FAQ
Takeoff to contract, answered.
Straight answers to what contractors ask before they send a set: cost, turnaround, what to send, how far up the ladder we go, and how we make the numbers hold up. Still stuck? Email the set and we'll quote it.
Getting started
Sending your first set.
What is a commercial quantity takeoff?
A quantity takeoff is the measured schedule of materials and quantities in a set of construction drawings: how many metres, square metres and items are in the job. For a commercial tender it's the document a subcontractor prices off. We measure your trade package from the drawing set and hand back a quantity schedule you can apply your own rates to, plus colour-coded marked-up drawings showing exactly where every number came from.
Do you only do takeoffs, or can you take on more of the tender?
Takeoff is where nearly everyone starts, because measurement is where trust gets earned, and it stays our lead service. Crew hours come with every takeoff as standard. From there we go as far up the ladder as you want: full priced bills and the tender submission itself, checking the contract before you sign it, and then progress claims, variations and delay claims once you are on site. Tell us how far you want us to take it when you send the set, and the proposal covers exactly that.
What do I need to send to get a fixed-fee quote?
The full current tender drawing set, with the drawing revision, and the tender close date. Tell us which trade package you're pricing, how far you want us to take it, and send any specification, addenda or RFI schedule you have. That's enough for us to send a fixed-fee proposal, with no obligation. If anything's missing, we'll tell you before the clock starts.
How fast can I get tender-ready quantities?
Standard turnaround is 2 business days. The clock starts once your proposal is accepted, payment has cleared, and we've confirmed the drawing set is complete, and it runs on business days, so a set confirmed on a Friday afternoon comes back Tuesday afternoon, not over the weekend. Need it sooner? An urgent 24-hour turnaround is available on request. Those 2 business days are the work itself. The proposal comes back long before that: send the set and you'll have a written, fixed-price proposal within 2 hours of receiving your drawings, 8am to 5.30pm Mon to Fri.
Do I have to pay before you start?
For new clients, yes. Payment is made by card when you accept the proposal, and the 2-business-day turnaround starts the moment it clears and the complete drawing set is confirmed. It's a small fixed fee, not a progress claim, and upfront payment is part of what makes the two-day turnaround possible.
Pricing & payment
What it costs, and how you pay.
How much does a commercial takeoff cost in Australia?
Fixed fee, quoted off your drawings before you commit. Most single-trade takeoffs land between $900 and $2,500 + GST. Written proposal within 2 hours, business hours. Every job is quoted as a fixed-fee proposal off the actual drawing set, so the number you accept is the number you pay: no hourly rates, no surprises on the invoice.
Do you charge by the hour, or a fixed fee?
Always a fixed fee per job, never hourly, and never per square metre. You get one number, quoted off your actual drawings before you commit, and that's what you pay regardless of how long the measure takes us. Every figure is quoted plus GST, stated up front.
What you receive
What lands in your inbox.
What's included with every takeoff?
Every job comes back with a quantity schedule as an Excel (.xlsx) file with the formulas intact, colour-coded marked-up drawings (PDF) showing exactly what was measured and where, and an assumptions & exclusions page stating precisely what was measured and what wasn't. A labour-hours schedule comes as standard, and a full priced bill of quantities where you want the whole bill rated. Engagement terms set out the scope, one included revision and the liability cap. The drawing revision and date appear on every page of every deliverable.
What's the difference between a takeoff and a priced BOQ?
A takeoff gives you the measured quantities and marked-up drawings, and you apply your own rates and markup. A priced bill of quantities goes further: we extend the quantities with rates and preliminaries, using your rate library or a recognised published source, so you receive a fully priced bill to review and submit. The labour-hours schedule comes with both.
What is a labour-hours schedule, and why does it matter?
It tells you how long the work actually takes to build: crew size against elapsed days, with the production-rate basis stated on every line. For most trades the crew hours are the number your quote really hangs on, and it's the piece an offshore takeoff mill can't produce, because our estimator has run the crews. If you're pricing your first commercial tenders, it's where the guesswork comes out.
Can you price the job using my own rates?
Yes. The standard job hands you quantities and crew-hours so you can apply your own rates. Nobody knows your margins like you do. If you'd rather receive a fully priced bill, we can rate it from your own rate library or a recognised published source. Either way, the basis is stated on the schedule so you know exactly what you're looking at.
Can you help put the tender submission together?
Yes. Once the quantities and pricing are settled, we can assemble them into a submission-ready package: the schedule, the pricing, and the inclusions, exclusions and qualifications set out the way a head contractor expects to receive them, rather than written at 11pm the night before. You still review and sign off on what goes out, and the commercial calls (your rates, your margin, your risk appetite) stay yours.
What happens if the drawings are revised mid-tender?
It happens on almost every tender. One revision is included in the fee: when an addendum lands, we update the measure. Beyond that, changes are quoted as small variations before we do them, so you're never surprised by a cost. Because the drawing revision and date are recorded on every deliverable, it's always clear which set a given schedule was measured from. It's all set out in the engagement terms.
Working with us
Where we fit in your business.
Do you replace an in-house estimator?
For most trade businesses of five to thirty people, we're the alternative to hiring one: the same pre-construction work, taken job by job, with no salary, no recruitment and no quiet months to carry. If you already have an estimator, we're the overflow lane for the week two tenders land at once, or the package outside what they take on. Nothing has to change internally to try us.
What happens if we win the tender and there's a contract to sign?
That's usually where the real risk sits, and it's the step that gets skipped when a deadline is close. We don't give legal or contract advice, and we won't pretend to. What we can do is bring in specialist construction-law support when a contract needs review, and coordinate it around your timeline so the review happens before you sign rather than after. The advice comes from the specialists; our part is the numbers, the timing, and making sure it doesn't get left to chance.
Trust & accuracy
Why the numbers hold up.
How do I know your quantities are right?
You don't take our word for it. That's the point of the deliverables. Every quantity traces to a colour-coded marked-up drawing, so you can audit any line in seconds. The drawing revision and date sit on every page, so there's never an argument about which set was measured. And an assumptions & exclusions page states exactly what was and wasn't included. On top of that, nothing is released until a trade-qualified estimator has verified the measure line-by-line.
Are your quantities guaranteed?
We don't sell a blanket guarantee, and you should be wary of anyone who does. What we stand behind is a defined process: every measure is verified line-by-line by a trade-qualified estimator before it's released, every quantity is traceable to a marked-up drawing, and the assumptions & exclusions page states the exact scope of what was measured. You review the schedule and apply your own rates before you submit. We do the measure, but the bid stays yours. The engagement terms set out the liability position on every job.
Do you just run the drawings through AI?
No. We use AI-assisted takeoff tools because they make us fast, but nothing goes out that a trade-qualified estimator hasn't verified line-by-line against the drawings. You're not paying for software output; you're paying for a measure a professional is prepared to stand behind. That verification is the difference between us and the cheap mills.
Are my drawings kept confidential?
Yes. Tender drawing sets are treated as commercially confidential. We never share your drawings, quantities or pricing with competitors or any third party, and any rates you give us are used on your work and nowhere else. We also never discuss who we work with, which protects you the same way it protects everyone else. Your files are stored in a secure, Australian-administered account, accessible only to the people delivering your job. Full detail is in our privacy policy.
Trades & scope
Who and what we measure.
Do you do residential takeoffs?
Our focus is commercial tenders, and that's what keeps our measures sharp on the work most of our clients are bidding. Residential we look at case by case: send the drawings through and we'll tell you quickly whether it's a fit and what it would cost. If your residential pipeline has gone quiet and you're moving into commercial for the first time, that's exactly who we're built for: send the commercial package through and we'll hand back quantities and crew-hours on a commercial basis.
Which trades do you measure?
Our core is carpentry, joinery, fitout and demolition/strip-out. We also measure the architectural fitout cluster (partitions and ceilings, flooring, painting, tiling, glazing and wall linings), as well as earthmoving and civil, and electrical and plumbing packages. If your trade isn't listed, send the set anyway and we'll tell you straight whether we can measure it.
How is this different from an offshore takeoff service?
Offshore mills sell cheap numbers measured by someone who's never stood on a site, with no local accountability when a figure looks wrong the night before a bid, and nobody there at all once the job is won. Every measure we release is verified by a trade-qualified estimator who has built commercial work, every quantity traces to a marked-up drawing you can audit, and we include a labour-hours schedule the mills can't produce. When something needs checking at 9pm, there's an Australian firm that answers for the number, and stays with you through the submission and the contract that follows.
Contact
Still weighing it up?
The useful answer isn't another FAQ: it's a fixed fee off your actual drawings. Send the set closing soonest to hello@innovateestimating.com.au and you'll have a written, fixed-price proposal within 2 hours of receiving your drawings, 8am to 5.30pm Mon to Fri. No obligation.
Based in Melbourne · serving trade contractors Australia-wide.