some form or facet of the construction industry for our entire careers. Our 1:1, lightning-fast personalized material takeoff service will make you feel like you’ve got an entire new team at your disposal because… well, you do!
Takeoff Monkey is founded on three basic values: fast, simple, and accurate. Our materials takeoff specialists turn work around quickly so you can stay ahead of the competition (our average MTO turnaround is 48 hours!).
Takeoff Monkey keeps things simple. We create your delivered files just for you, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel with every takeoff. In fact, we’ll bend over backwards so that you don’t have to. Last, but certainly not least, we are accurate. Each and every project delivered goes through multiple layers of review, including by our US-based team, before it makes it to your inbox. We don’t let mistakes slip by. We welcome you to upload a project, contact our specialists, or see if you qualify for a free trial run to get started today!
Curious? Give us a try. We cover the first 5 pages—no strings attached!
