The takeoff across 1,000 sheets
One beam's true scope lives on five drawings: plan, section, detail, schedule, notes. Chasing references by hand takes weeks.
AI Takeoff & Estimating · Structural SteelAI Steel Takeoff, From
AI Steel Takeoff, From
PDFs to a priced BoM.
The Takeoff AI runs structural steel and misc iron takeoffs from framing plans, member schedules, and connection details, straight off the PDF. Teams cut estimation time by 70%, with every count traceable.
Structural Steel Frame
Structure & members0
Connection0
Bracing0
Misc metals0
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Intake
Estimate steel takeoffs from PDFs
The Takeoff AI reads what actually arrives on the shared drive: PDFs. Clean vector sheets, scans, photocopies of photocopies. If you can open it, it can take off from it.
Framing plans
Where the steel takeoff starts. theTakeoff reads every piece mark off the plan and expands the "do." and "typ." shorthand into real members, so repeated bays don't turn into missed tonnage.
Steel schedules + general notes
Read first, as facts. Bolt specs, camber calls, finish systems, the UNO line that rewrites half the connections. theTakeoff applies every note across the whole job, automatically.
Sections and connection details
theTakeoff follows the reference chain the way you do: plan to section to detail. Connection material gets derived, shown as a labeled factor you can adjust, never buried in the count.
GA drawings
When the details say "by fabricator," theTakeoff measures member runs off the scaled GA and marks them as measured, so you always know a scaled length from a scheduled fact.
Miscellaneous metals takeoff
The Takeoff AI reads stairs, handrail, grating, embeds, & misc iron straight off the PDF, and ties every count back to the sheet it came from.
AI Takeoff & Estimating · Structural Steel
Four ways a steel takeoff goes wrong. We built for every one.
The steel nobody draws
Connection plates, stiffeners, base plates, anchor bolts, welds, and shear studs never appear on a plan. They're derived, factored off member counts and connection types.
The UNO line on page 3
"All connections shear tabs UNO." One sentence in the general notes reprices every joint on the job.
Contradictions buried across 1,000 pages
The plan says W18x35. The schedule says W18x40. The section shows W21. Three documents, three answers, one piece mark.
Before you ask
Estimator-hours on a structural steel package
~875 → ~300Saved per bid cycle
$49–63KSeeded on the codes you already estimate under
AISC 360&AWS D1.1Your tender data stays private.
ContraVault AI is built for sensitive tenders and bids, with access controls, encryption, and audit trails so your team can work faster and securely.
Before you ask
Frequently asked questions
Structural steel takeoff software turns framing plans, member schedules, and connection details into a counted bill of material: members by section and grade, plate, bolts, and connection hardware, with tonnage rolled up by area. theTakeoff runs it on industrial packages, pipe racks, equipment support steel, platforms, and access steel.
Framing plans, steel schedules, general notes, sections, connection details, and GA drawings, as PDFs, the way packages actually arrive. Clean vector sheets or rough scans both work.
Yes. theTakeoff is PDF takeoff software at its core, built for packages as they land on the shared drive: scans, photocopies, mixed revisions. No cleanup required.
Connection plates, stiffeners, base plates, anchor bolts, welds, and shear studs get derived, factored off member counts and connection types, then shown as labeled factors you can adjust. Never buried in the count.
Stairs, handrail, guardrail, grating, embeds, and misc iron, yes.
A counted, priced bill of material with tonnage by area, every line traced to its sheet, exportable to your estimating workflow.
Upload the revision and see what changed, so you redo the deltas, not the takeoff.
The one that shows its work. Most AI construction takeoff tools count joists and studs for commercial buildings. The Takeoff AI is built for industrial steel, and every count it makes is traceable to the drawing, so you're never defending a number you can't source.