This article is all about the Importance of a take off list in quantity surveying and construction.
Before starting taking off quantities (abstracting quantities from drawings) for a construction project, the quantity surveyor or estimator should first sit down and prepare a rough ‘to-do’ this or take-off list.
This is simple best practice for any quantity surveyor or estimator and should always be completed for taking off any quantities.
This should be a simple list of the quantities that are required, listed in a logical sequence. The quantity surveyor or estimator should try and imagine the building works in three dimensions and envisage how this building will be construction from the start to finish.
This step is one of the most important in ensuring that construction budgets and pricing documents can be relied upon
Having a take-off list should:
The importance of a logical sequence in taking off cannot be over-emphasised.
If a quantity surveyor or estimator has to ‘take-off’ quantities for new flooring to a building they will sit down and read the drawings.
They can jot down a quick, simple take off list that includes everything they will need to measure.
For example:
Suspended timber floors
Concrete beds
Suspended concrete slabs