What's the difference between an electrical takeoff and an estimate?
A takeoff is the quantities: how many of each device, fixture and piece of equipment, and how many feet of each raceway and wire, measured from the drawings. An estimate turns those quantities into a price: labor hours from labor units, material from supplier prices, plus equipment, subcontracts, overhead and profit. The takeoff answers how much; the estimate answers what it will cost.
Counts of devices, fixtures and equipment, and lengths of raceway and wire, taken from the plans sheet by sheet.
Bill of materials
The takeoff turned into a list your supplier can price, with sizes and quantities.
Estimate
Each line priced: labor units times quantity for hours, supplier prices for material, plus equipment rental, subcontracts and allowances.
Bid price
The estimate plus labor burden, overhead and profit, checked for scope gaps and exclusions before it goes out as a proposal.
Where the two usually go wrong
A count taken from a sheet an addendum replaced. Read the addenda first.
Items shown only on other trades' sheets that never get counted.
Spec requirements that change the material, such as wiring methods or approved manufacturers, lost between the takeoff and the pricing.
Labor units applied without adjusting for height or job conditions.
Questions estimators ask
Is a takeoff the same as a bill of materials?
Close. The takeoff is what you measure; the bill of materials is that list organized for your supplier to price.
Can software do the takeoff?
Yes, more and more. What to check is whether you can verify each count against its sheet, and whether it flags what it isn't sure of instead of guessing.
Does Bidprobe do both?
Yes. Bidprobe counts the electrical plans, prices the takeoff with your labor units and your supplier's prices, and drafts the proposal. The bid check, which reviews the whole tender for scope gaps and contract risks, comes first, in the same product.
From the tender to a priced proposal.
One free bid check on every new account, no card required.